AN: Been tired as of late. The 'Holy crap I slept for twelve hours and still feel sleepy' type of tired. If you see any errors, feel free send me a PM.
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"You are the best…you are the best. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Roxanne is performing her age-old tradition. Looking upon her vanity, hyping herself up. "Your hair is beautiful. Your tail is beautiful. Your…perfect." She couldn't say the last verse to her own face. "You used to be." Her grip upon the edge of the vanity tightens, so much so that creaking can be heard. Her voice drops to a whisper. "It was an accident. But it worked out in the end! Right? He'll bounce back so quick you'll forget it even happened!" She shakes her head with a condescending chuckle as she looks down to her feet.
Her mind wanders back to the possibility of Gregory not being there when she went back to the daycare. The internal workings start to heat up as she gets increasingly upset.
'Everything will be fine. Nothing will go wrong. Just another day, just another day. Stop being pessimistic.'
The internal scolding is interrupted when her back door is opened by a freshly arrived worker. Of course they had the tired 'I really wish I wasn't here right now' look.
"Alright bot, let's do this once more. Hopefully for the last time." The human let out a lengthy yawn. "If you hurry, we might be first to finish the tests." They motioned for the wolf to follow.
The wolf scowled at the disrespect, but obliged.
"Are you all this grumpy?"
"Look Rox, I don't want to do this, period. But bossman is not really giving us any room for argument here. Just ride out the wave like the rest of us."
The wolf suppressed a growl as they entered the elevator.
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Gregory quickly summarized his little 'adventure' within the PizzaPlex to Sun, however he made sure to change a few details around when it came to the racetrack. Now there was a lot to be concerned about in his story, especially the 'crazy lady', but truthfully Sun was a bit more interested in what came before he first arrived at the PizzaPlex. However, that didn't mean wasn't hurt by the rather unsettling tale he had to tell. He listened intently, not making a sound until he knew for sure he was done venting.
Throughout Gregorys story, the attendant in question had gone through a great amount of effort to ensure the comfort of the little tyke, but it almost never seemed to be enough for him. Regardless of what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was only making it worse. So rarely did an injury ever occur in his daycare, but even then they never went beyond the typical scrapes and bruises, and that was thanks to how safe he made his daycare. No one gets injured under his watch!
But Gregory…this was a whole new world of hurt. He would have to invent new words to describe how bad he feels for him, and then those would end up not being strong enough.
"Is there anything else you need?"
The child couldn't find anything else worth fretting over. The pain was a dull throb, he wasn't hungry or thirsty, and he felt quite snug. The best he has ever felt in his life despite what it took to get there.
"No, thank you." The boy shyly said.
"How…do you feel right now?" He is met with complete silence for a time.
"...You know, this isn't as bad as I thought it would be." The attendant tilts his head.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"I thought you would kick me out right away." Sun almost felt offended.
"Hey now! I'll have you know that no child has ever been permanently banned! Besides, you look like you needed help." 'That, and Roxanne is really scary.' 'Pansy.' 'Shut up!'
"Still though, Roxy…she along with Freddy helped me feel safe. Even with the hidden dangers, I don't feel like I have to sleep with one eye open anymore." Now was his chance.
"...Was it really that bad out there? At your own home?"
"I wouldn't even call it home." He spat out. "In fact, it was just an orphanage."
"Orpha– what does that mean?" The boy is stunned. All this knowledge he is supposed to have on the subject of children, and he doesn't know what an orphanage is? Never mind an orphan.
"Heh, I'm jealous that you have it so good to not know what that is, or what I am. An orphanage is a home for…well, orphans, kids with no parents. Like…me."
"...T-There are enough children like that to give them their own term?" Gregory didn't make any move to answer that question, feeling regret over telling the attendant such upsetting info. His silence was all the answer Sun needed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Pity got old really fast." The attendant is taken aback.
"What happened to warrant such negativity?"
"A lot, mainly from the so called 'caretakers' who had no reason to be there. It started small…'stupid kid' this 'useless kid' that, but it slowly got worse over time. It didn't take long for them to take the next step and actually started hurting us over little things, I wasn't the only one who had to take it. Eventually I had enough, and decided to try my luck on the outside."
"Y-You have to be over exaggerating! No adult could be that mean to a child!" Sun twitches violently. "Please, tell me you had someone you could count on!" An unwanted tear rolls down Gregorys face.
"...I…used to, but she got adopted. And I…was left behind." The twitching immediately stops. "That was the exact moment I decided to leave the place. It took a long time to find the perfect moment to escape. Even longer to come across this place."
"Just…how long exactly?"
"I don't know. Weeks? Months? It all blurred together." This only served to make Sun feel something he hasn't felt before.
"And all this time, no adult came to help you?!" The kid leaned back, startled by the attendants sudden shift in tone. "OH NO! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Sun yanks on the rays on his head.
"C-Calm down! I-It's not for the lack of trying, I've got plenty of small favors! B-but more often than not, their idea of help would have just made things worse for me."
"B-But that is unacceptable! How can adults behave so…childishly?! They're supposed to be role models to younglings! NOT–." He flops on the floor in an attempt to pull himself together.
'You're aggressiveness is showing again.'
'Quiet you! I'm having a moment here!'
"...I think we should move on. Hello?...Anyone home? Your staring is making me very uncomfortable." The attendant is pulled out of his trance. He calmly sits back up.
"O-Oh, don't mind that, I often do that when communicating to my other half!"
"...Can he hear me?"
"Of course. Anything I can hear, so can he."
"In that case…" He dramatically clears his throat. "You owe me for the nightmare fuel bub!" Sun shrunk in on himself at the declaration.
'Lights out means it's nap time! I was only following the rules!'
'You're not helping the case!'
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In Parts and Service, the gang had recently finished their tests. All went swimmingly according to the workers, even with Montgomery throwing a hissy fit when it came to his claws. As of now they were waiting for the green light to proceed to the stage.
During the wait Freddy and Chica talked as they always would, friendly banter that could go on and on until the end of time. In contrast, Roxy remained dead silent, staring into a wall, not moving an inch. She didn't even look into a nearby mirror, never mind talking about how awesome she is. The wolf even refused to argue with Monty about how much better she is at his own game. This didn't go unnoticed by the gator, who actually got a great amount of amusement from such scenes and arguments.
"Something loose in your noggin Roxy, or are you finally accepting that you're just like the rest of us?" The gator smugly inquired.
"Can you not? I'm not in the greatest mood right now." Her tone is firm and leaves no room for argument. Which of course Monty took as a challenge.
"But the Great Roxanne Wolf is never too upset to stroke her massively inflated ego. Roxannes got to talk about Roxanne until we're sick of it."
"MY EGO IS NOT–" She stops herself before going any further, taking in sharp breaths to cool herself off. Her outburst attracts the attention of both Freddy and Chica. "My ego is not massive." She growls out with clenched fists. Monty chuckles at the obvious lie. Before she could chew his head off, Freddy decided to step in between them.
"Now now, we are all friends here. I understand that tensions are high because of recent…events. But that is no excuse to start fights." He turns to Monty with a brow raised.
"Okay okay. You got me. Sorry Roxanne." It was clear sarcasm to the wolf, not so much to the bear.
"Excellent! Now keep it friendly, we have another long day ahead of us."
"Hopefully not too long." Roxy throws out. Monty actually felt weirded out by this little comment. Roxanne wanting a day to be over with? Inconceivable!
"Okay, for real this time. Is something wrong? You don't normally act like this." He tilts his glasses down so he can look her in the eyes. She didn't humor him with a verbal response, instead her eyes glaring into his own with an ominous golden glow. He raises his hands. "Okay, you win, just concerned." His surrender wasn't good enough for her.
"In case you forgot, my track isn't exactly a star attraction right now. So of course I want the days to go by faster! All I can do is wander and twiddle my thumbs! I could only imagine how much my reputation is plummeting every day that it's on maintenance!" She attempts to close the gap between them, but Freddy stands firm. He grips her shoulders to force her still, then proceeds to defuse her anger.
"Roxanne–ROXANNE!" She struggles against him. "Look at me. Everything will be fine, the track isn't going away, it's just under maintenance." The fury she felt melted away into misery.
"B-But I am nothing without my track." She stuttered out.
"No, you got it backwards, the track is nothing without you. Children go to the track to see you first and foremost."
"You're…just saying that to make me feel better." Freddy pulled her into a hug.
"...You don't give yourself enough credit Roxanne." She doesn't respond, instead just leaning into the embrace whilst hiding her face. "We'll always be here for you, no matter what happens."
"I know…I-I... know." She softly let out.
Their moment is interrupted by a human worker, who reported that everything seemed to be in working order. The gang was free to go back to their rooms and wait for the day to truly begin. They never separated.