Vanessa was trying to remain calm. She really was. But closing her eyes and counting to ten, taking slow, deep breaths, and tapping each of her fingertips to her thumbs are just not cutting it. Not when there was a thin, puppet-like animatronic staring them down like they'd killed its mother.
All red eyes and awkwardly positioned limbs, a thin cable connected it to the ceiling, and it used this cable to lunge to a place only a couple feet away from Vanessa.
She rushed to her feet, giving herself a minor rug burn in the process. She huddled close to Luis, whether out of a willingness to protect him, or a need for a protection herself, she couldn't tell. Not that it mattered anyway, because the minute the animatronic opened its maw again, he was stepping towards it.
The room was dark, lit only by the light shining through the main daycare area and glowing, red eyes, but Vanessa was one hundred percent positive Luis was absolutely beaming at it.
He glanced back at her, making a small noise of pure excitement before taking another step closer. "Moondrop?" He asked.
"Do I know you, intruder?"
"Oh, yes, yes, yes! Oh…uh…sorry…you probably wouldn't know me. But I got to work on your AI a little bit. Yours and…oh…what did they come up with? Star…no…."
"Sundrop," Moon supplied helpfully.
"Yes! Sundrop and Moondrop. I helped build your guys' AIs with a few others. God," Luis shook his head, Vanessa could imagine a fond smile gracing his lips, "We were so excited to see you both in action. All the limitless potential you two had. Entertaining kids is one thing, but watching them with little outside help is an entirely different beast." He grabbed Vanessa by the crook of her elbow, pulling her closer. Closer to him and closer to that thing.
"My name's Luis and this is Vanessa. We work here. Earlier today she brought a kid in here…uh…Gregory. Brown hair. About yay big. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"
Moon growled, reminding her too much of a rabid dog, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. "Bad parents, naughty parents, leaving your child behind is against the rules!"
"Oh, Moon, I- we aren't Gregory's-" Vanessa hit his arm. "Ow," he murmured, sending a confused glare her way.
"You're right," she said, trying to avoid Moon's burning stare. "But the babysitter fell through, and missing today was out of the question. We thought the daycare would be the safest option, because we trust you two." She smiled widely, the corners of her mouth twitching as she forced herself to look as convincing as possible.
Moondrop muttered something unintelligible under his breath, eyes staring up at the ceiling. After a moment of serious consideration, his eyes rolled down to meet hers. "Sun says we have to give him back to you, but-"
"Oh, thank God," she sighed in relief.
"But," Moon emphasized, " You need to enroll him in the daycare, and if we have to inform CPS even once of mistreatment, we will make sure you never, ever see him again. Dirty, filthy. Parents are responsible for making sure their child is clean and healthy."
Vanessa nodded. "Yes, we totally understand. It won't happen again. Right, honey?" She nudged Luis, who was still standing next to her in stunned silence.
He nodded, muttering out an agreement.
"Good. Good. First things first, standstill." There was a loud whirring sound, and then Moon's red eyes turned light blue. He looked Luis up-and-down and then did the same for Vanessa.
"What was that?" Vanessa asked.
"A security protocol," Luis explained, a note of excitement in his voice. "We took a page out of a previous Fazbear location, but instead of having the animatronics just memorize criminals, we have them create a profile for each and every guest. For the GlamRocks this is used mainly for returning guests, birthday parties, and large school functions. But for the daycare-"
"We use the profiles to link families, primary care givers, and emergency contacts. On top of that our database for each profile is continually being updated, so we also use them to learn a particular child's dislikes, likes, allergies, and other pertinent information."
"Convenient," Vanessa said in place of the other 'c' word she wants to use.
"Very. Now, if you two follow me to the daycare. We can get Gregory signed-up." Moon creeped back towards the large platform. Upon stepping into the light he made a strangled noise and fell somewhere out of sight.
"Wait- and he's already gone. Great, how are we supposed to get down there?" Vanessa looked to Luis for ideas. Except he was already heading for the same platform the creepy moon thing just fell from. "Luis! Luis, get back here," she hissed, snapping her fingers.
He waved his hand back at her, dismissively. "Come on, Ness."
Seeing no way out of this, she joined him on the platform.
"This is so cool," he chirped, oblivious to Vanessa's trembling.
"Cool isn't the word I'd use," she snapped, stepping closer to the edge. And oh, that wasn't a good idea. Probably-no, definitely-the worst idea she'd ever had. They were so high up. The ballpit beneath them didn't help matters, because she read an article once about a-
There was a slight but gentle pressure squeezing her right hand. She looked down and then back up to the hand holding hers. Luis smiled at her. "You can stay up here. I can get Gregory signed up for daycare. Then we can meet up in the break room and figure out everything from there."
"No, no I'll be fine. I'm fine," she told him. Though the idea of falling through open air was enough to make her want to curl up in a ball and never go anywhere high up ever again.
"Ness," Luis said, squeezing her hand, "I don't blame you for being afraid. Take a deep breath…in…and…out," he exhaled, loudly.
She follows his league, and it worked a little bit. But her fear went deeper than a lack of oxygen, so she was still a little hesitant to make the final plunge.
"C'mon, Vanessa," she muttered to herself. "You can do this." She placed one foot off the platform, and then quickly backtracks.
"I-I'm sorry, I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't."
Luis patted her back. "It's okay," he said.
A cry broke Vanessa out of her trance-like state. "Momma 'Nessa!" Momma 'Nessa came back!" She dared herself to look over the edge, and there-standing just outside the ballpit, wriggling in yet another animatronic's arms (Sundrop? But where did Moon go?)-is Gregory. The animatronic was trying its very best to keep hold of the toddler, but was clearly losing an unwinnable battle.
Vanessa steeled herself, inhaling and exhaling…once…twice…and then she fell through the open air.
She landed perfectly safe, half-buried among the sea of colorful, germ-infested, plastic balls. Admitly, it took quite a bit of effort to wretch herself free, but she liked to think she did it gracefully no matter how hard Gregory and the others seemed to be laughing.
Finally though, she made it to the edge of the pit, and threw herself over. She landed on her stomach right in front of Sun and Gregory.
Gregory giggled-and she knows it was him, because it was light and jovial in a way only a child's laugh was. "Momma Nessa!" He squealed.
She picked herself up, dusting off her pants. "Gregory," she said back with only slightly less enthusiasm.
She tried not to think about the implications and future ramifications Gregory calling her "momma" might cause. Because right now him calling her, "momma," was probably the only thing stopping Sun from calling emergency services and CPS on them. Though Vanessa did shudder to think what kind of home life he must have had to attach himself to her so quickly. It also felt…uncomfortable, for some reason.
Sun set him down, and in an instant he was throwing himself into her arms. He smelled even worse now, and she cringed. How could she be so neglectful? Here she had left him, still dirty and in clothes not befitting of even a rat, while she herself took a shower and got clean clothes.
"Agh!" She nearly toppled over from the sudden excess weight. "Whoa, kiddo, slow down. Almost took me out," Vanessa joked, ruffling his hair. Again, she fought the urge to cringe when her hand brushed against greasy, matted locks.
"Sorry," Gregory mumbled, taking a step back.
Vanessa hurriedly reached out, patting him on the head. "No reason to apologize, just teasin' ya!"
He looked up at her. "A…ap…apollo…?"
"Apologize," Luis said, climbing over the edge of the ballpit. Sundrop muttered something about using the stairs, but they all ignored him. "It means to say sorry."
"Name?" Gregory asked, eyebrows furrowed. A single accusatory finger was pointed at Luis.
When no one answered him, he looked up at Vanessa. "Name?" He asked again, this time in a quieter voice, finger still pointing at Luis.
"Hah, you're so silly," she joked, anxiety rising because Sundrop was definitely catching on. "That's Luis."
Gregory dropped his arm, holding it close to his chest. "'Kay." He looked between Luis and Vanessa, deliberating on something, before eventually deciding to go along with whatever they had planned. Either that or the poor kid actually didn't trust his own memory regarding his family.
He reached over to hold Luis' hand and then took Vanessa's in his other. Gregory giggled, swinging their arms back-and-forth. They exchange a glance at one another. God, she wished she could read Luis's mind. He looked calm and happy (all things considered), but surely he hated her for dragging him into this.
He should hate her for so much more
Sun cleared his throat, bells jingling as he clapped his hands once. "Now, let's get the paperwork out of the way."
-x-x-x-
By the time they were finished in the daycare, Gregory was conked out, slumbering peacefully in Luis' arms.
Sundrop kicked them out of the daycare, just in time for the afternoon kids to come strolling in. Parents gave them dirty looks as they passed by.
"Well, my shift is over for today? What about you?" Luis asked, shifting Gregory upwards.
"I still have another, oh what is it?" She checked her watch. "Another eight hours before I can even consider leaving. Probably more, though." She tried to think of a viable solution to their current predicament, maybe a place to discuss finding Gregory's parents. Except there was none, at least none that wouldn't immediately get them caught by management or nosy coworkers. "Sorry, Luis," Vanessa said earnestly, "I-"
"Ness, it's fine. Besides I'm sure Gregory might appreciate a meal and some clean clothes. We can regroup at my house. The one on-"
"Ackerman Road, yeah, yeah I remember. 105, right?"
"105," he nodded in confirmation. He started to walk towards a side exit, only to turn back around mid-stride, clicked his fingers and made finger guns at her (well, finger gun, as the other one was holding tightly onto Gregory). "Be there, or be square." And then, as if she imagined the whole thing, Luis spun on his heels and speed walked to the door.
"What a dork," she giggled to herself.