Hard Work Needs Noticed

- clickity clack... clack clickity clack -

...The gang has been mysteriously absent tonight...

I lift my gaze over my laptop and examine the corridor. There hasn't even been one person to make their way across during the time I've been sitting here.

As far as I'm aware, most of the animatronics have been hunkered away in their rooms. It's a little unusual no one else has come out to do.. 'Anything'.

Trudge is absent tonight, but Chica still usually makes a trip or two somewhere in the Pizzaplex. Sometimes just to take walk. I like to think I'm pretty good at sitting on my ass and doing one thing in one spot for a span of 6 hours, but even I'm starting to get antsy from sitting around too long.

Admittedly, it is easier when you're occupied staving off vengeful souls for the span of the night. That'll keep you busy.

Unless there's something horrible I'm unaware of though, the animatronics shouldn't be busy fighting for their lives.

...

Can't hurt to check.

The laptop shuts with a clap, and I shuffle around a bit.

Let's see what's up..

Freddy is the safe option if I'm looking for information.. But Roxanne's the fun one.

- Pshh -

That door really does sound like it's releasing steam somewhere in true steampunk fashion.. I hope it isn't. Hell of a way to get mold in the walls.

"Rox?"

The silver being stops brushing to tilt over her shoulder. We've gotten to the point where it's no surprise to find me waltzing in like I own the place.

"Good morning, Mike." Roxy greets, immediately turning back to continue what she was doing.

How polite. She must be in a good mood..

Woah, actually. Roxy's looking a bit shiny today.

"You look extravagant."

"You look purple."

" 'Cause you didn't drag me in here for make-up like you usually do."

"Mhm. I'm busy tonight."

"Too busy for make-up?"

"Too busy for make-up."

"Neat." Successfully reaching her couch, I invite myself to sit. "How come?"

"Tomorrow's a big day. You'd do good to clean yourself up too."

I huff.

"How do you expect me to clean myself up if you don't do it for me?"

"I believe in you."

"You should know better than that."

She snickers under her breath, trying to get a knot out of her hair with the brush.

"Fine. Sit there and wait until I'm done then."

"Gotcha."

I'm pretty good at sitting and waiting, if I do say so myself.

Roxy's in a suspiciously good mood today. There's energy in her movements, and a subtle excitement in her voice as she teases me. Must have something to do with the 'big day' tomorrow.

"You said there's something happening tomorrow?"

"Christmas performance. Everyone but you has heard of it already."

"Guess I'm out of the loop, then. Isn't Christmas still a few days from now?"

"We aren't open on Christmas."

"Still a bit early, isn't it?"

She scoffs playfully.

"What are you complaining about? You 'busy' tomorrow?"

"Not really."

"Didn't think so."

"You expect to be?"

"Of course." She kicks back in her chair to face me, crossing her legs in the process. "It'll be the first themed performance we've ever done. People will be coming from just about everywhere to see me."

"To see you?"

"To see 'us'."

"I wouldn't mind if you donated a slice of that self-confidence to me."

"It was a slip of the tongue, Mike." She explains, turning back to her desk and rooting around for whatever she's gonna do next.

"Mhm."

A moment passes in comfortable silence. This room's pleasant to look at, honestly. Chica's room is hard to look at with how glaring the pink is, but Roxanne's colors are a bit more mellow. Easier on the eyes.

"..You think the raceway is gonna get a lot of visitors?" I ask, curious about how she thinks the day will go down.

"Hell yeah." She responds with a bit more emphasis than I think was intended. "When people see me on stage, they're gonna come."

"Really?"

"You said yourself I looked 'extravagant'." Roxy dramatically tosses her hair around with a cocky grin. It's enjoyable watching her be so excited about something.

"If the performance is the unique part of the day, I'd figure a lot of people will just leave as soon as the show's over." I share my thoughts.

"They won't. Just watch."

"I need to run home after we open up to do some shopping, then catch up on some sleep. You'll have to tell me how the day goes when I come back for the night."

Roxy 'hmph-s'

"You'll be sorry you missed it, then."

Ha.

"I'll promise to come see your next special show, then."

"Holding you to that."

"Sure thing."

Her excitement is contagious. I'm feeling a bit pumped myself, and I just explained I wouldn't be there tomorrow.

...

"That's a lot of make-up." I observe.

"I know what I'm doing, Mike."

"I'm impressed you can get it to work with your fur."

"Of course I can get it to work."

"Think you can do my make-up with that much detail?"

"It'll take some time, if you care about that."

I was kidding to be honest. I just explained I would be sleeping most of the day away, so it's not like I'm gonna be out impressing anybody.

I take a peek at my watch and start to push myself off the couch.

"My shifts ends in half an hour, it would be best if you didn-"

"Oh I was just being polite, so I'll rephrase: Sit your ass down, I'm doing your makeup however the hell I like."

Ooh, that excitement of hers comes with an extra helping of 'bold' I see. Can't pass this up.

"Really? I'm just gonna wash it off as soon as I get home to shower."

"You have to go shopping."

"Maybe I'll go home and sleep first."

"And bring all your groceries to work with you when you wake up?"

"I can always drop them off at home."

"You won't. Too much driving."

Perceptive, as always.

"Alright, fine. I'll stick around a little longer."

Roxy smirks with her victory.

"Wasn't gonna be your choice anyway, dumbass." Deciding she was finished with her hair and make-up, she grabs the make-up case she was using and kicks off from her desk towards me. "Alright, shut up and hold still."

"You think I can't just 'leave' whenever I want?"

"Nope."

A smirk of my own starts to form.

"How do you figure?"

"You're in my room, under my control."

" 'Under your control', huh."

"Yep."

"What's stopping me from getting up right now and leaving?"

"The door."

Roxanne picks up a small object and impressively lobs it across the room behind her, hitting the mechanism near the door that locks it. I'm admittedly a bit surprised she could land such a throw so casually before returning to applying the make-up on my face like nothing happened.

"..Nicely done."

"I know, hold still."

"I can't just.. Unlock it, then?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"It knows who locked the door, and who's trying to unlock it. Won't unlock unless I say so. You're stuck in here, with me"

"Not even with something like, I dunno.. One of these?"

I flip a small card out from my back pocket, the one that gives me full access to the entire building. As far as I know, I've never told or shown Roxanne that I had one of these. She probably just assumed I had unique keys to each locked door. That's somewhat true, but they're all just less effective than the card in my hands. Usually, a photo pass will open an animatronic's door during the day, but not if the animatronics themselves lock it. So, y'know. I wouldn't be able to open the door with my photo pass, but I could with this thing.

I whip my hand backwards as Roxy predictably tries to snag the card, sliding it back into my pocked just as quickly as I took it out.

"Nope." I tease in the most punch-able tone I can muster. Roxanne doesn't seem to waver, however. Wearing just as confident a grin as I.

"Fine. But you still can't get out."

"What's stopping me this time?"

"Me."

Oh-ho!

"Well aren't you confident!"

"Don't need to be confident."

"How're you going to stop me? Ask me nicely?"

"I'm stronger than you."

Oh-Hoooo!

"Is that a fact?"

"Mhm. All I'd have to do is figure out where I want to tape you to my wall."

"Thought you saw me carrying in that log with Monty? Still think you're stronger than that?"

She scoffs through her grin.

"Don't you pretend like you were doing anything, dumbass. You were just there to babysit Monty."

"You need 'some' kind of strength to babysit a gator that can hold a tree on his shoulder, don't you think?"

A snicker escapes her snout, and she brings her brush down in front of my eyes menacingly.

" 'Think you're better than me, huh?"

" 'Think I'm stronger than you, yes."

Not sure how I plan to back up that claim, I'm just having fun. Already passed the point of no return, however.

"Care to test that theory?" Roxy teases through a toothy yet confident grin, bringing her face a closer to intimidate.

"Y'sure you want me to undo all that work you put into cleaning yourself up?" I refuse to back down, bringing my head closer to hers in response.

"Let's see you try, Mike-!"

- Pshh -

"Roxyyy!"

A cheery and enthusiastic voice penetrates our minds like bullets. The two of us whip our heads toward the door to see Chica running in, who's also very well decorated for the occasion.

Chica stops in her tracks as the two of us try to figure out how in the hell she managed to get in.

Roxy did say the door knows who locked it. Maybe since Roxy tried locking the door via tossing an object, the door didn't register that anyone was close enough to lock it, so Chica had zero trouble making her way in... And seeing us both standing menacingly in front of our seats, looking like we're about to tackle each other. Roxy's still holding the brush, and our foreheads are almost touching.

...

"Whacha doin'?" Chica asks as innocently as she can, folding her arms behind her back.

"Hi, Chica. We were-"

"C-CHICA..!" The wolf interrupts me. Apparently it took her a bit longer to recover from the shock than I.

Unsure what Roxy's yelling about, Chica flaps her wings in a panic and starts to babble.

"AAHI'msorry! Were you busy!? I didn't mean to-!"

"I told you to knock when you came into my room!"

Don't.. Don't say that.. Thankfully Chica's too oblivious to understand what that might insinuate, and Roxy's too panicked.

"I'm sorry! I wanted to see if you can do my makeup! Y-You're better at it than-!"

"Yes! I'll do it in a minute! Get outta my room!"

"Y-Yes!"

Chica salutes like an officer and sprints out of the room.

...

A few seconds of silence pass as Roxanne stares at the now closed door.

"You handled that well." I say after what I think to be an appropriate amount of time.

"I got embarrassed! The door was supposed to be-..! Nngh.."

Roxanne falls backward into her chair. I follow suit by sitting back on the couch.

"Still gonna finish my face at least?"

"Yes, just give me a second.."

"Where'd all that confidence go?"

"Shut up, Mike."

...

"I guess it's better Chica came in when she did.." I note out loud. "Any later and she woulda seen us trying to-"

"Shut up, Mike!"

Rox wasn't kidding. There were a lot of cars pulling out of the driveway when I was coming in. Way more than a standard day.

I reckon that means today was a shining success.

Though Roxy got embarrassed by Chica barging in, it didn't take long for her to find her enthusiasm again. The two of us were back at each others throats by the time Roxy finally finished with my make-up.

A few minutes pass in my car. Walking in at the moment seems chaotic with sheer amount of cars trying to exit the parking lot. I can't believe I was never informed of a Christmas show the gang would be performing.. What would that even look like?

..Welp, I'm sure I'll get the details inside.

...

In fact, just as I'm making my way through the front entrance I spot a familiar figure running in my direction.

"Miiiike!"

"Trudge."

The man has a line of laughing children trailing him around. Trudge went all-out for this show, apparently. He's wearing a santa hat and an elf costume, he even has a little face-paint of candy canes dotted around his face.

"Mike, they recorded today's show!"

Interesting.

"Alri-"

"You 'HAVE' to watch it!" Trudge jumps as he stresses the word. "Today was incredible! There was even fake snow falling for the whole show!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! I didn't know it was gonna happen either!"

Fake snow sounds like a nightmare to clean. Though I did recognize a lot of the employee's cars in the parking lot. With the sheer amount of them, I bet cleanup was a breeze, even with whatever chaos went down during the show.

"Is the showroom alright?"

"Yep!" He puts his hands on his hips like a superhero. "Got it cleaned in half-an-hour! They let me use the vacuum, too."

'Let me use the vacuum'.. People didn't trust this guy with a 'vacuum' regularly?

"How's the gang?"

"Ooh, c'mere! I'll show ya."

I get dragged through the lobby and to the elevators. Trudge does a quick goodbye to the children that were thoroughly enjoying this guy running around in a Christmas outfit, then continues to drag me to Rockstar Row.

The first two of the gang we spot is Freddy and Monty. Unbelievably, they're talking between each other with beaming expressions and friendly gestures. They must really be in a good mood if Freddy isn't constantly trying to beat Monty at something, then getting passive aggressive with him when he can't.

Trudge 'drops me off' here and runs to go reunite with Chica, whom he's convinced is also ecstatic with today's events as well.

"Mikalike!" Monty calls from where I stood, walking towards me with open arms.

"Hey Monty."

...

He isn't about to hug me is he? He could crush me with- Oh christ!

"Awwwwee Mike! I couldn' believe you missed it!"

"S-Sorry, had a lot to catch up on at home."

"It was fricken' great, Mike! All the kids were havin' the time a' their lives!"

"..Please let me go."

"Nope."

Freddy finally catches up with us.

"Good evening, Michael."

"Hello. I've heard things went well."

"It went perfect, Mike. I like to think I'm not one to brag, but I have to agree with Monty. You should have been here." Freddy warmly chuckles.

"Nice to hear everyone's happy. Good way to end the year."

"It was." He nods.

...

"Monty, please let me-"

"Nope!"

"Miiiikeyy!"

I'm dropped to my feet once Chica's voice makes it's way through to us. Green gators got good grip.

As soon as I get my bearings, however, another set of arms wraps around me with enough momentum to nearly send us both to the floor.

"C-Chica.."

"Mikeitwasgreat! It was so cooool!"

Her jumping isn't doing much to help my stability either.

"..Please let me go."

"Nope!"

Sigh.

"What about the show went so well..? I've never seen you guys in such high spirits before." I address the question to everyone, but raise my eyebrows at Freddy, expecting the most comprehensible answer to come from him.

The bear just laughs.

"Nothing in particular, Mike. Everything was simply performed well."

"Maybe I 'should' have been here.."

"Yess! MikeIcan'tbelieveyoumissediiiit!"

"C-Chica, calm down.."

Before I can manage to pry the chicken off of me, Trudge returns from wherever he ran off too. Notably out of breath. Freddy is the first to acknowledge his appearance, surprisingly.

"You were admirable today, Trudge. The children were all over you."

"I know! And Roxy even told me to, uh..!" Trudge needs to stop in the middle of his sentence to take a couple more breaths. "Roxy said it would be embarrassing!"

I snicker inside my head. Roxy doesn't know Trudge very well if she thinks he's capable of feeling such trivial things such as 'shame'.

...

"Is Roxanne around here somewhere?" I ask after a few moments of small talk.

"Mmmmm.. I haven't seen her out around here, but that makes sense. Roxy would prefer celebrating to herself, right?" Trudge responds, looking at me with curiosity.

..Does he expect me to answer that question?

"I guess so. I'm not entirely sure what Rox does after good shows."

Monty laughs unexpectedly.

" 'Rox'! Like 'Rocks'! Can't believe I hadn't thought a' that!" Monty speaks through a chuckle.

Have I never referred to her as Rox to them before now?

Freddy chuckles softly as well.

"Who came up with that one? Roxanne isn't one for pet names if I recall correctly."

"I did. It isn't a pet name, I just think it rolls off the tongue."

Freddy raises an eyebrow and points at me with a grin.

" 'You' made up 'Rox'?"

"Yeah..?"

"I can't believe she lets anyone call her something besides 'Roxanne' and 'Roxy'."

"She didn't like it at first."

"Ah."

Monty seems to catch on.

"Butcha kept callin' her that anyway?"

"Yep."

Monty laughs, which causes Freddy to laugh as well. These two are getting along shockingly well. Nice to see an interaction between them that isn't one trying to jab at the other.

I'm kind of excited to go see Roxy. If she was pumped up from just thinking about today's events, I can't imagine how she is after a shining success such as this one. Throwing myself in the mix might cause something catastrophic, but at least it'll be entertaining.

...

"Chica, please let me-"

"Nope!"

Cooper had poked his head in to say he had bought cookies for all the staff once all the visitors finally trickles their way out. No more customers are anywhere in the main building, but a few are still lingering out in the lobby to talk with friends and families before they head their separate ways. Cooper's distraction was enough to wriggle out of Chica's grasp, and soon after the rest of the gang left the corridor in search for these cookies. I told them I'd follow as soon as I tell Roxy about Cooper's generosity.

I'm only a step away from sliding Roxy's door open when I hear her voice from the inside.

It's hard to make out, and extremely quiet, but she's talking to herself in there.

...

"Everyone was looking at you..! You did amazing!"

..She is in there alone, right?

"It was perfect! 'You' were perfect!"

Oh man. This might be better than I thought.

"Your hair was perfect..! Your make-up was-!"

I decide I've heard enough. I might be in more of a ride than I thought. It sounded like she was around her desk, which leads me to believe she's talking to herself in the mirror. Roxy must've had the absolute 'perfect' night if her ego's this sky-high. It's almost exciting to think about the ways I can mess with her.

Wasting no more time, the door opens in front of me.

- Pshh -

" -re amazing! Everyone thought so!"

The door opens as Roxanne's finishing up one of her 'thoughts'. I take a step inside and try to resist grinning.

She didn't notice me come in. Phenomenal. I'd have to dodge the mirror a bit, but I bet I can scare her so damn bad if I can just-...

...

Huh?

As the mirror took up space in my mind, my gaze was instinctively drawn too it. Roxanne is sitting in her desk and talking to herself like I thought, but-..

Instead of a contempt self-proclaimed queen, there's a ruffled and exhausted wolf. She's using one of her hands to hold her face up while stares annoyed and discontent back at herself in the mirror.

...More than that, actually.

Her gaze is fierce and annoyed, like how you would expect it to look if she's been struggling with working on a cart for an extended amount of time; but her eyes.. The bottoms of her eyes are misty and swollen, and the fur right below them is ever-so-slightly stained red like she's been trying to resist crying for the last several minutes.

...

What?

..What happened..? What happened!? I thought today went well for everybody! Trudge never mentioned anything that might suggest Roxy was feeling this way!

All of my plans of playful banter I had planned evaporates from my mind as I stand in place, staring at her in the mirror. She isn't talking to herself anymore, at least not like she was before. It's devolved to a low grumble. The only thing I can make out is the word 'loser'.

...

A bubble of frustration starts to work its way up my chest.

Why? What happened this time? Roxy was so excited! She must have been looking forward to today for as long as she's known about it. Everyone else had a great time, and is out there celebrating..!

It's like it physically hurts. I can't stop thinking about her proud toothy grin and fire in her eyes as she told me about the upcoming day while we bickered and poked fun at each other, and then comparing it to the sniveling disheveled mess in that chair trying not to cry.

...

Inevitably, Roxy's gaze shifts just enough to catch the discolored patch in her mirror. Her eyes widen just a little before whipping around to face me.

...

The two of us stare at each other for a couple seconds. I'm the one who breaks the stalemate by taking a couple more steps into the room and tapping the device next to the door. I do a double take, making absolutely sure that the door locked this time.

"..M-Mike, I thought I told you to knock when coming in!"

"You told that to Chica, not me."

"W-Well then starting now, you have to knock too!" Roxy points at me forcefully from her chair, but her weakened voice does little to support her.

"What happened?"

"Nothing!"

"What happened, Roxy?"

"I-I just said nothing!"

My mouth contorts into a grimace. The pain she's feeling is audible in her voice. It's a different kind of pain than the one I've heard time and time again. Back when my arm was injured she was feeling regret, worry, fear. Three things that I knew were directly related to me, and were things I could fix with enough time.

This time it has nothing to do with me.

This time I hear hopelessness, shame, and longing. A longing for what was supposed to be her special day and a memory for her to cherish forever. Something she desperately looked forward too, that was then ripped away and was replaced by something horrible.

I'm not entirely sure why, but those feelings hit me a lot harder than the other ones. It's unfair. Something that's supposed to be hopeful and joyous was unfairly changed into the opposite.

...

I know why.

I've seen someone feel these feelings before. Only back then, they didn't cripple me as much as they do now. I didn't feel empathy for them, or a desire to comfort.

It was supposed to be Roxanne's Happiest Day.

...

Despite thoughts like that usually resulting in me feeling hopeless and unmotivated, this time I feel a fire light in my heart.

I won't make the same mistakes.

"Roxanne."

"What..?"

"Please tell me what's wrong."

"Mike, I-I said there's nothing wr-"

"Please."

"..I j-just said-!"

"Roxanne." I move to the wolf from where I stood and crouched to meet her face at chair-level. "I'm serious this time."

"..What does that m-mean..?"

"I'm not going to lie to you. I'm don't want to pity you, or just sit around and make things worse. I know you said I make your problems my own a lot, but this time I'm doing it for both of us."

"N-No you're-.. That doesn't even make sense!"

"It does. I've spent the entire day thinking about getting to talk to you again, just because I knew you'd be happy and have stories to tell of how well the night went."

"W-Well I don't!"

"You don't, that's why it's my problem too."

"Y-...What..?"

"You were so damn happy last night. So excited for the upcoming day that I don't think I even saw you stop smiling once. So now that I see you in here, by yourself and struggling to hold yourself together, it hurts. It hurts, and I want to make both of us feel better, so you can go back to smiling and I can go back to making fun of you."

Roxy's glazed eyes stare up into mine, stunned that I'm being so upfront and honest with what I want and how I'm feeling. I'm not just trying to tell her what she wants to hear so she calms down anymore, I want to help.

"..W-What the hell's gotten into you?"

"Sorry, it was weird. I needed to show you that I meant it this time." I reach out and grab her shoulders both forcefully and comfortably.

"M-Mike, I'm-.."

"Please tell me what's wrong, Roxy."

Upon internalizing that I'm not holding back how I feel anymore, Roxy instinctively starts to do the same, and looks closer to bursting into tears than ever. Her composure remains intact, but not by much.

"..F-Fine, just.. Let go.."

I release her shoulders and scoot a foot or two back to give her space, though I remained crouch to match her height while she sits.

"What happened?"

After a few moments, an unexpected huff of amusement escapes her snout. She averts her gaze and wipes her nose with her arm.

"I-I was kinda telling the truth when I said nothing."

"What do you mean?"

Roxy's amused smirk fades away just as quick as it arrived as she recalls what happened.

"Um.."

"..."

"...N-No one came tonight.. I was a-alone in the raceway the whole fuckin'.. the whole day again.."

My eyebrows raise a bit. That contradicts just about everything I've heard so far.

"..Trudge told me you all had an amazing performance?"

"We did! I did..! The show was fine. E-Everyone loved the show.."

...Right, but Roxy told me last night that she was looking forward to being flooded with customers in her 'raceway', didn't she.

"But no one came to the raceway after you were done?"

She scoffs and crosses her arms.

"No. Everyone was too bust doing OTHER attractions.. None of the kids wanted to get their parents so they could.. Do my thing.." Roxy tries to explain with forced annoyance, which quickly faded as the sentence went on.

"Did anyone say anything to you about the show?"

...

"Yes. Lots of kids and adults came and s-said something.. They said they liked my part of the show."

"Well that's good, at least. Right?"

Roxy continues to look off to the side.

"..But you were hoping they'd come to the raceway."

"Yes!" Roxanne suddenly blurts, holding her arms to her sides like it was obvious. "I worked hard for those assholes! I spent so long fixing those 'fucking' carts so that there would always be enough when people came!"

She worked on the carts for today..?

...

Suddenly, things clicked.

Those carts.. I was always wondering why she insisted on working on them when she never had more than 6 people racing at a time. There were at least a dozen carts, but I'm not sure any of them were even used.

Every time she was working on a cart.. Every time she dragged me with her to help, and every time she spent hours of her life agonizing over what I thought to be trivial and unnecessary problems, she was working so that the carts would be ready for 'today'.

I remember finding Roxanne working on those carts only a couple days after I was hired. She was working on those things tirelessly and restlessly before I even started working here.

All so that there would be enough for today.

...

But nobody came.

As I figure these things out one by one, I stare at her stunned. I had no idea tonight would mean so much to her. Roxanne notices.

"Y'see!? See why that's so fuckin' dumb!?"

One of her eyes overflows just enough to let one tear escape, which Roxanne immediately wipes off her face.

"I worked so hard! You worked hard too, even if you didn't help that much! Doesn't that make you so fucking mad!?" Roxy positions herself to rise from her chair, but soon decides against it. "Today was supposed to be 'the day'! But there was only one kid who showed up!"

"..T-There was a kid that came?" I stutter, fighting off my stun.

"Yes! And he-" Roxy chokes, only adding to her growing frustration. "A little boy and his dad! I-I tried saying hi, and that more people would come race soon! B-but they just waved and left!"

They probably didn't even think anything by it. They saw a racing attraction, saw no one else was racing, and politely left. That's completely normal; I might have done the same in that situation.. But for someone who worked as hard as Roxy, something like that could be crippling.

"T-That's dumb! That's so fuckin' dumb, Mike! They just..!"

I can almost hear the dam holding her emotions back audibly break.

"Rox.."

She's finally breaking down. Every word she speaks has less anger than the last, and is instead replaced with despair and frustration.

"I-I worked so hard! I worked so hard! For t-them!"

"I know."

A tear starts to fall, and then another. Roxy forces back a sniffle.

"T-Today was the C-Christmas day..! Today was 'my' day!"

"Rox.."

"I can't, Mike! I-I can't just-..!"

And like that, the rant is over. Roxy can't find any more room to talk between her sniffles and hiccups, so she hunches over and desperately tryies to wipe away the tears continuously streaming from her pressed-shut eyes.

...

...

Roxanne's face starts to stain red, from both the tears and the embarrassment of falling apart in front of me.

I feel powerless other than to stay kneeling here and watch with an aching heart as my 'best friend' continues to collapse in front of me.

"Roxy.."

...

...

Unexpectedly, she rises from her chair, wobbling a little when she does so.

I rise to standing to help stabilize her, but she extends one of her arms to grab me by the shoulder when I get close enough.

By moving her arm, I get a glimpse at Roxy's face. Her eyes are still pressed shut in attempts to slow the waterworks, but they're also tilted in such a way that suggests she'd decided on a course of action. I feel her hand push me down in an arbitrary direction, but I remain still.

I have no idea what Rox wants me to do with my shoulder until she makes an annoyed grumbling sound from between her chokes and uses her other arm to grab my other shoulder, forcing me down in the direction with much more force.

Not expecting the sudden additional force, it's enough to get me to tilt to my side and fall backwards.

- Thunk -

Ow..

My back collided with her desk as I fell to my bottom, which fortunately contributed to keeping me upright. I shuffle my legs a bit to prepare to get up, but my thought process is entirely destroyed when Roxy delicately lowers herself down onto her knees in front of me. It's only then do I recognize the familiar situation we're in. My back is up against the desk, like that night where my arm was-

Before I can finish summarizing the events to myself, Roxy's increasingly frequent sobs precede her slowly shifting her weight and scooting closer until she can fully bend and bury her head in my chest. Just like before, her arms wrap around my back, and I accept the role I've been given.

This time I act immediately, wrapping my arms around her and holding tightly.

...

I understand that this isn't something I can fix this time. Something bad happened, and there's nothing I can do to fix it. But even if I can't, I can at least do my best to comfort her.

Looking down at the sniveling mess buried in my shirt, the feeling of belonging once again just barely grazes my thoughts. Just like last time, it's gone before I can even register what I was feeling.

...

Roxanne.. What a strange creature..

She radiates confidence everywhere she goes. People admire her for her mental strength, and ability to be truly happy with who she is..

But she's also the most sensitive person I know. Her pride means everything to her, and her image is one of her most closely guarded possessions. Roxy cares very much what people think, and she's willing to work incredibly hard to get the people she cares about to think of her highly. The consequence being that when she's received poorly, it eats at her like nothing else does.

I can't blame her. Roxanne truly worked hard for people to enjoy what she had to offer today. How could a response like this be anything but absolutely crushing to her?

It hurts to think about. Nobody likes working hard for nothing, but this is an extreme case. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it.

...

...

...

The hiccups and sobs have died down quite a bit, but I continue to sit in silence. If Roxanne wants to talk, she'll talk.

...

"Mike." Roxy's heavily muffled voice emanates from below me.

"Hey." I greet rather stupidly.

"Don't think too much into this, alright?"

"Okay?"

"..Did..Did I do something wrong? Like, is there something that people wanted that I didn't have? If I did something better, cou-"

"Roxanne." I sternly interrupt.

"What!? Jeez.."

"You worked really hard today, and every day up to this one. Harder than any of the other animatronics have ever worked for their attraction. Maybe there was something you could have done better, maybe not; I don't know. But please don't think that things didn't work out because you failed to do something."

"..I could've made the carts loo-"

"Rox, everything you've done to prepare for today blew me away."

"Mike, please don't just start saying things to-.."

"I mean it. I've been thinking it, and you've desperately been needing to hear it."

"Hear what?"

"..Everything you've done, I guess... Until a few minutes ago, I guess I didn't know all you wanted was for someone to care."

"Ugh.. Don't say that, it sounds dumb..."

Thinking back to when I was eavesdropping on Roxanne through the door.. I thought she was just repeating and relishing things she's been told, or was just making something up in a stroke of ego. It isn't. It's what she 'wants' to hear. She wants to be recognized for the hard work she's been putting in.

...

Maybe I'll recognize her, then.

"Rox."

"Mm?" She mumbles into my shirt.

"You looked amazing today."

"..What?"

"Back when we were talking last night. I saw your whole outfit, remember?"

"Yes, Mike, but what does-?"

"It was incredible. All the extra details you put in where phenomenal."

"Stop, Mike. What are you trying to do?"

"Just wanted to make sure that extra work you put in didn't go to waste."

"..Oh..Thanks?"

"Your hair was my favorite part."

"Mike, stop talking!"

"Why?" I lightly tease, assuming she'd just get annoyed.

"Y-You're gonna make me cry again, jackass!"

...

"Oh."

"Jeez!"

"Sorry.."

"Ugh.." Roxanne un-tucks her face from my chest to reposition it. Instead of resting the top of her head on my chest and looking down, she's resting the bottom of her snout on my chest and looking up at me. "You're really good at doing that, douchebag."

"Making you cry?"

The wolf grimaces, embarrassed to bring it up despite just swamping my newly washed uniform with tears.

"Yes.."

"It's a hobby of mine."

That was an attempt at embarrassing her further, but she seemed to be content chuckling at my remark.

"Maybe you should find a different one."

"Maybe you should stop being so emotionally dependent on a purple 'douchebag'."

"Maybe I should, dick."

...

...

Roxanne changing her orientation to look up at me was a good idea when we were talking, but when we're both forced to just sit there and look at each other, we start becoming highly aware of the position we're in.

...

"Mike.."

...

"Mike, don't."

"I cannot believe this was your idea."

"Godammit!"

Rox angrily switches her orientation, looking down instead of up again.

"I win."

"Shut up."

...

I feel like I should confirm before I let things continue as normal..

"You alright, Rox?" I ask in as serous and comforting a voice as I can.

"Yeah, why?"

"I mean about today."

...

I'll take that as a sign to continue talking.

"You really didn't deserve what happened tonight. I know how hard you worked, and how horrible it must feel to have it go wrong."

"Mike."

"Mhm?"

"I'm going to tell you this once, and you will never talk about it again."

"Um."

"Thank you for noticing. I really did work hard, and I struggled to get anyone to care. But no matter what, you always did. Sometimes I struggle to keep doing shit that I'm working on because I don't think anyone will care, but I remind myself that Mike will, and it keeps me going."

Before I'm able to respond to that emotional bombshell she just dropped on me, there's a clawed hand grasping my throat.

"If you ever fuckin' tell 'anyone', including ME, that I said this, I'll skin you alive."

...

"Okay."

"Good."

The hand lowers from my throat and finds its way around me again.

...

"Like, starting now? Or can we talk about it for a few-"

The claw is back. I am going to die.