Authors Notes
Here's another quick release as I ended up having fun with this chapter. It really tickled my creativity bone.
Since the document editor in keeps killing my scene breaks, I decided to once again try to fix them. Hopefully they'll stay and I can edit the rest properly in the near future to do the same.
I decided that this chapter was going to be a lot fluffier and light than the last few I've written. There's plenty of romance in this chapter and a lot less action. Hope you're ready. Also, let me know if you guys like this sort of romance and light chapters from time to time. I love to hear feedback.
Dinner For Two
It had been nearly midnight in the Afton household when the residents started getting ready for the dinner held by Evan's business. With the pizzaplex running their business hours between 8am and 12am every day of the week, the only way to allow Michael and the Rockstar crew to join them was to make dinner extra late. Evan was in the bathroom giving Chara a slight makeover, changing her normally purple tears to red and boldening the color.
"Hold still." Said Evan as he made very slow but precise work on her, making sure to perfect the coloring. He stepped back to look at her briefly. "Can't you change the colors yourself? I've seen you do it a few times for the holidays." She looked up at him slightly, attempting to keep her face in the light and in his view without messing up any of the fresh paint.
"I can, I could change just about any part of my body to a specific color of choice" She replied, holding still as she could. Evan could now vaguely recall one the first Christmases they had together, the puppet colored herself green and red, looking like a very odd Christmas tree. "The issue is that it uses up a lot of my powers to do that. Besides, it comes out much fresher and bold when done like this and you do such a great job at it." The man smiled at the compliment and put down the brush.
"Well, give it a look for yourself. I believe I did a good enough job on it this time around." Chara turned around on the bathroom counter and looked into the mirror. Her purple tear lines were colored a lovely bright red and her cheeks had gleaned in the light. Her lips, especially, looked very well making the puppet jingle a bit in happiness. She looked back at Evan with a smile.
"It's wonderful, thank you!" She hugged him, putting her face into his chest. Evan chuckled a bit, nervously.
"Good thing you absorb paint well or I'd have a puppet face imprinted into my stomach." Chara jingled out a laugh against Evan's abdomen. "I have some other stuff I got for you, too." She separated from him and looked up at her human's face in surprise.
"Oh, Evan." She said, swooning over the man. "You didn't have to." He reached down, cupping her mask gently and rubbing the side softly, causing the puppet to shudder.
"I figured I might as well get you something. You're always helping me out and I want to show you my appreciation." Evan let go of her, moving out of the bathroom and into his bedroom where he grabbed a small rectangular, flat box from underneath the nightstand and headed back to her. When he got there, he handed the box to her gently, allowing her to see the wrapping he put on it.
The box had been wrapped in a solid black wrapping paper with a cute puppet mask drawn on the front with Chara's signature colors. There was a bow on the top left of the mask, assuming the place of a cute bow and ribbons, giving off a cute and stylish vibe to the box. The mask had obviously been her and she loved everything about it. Evan knew that she loved art about her and wrapping paper so when both were put together, she could barely contain herself. She hugged Evan once again, slightly jumping with joy.
"It's gorgeous." Said Chara with a voice filled with absolute glee. Evan laughed as he hugged her back.
"Chara." He said to her.
"Yes?"
"That's not even the main part of the gift. You should try opening the box this time." As she realized what she did, a heavy blush crept onto her face.
"O-oh…" She pulled away from him, hiding her blush by looking downward towards the present in her hands. "Y-yeah, I knew that!"
She put down the present and carefully opened it, making sure not to ruin the art. Inside had been something that took her 'breath' away. There had been a black dress inside, but not just any black dress. As she pulled the dress out, she realized that it had been catered to fit her body type exactly. Pinned to the dress was a black rose with a small sticky securing strap on the bottom, meant to be used to cling to her mask. She looked at the dress in awe as Evan rubbed the back of his neck.
"I ordered it custom made a while back, hoping that we'd have a chance to go out somewhere dressed nicely and figured now would be the best time to do s- oompf!" The technician had been cut off suddenly with a tackle hug from Chara, who was holding on tightly to the human. Her long and thin frame shivered against his body, unable to completely hold in the joy and excitement. Evan smiled as he grabbed her, giving her a proper long hug and they stood there for a few minutes as the puppet attempted to calm herself down.
Almost no one ever saw this side of Chara and, other than Evan and Mangle, probably no one won't ever see her get like this. When she gets extremely emotional, she practically breaks down into a mass of emotions. Evan had seen her like this once during their last christmas when he gifted her a music box like the one she had in the pizzeria. It had been terrifying at first, as Evan had thought that he possibly offended the puppet, but he had come to find out that she struggled with controlling her intense emotions which was giving her weak knees.
After a few minutes of the two hugging it out, Chara calmed down a lot but still felt a bit weak in the knees as she parted from her human with a bit of a blush.
"Sorry…" She timidly mumbled before picking up her face, putting on a new emotion to wear. She smiled brightly at Evan. "I love it! I'm going to wear it to dinner tonight." She started pushing him out of the bathroom and, before closing the door, peeked at him. "Your suit should be hanging up on the rack in the basement. I cleaned it yesterday when you were at work." And with that, she closed the door, leaving Evan by himself in the hallway.
He was glad that he bought it along with Foxy's parts and reminded himself to tip his provider a bit more when he ordered next time. Evan started to move down the hallway and knocked on Mangle's door, who peeked out after cracking the door open. When she saw it was Evan she threw the door open for him, waving at him.
"Come on in!" She said with enthusiasm. The technician made his way through the door and saw that Mangle had boxes of make-up and different sorts of fabric lying on top of her bed and desk, cluttering up all the space. As he finally fully entered the room and faced the pink fox, his breath had been taken away.
Earlier that year for Mangle's birthday, which was a date they picked for themselves since none of the animatronics other than Foxy could remember their birthdays, Evan had gotten her a beautiful pink dress. It had been a light pastel pink dress with small, brown buttons coming up the front and the dress split off at the top, allowing the small, white and frilly collar and short sleeves to sprout out and give accents to the dress. On her head, she wore the same color of ribbon tied into a small, frilly bow which hung from above her right ear. In her hand, she had a small hand bag, a purse, with golden metal linings. Mangle had looked absolutely stunning and Evan couldn't help but stare.
"Uh…" Mangle said nervously, pigeon-toeing and swirling her fingers around each other. "Is there… something wrong?" Evan broke out of his thoughts and smiled.
"Ah, no! Of course not. I just couldn't help but think about how beautiful you look." Mangle blushed and smiled a bit, trying to shrink down into herself.
"Evan, you're supposed to be flirting with Chara, not me! You cheater!" She whined, embarrassed at his compliments. Evan laughed loudly at this.
"What? Can't compliment my best friend without getting accused and slandered?" Teased Evan. He moved over to her and pulled her in for a hug, once which she responded to with her own.
"Aren't we supposed to be family?"
"Imagine we go out somewhere in public and you tell someone that I'm related to you." Evan chuckled at the thought. Mangle let out a whine.
"Evaaaaaan…"
"Yes, I know. We're family and I love you guys very much." Mangle hugged the man tighter suddenly, head over his shoulder. "Mmh… you okay, Mangle?"
"Yeah!" She suddenly let go of him and started pushing him out of her room. "I need to do the finishing touches, so go get ready!" She slammed the door behind her, leaving a very confused Evan out in the hallway, once again. He sighed with a smile. He loved the interactions he had with his family and he enjoyed seeing them all so happy and excited.
As Evan made his way towards the basement and thought about the poor fox in the basement, he wished he could make everyone happy. Maybe someday.
-SB-
Michael felt a bit stuffy in his suit jacket he was wearing, pulling the collar of his suit. He knew he didn't have to wear it now as the stuff underneath was just as formal, but much looser fitted. Except, he wanted to show off his look to Roxanne, who's door he was waiting outside of. She seemed to still be getting ready and, even though he was the one who paid for her dress, he had no idea how it was going to look on her. The night guard didn't mind buying some nice clothes for his female wolf friend since he rarely spent any money that he earned and he made plenty of it.
As he was thinking about the possibilities behind the door in front of it, it suddenly opened moderately quiet electrical whirring noise, revealing the wolf in question. Before he could get a proper glance at her, Roxanne grabbed the night guard by his collar and pulled him in before throwing him on top of the couch. As Michael tried to straighten himself up and recover from the sudden throw, he felt a hand cover his eyes.
"Wha…" Said Mike before a voice, seeming to belong to Roxanne, shushed him.
"Hold on, freak. I'm… not ready for you to see me yet." She said, a bit of shuffling happening in the direction of Roxanne.
"Then why did you let me in?"
"Because I need you to… mmph." She half growled, half groaned, as she felt reluctant to ask for help. "I can't tie this string behind my back so… could you tie it for me?"
"Sure I just need to…" Michael went to move Roxanne's hand from his eyes but she pushed it firm to his face.
"N-no! I want it to be a surprise."
"Wolf."
"What?"
"You know I can't tie your string if you keep my eyes covered, right?"
"You don't tie strings with your eyes, dumbass."
"I could try."
"Mike."
"What?"
"Shut up and tie the string."
"At least help me get the strings in my hand."
"Fine…" Michael held out his hands as he felt Roxanne grab one of them and lead it to her back where the strings were located. He felt her soft, groomed fur fill the spaces between his fingers as he pressed a hand to her back, causing the wolf to freeze up.
"M-Mike!" She cried in surprise. "The strings, not my back, dumbass." Michael finally felt the strings and began to tie up the dress tightly against her.
"Not so tight, corpse."
"Well, it needs to be tight, I think."
"You think?"
"Would you like for it to be loose and fall off you?" Silence filled the air as Roxanne didn't answer the question, her blush growing as she thought of Michael seeing her naked.
"...J-just get it done…" She said, embarrassed at the thought.
"Don't be so nervous, Faye." Mike said as he finished securing the dress to her body. "I'm 100% sure you'll be the prettiest wolf there." Roxanne rolled her eyes at the comment.
"I'll be the only wolf there."
"Which means you'll be the prettiest wolf there!" As Mike moves back, still blinded by Roxanne's hand, she gives him an unamused look.
"Wouldn't that mean I'm also the ugliest wolf there?" Mike shook his head slightly.
"I believe you make everything you wear look good, Rox." This surprised the wolf and caused her to blush heavily, getting caught off guard by Mike's unexpected compliment.
"...Thanks…" She said quietly.
"So… when do I get to have my vision back?" Mike said, pulling Roxanne out of her embarrassed moment. She said nothing but instead moved her hand from his face.
As the night guard attempted to thank the wolf, he was caught off guard by the sight of her. She had been dressed up in a dazzling red dress that clung to her body well, giving her body proportions definition. On her ears in place of her dark purple earrings were long, gold earrings that dangled and gems that gleamed as they moved. Her facial make up made her seem a lot more mature than she normally did, along with her red lipstick sticking out the most. All in all, Roxanne looked mature and alluring, making the man stare a bit too long allowing the wolf to notice and start to blush.
"Freak, I understand that you think I'm the most beautiful girl you've ever seen, but you don't have to stare so intensely." Mike had coughed a laugh into his hand and smiled at her, realizing she wasn't too far off.
"Well, I'll give it to ya. You blew away any expectations I had." Roxanne scoffed at the underwhelming comment.
"So? Am I beautiful? What do you like about my look? Cmon, corpse, you can do better than that."
"So you can crush me with your inflated ego? No thanks." Roxanne pushed the man onto the couch and pinned him against it, hovering over him.
"I could crush you right now if I wanted." Her face moved closer towards his.
"I'd love to see you try. You can't even catch me normally."
"You're caught right now."
"Only because I allowed you to."
"Oh yeah?"
"Obviously." Every time they made a comment to one another, their heads moved in closer until they were inches apart. Mike smiled and decided to play with the wolf another way. "Well, you sure are gorgeous from afar and up close." This shocked the wolf, making her pull back a bit.
"W-wha…?" She stuttered, unable to comprehend the words that came out of the night guard's mouth.
"You really pull off that dress well and your earrings compliment your beauty."
"Mike, wait-"
"And your lipstick? I didn't know you'd look so good in red."
"I…" Roxanne suddenly went quiet. She looked away from Michael and he started to get concerned. Michael had never flirted with anyone, even jokingly like he was doing, until now. He and Roxanne had been watching a good amount of romance movies lately so he picked up a few tips from it and just decided to be creative. Did I offend her…? Thought the night guard as he stared at the wolf.
"Roxanne, I'm sorry, I-" He was sharply cut off by Roxanne's quiet and embarrassed tone.
"...Do you really think I'm beautiful?" This was unlike Roxanne. Of course, there were times that she'd really grasp onto Michael's words and take them to heart more than anyone else's but, unlike most other times, this was from the heart. He had felt weird in his chest, as if something was wrong with him, but he was caught in the moment and didn't care about these warm and weird feelings he had inside his body.
"I do, I really do think you're absolutely gorgeous, Rox." She turned her face to look at the man with a heavy blush. Her face moved back forward towards his and her mouth opened close to his ear.
"I…" She hesitated as she whispered to Michael. It was embarrassing for her, but she knew she wouldn't get another chance to seriously express her feelings like she is now. "You… mmh… You're handsome in that suit and I-" At that moment, the door next to the opened and both of their faces turn to see Chica and Trudge, both dressed up and ready, staring at the pairing on the couch. It was silent for a moment as neither party knew how to break the ice until Chica opened her mouth.
"Uh… congratulations?" This obviously didn't help the situation as Roxanne started stuttering out excuses but unable to make it more than a word or two into a sentence before Chica spoke again. "Didn't know you two were together or I would've knocked… Uhm… Would you like some privacy?" Trudge simply looked at Michael and gave him a thumbs up.
Mike cursed mentally, knowing very well they wouldn't hear the last of this for a while.
-SB-
Evan had made his way down into the basement workshop to grab his freshly washed suit. As he made it down, he could hear the static from the TV in front of Foxy drown out all outside noises and he looked over towards the pirate fox head. Foxy was active, unlike how he had been this entire past week without Lillie. His small doll companion going missing suddenly had taken a large toll on the old captain as he forced himself to be shut down any time someone came down here.
"Hey, Cap." Said Evan, hoping to grab the fox's attention. Foxy stayed silent, staring into the static wave of black and white on the screen. Evan scratched the back of his head. "We're going to be going out to dinner for a while so please keep an eye out on things." The silence was deafening, even with the static nearby. Evan simply sighed and picked up his outfit for the night before heading back up. Right before Evan touched the stairs, a voice called out softly to him.
"Enjoy yerself, lad." Foxy said, making Evan turn around to face the fox. "Ye never know when everyone will up n' leave ye." Evan looked at Foxy as he proceeded to shut himself down, ending the conversation one-sidedly. Lillie, please come back to us. Thought Evan as he turned off the lights and proceeded to go upstairs. He had to get ready and clear his mind. A lot has happened in the past few weeks that's given everyone some sort of grief but he was determined to make this night one that would be a good memory.
First, he'd have to find his dress shoes…
-SB-
The drive to the restaurant was quite peaceful as there wasn't much traffic polluting the roads by the time it hit midnight. Michael had been surprised when he saw the address of the invitation but, as he parked up to the building, his astonishment had only grown.
The building they parked in front of had been the city's most expensive and luxurious restaurant named the "Midnight Masterpiece". It had been famous in this state to the point that people from all around came to visit and eat here if possible. While it had a lot of nice indoor seating arrangements offered, there's also an entire atrium outside for those who want to eat underneath the moonlight. Michael never thought there would be a day he'd eat here, much less have the entire place booked out just to enjoy with people he knew. Of course while it wasn't his doing, he was grateful for the opportunity.
Roxanne had stepped out of Mike's car as the van following him turned off its engine. The driver side door opened up and a well dressed Arin stepped out with his usual look of exhaustion. Arin normally dressed well, but it was more business casual than formal attire. Trudge stepped out of the passenger's side seat in a suit and tie with lighter colors, going for something like a mostly white suit with a black tie. The van's back door opened, revealing the rest of the crew as they climbed out.
Monty came out in a stark contrast to Trudge, wearing a black suit with a white bowtie and buttons allowing him to give off a sense of maturity and badassery that his normal relaxed and somber demeanor had covered up. He even wore his same shades to further hit this point home, but it had been weird that he could still see wearing those things during the nighttime.
Freddy came out next, wearing a similar styled suit colored in a dark gray color and a red bowtie, but his white undershirt had been peeking out, giving contrast to the suit. His sleeves were rolled up to the midpoint of his forearms, allowing him to exert a more manly feeling than his normal, playful self. Freddy really stood out in comparison to Monty, but in a good way.
Last, but definitely not least, had been Chica. She had been dressed in a golden frilly and glittery dress with the skirt going all the way down to the floor. On her neck had been a cute golden necklace with a small heart shaped locket, apparently a gift from Trudge that had a picture of them inside it. Michael had seen her outfit earlier when she walked in on him and Roxanne, but it still surprised him how amazing she looked pulling off a dress like that.
The entire crew was ordered formal attire for this event a week prior as Evan had connections with someone who were experts on fitting and creating clothing for animatronics specifically. The only one who didn't have theirs ordered from the special dealer was Roxanne, who demanded that Michael get her the beautiful dress they both had seen a few weeks prior to the event. As Michael admired the Rockstar crew and their attire, Arin moved up to him and patted his shoulder.
"You look nice." Said Arin. "We better step inside. They're probably waiting for us." The night guard nodded before the group headed inside, seeing a well dressed man at the podium. He smiled as they arrived and Arin held out a small stack of invites to the man at the podium. The man checked them carefully before motioning to them.
"Enjoy your time." He said, allowing them all in. Michael inched over to Arin to speak with him.
"It's weird how that man didn't even flinch when seeing the animatronics behind us." Whispered the night guard. Arin leaned over in response.
"From what I understand, these guys have a close business relationship with both co-founders of Evan's and Trevor's company so they've probably seen their fair share of animatronics." Arin explained. This posed a question in Mike's head.
"What is their business name anyways?"
"They don't really have one. They do have one for legal reasons, but as for a shop name, they keep it blank. They say it's better that way, but didn't explain it any further to me." Michael had found this fact weird, but ignored it for the time being.
As they finally made it through the hallway and to the dining area, they saw the beauty of what was truly known as a 5 star restaurant. The floor, along with the table tops, had been made with polished black marble, making the dim, flickering candlelight effect from the nearby chandeliers give this place a very noble feeling to it. The wall had been covered in a lot of beautiful art, some of which had been made up of Freddy characters painted in a joyful or static tone. On the far side, there were long and large glass panes stretching out as walls and doors, leading out to the atrium. Nearby a long table, a group of familiar people and animatronics could be seen talking to each other, one of them being Evan.
An older gentleman in a plaid suit and tie made eye contact with the night guard and headed over to them. He arrived with his right hand out, the other hand holding a glass of dark colored wine.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Michael." Said Trevor as he shook the night guards hand. "I've heard a lot about you. I suppose you'll be glad to know that it was mostly good things." Michael nodded a bit.
"Yeah, that helps a lot." Said the night guard who was returning the handshake. "I've heard a decent bit about you, too, from Evan." The older man chuckled.
"Well he seems to have spent a lot of time with you. I hope you're treating him well on that night shift. You know very well that they don't tend to be the best in your line of work." The last comment hit Michael as he realized that this man, too, had some connections with Freddy's in the past.
Arin gave the two weird looks and Michael realized he needed to distract him fast. He saw both Roxanne and Freddy both standing nearby, making small talk nearby and an idea popped into his head. Arin opened his mouth to ask a question.
"What do you mea-" As soon as the man started the sentence, a squeak could be heard nearby as Michael is seen pressing on Freddy's nose, throwing the group into silence. The night guard made unwavering eye contact with Trevor as he proceeded to do it again before Freddy batted his hand away.
"Our animatronic family is a lot better than the ones in the past, but I'm sure you'll get plenty of time to find out for yourself. Aren't they just so friendly looking?" Mike grabbed Roxanne and hugged her with a smile. It almost seemed convincing. Atleast, until Roxanne opened her mouth.
"What the fuck, freak? Don't cling to me." The wolf said as she attempted to pry the man off of her. The older man simply chuckled, shaking his head.
"What a nice night to be young." Trevor decided to spark up a conversation and walk off with Arin after waving him goodbye, leaving them with Chica looking at them with expectant eyes and the rest of the group mildly confused. Roxanne had started to panic a bit.
"M-mike! Don't give them the wrong idea! Mike!" As she attempted to pry the man away from her, he laughed a bit under his breath.
This was the way this night should go. They could leave the dark talks for another time.
-SB-
Evan had moved to a separate table with Mangle and Chica who were complimenting each other on their attire, and Trudge, who had been weirdly quiet for the most part. It had been decently out of character for the young man to be as quiet as he was since it seemed like he always had something to talk about. Well, when he wasn't busy eating something.
Evan had moved to approach the younger man, giving him a small slap on the back.
"You look nice in your suit." Evan said, attempting to start the conversation. "You alright today, buddy?" Trudge nodded.
"First time being in a formal environment so I feel a bit out of place." He admitted with a bit of a silly, embarrassed smile. Evan chuckled at the response.
"You'll get used to it. There's only friends and family here so at least if you make a fool of yourself, it'll be with us. I'm sure Chica agrees with me." The bird turned her head suddenly as she heard her name being called.
"What?" She said, giving a similarly awkward and nervous smile like that of Trudges. Evan shook his head with amusement.
"Nothing, I just wanted to tell you guys how good you two look." Chica smiled at the comment.
"Well, thank you, Evan. You look quite handsome yourself and don't get me started on Mangle. She is absolutely gorgeous." This made Mangle blush with a smile, making her feel a bit embarrassed. "I didn't know you had such good fashion tastes."
"Well, I try to do my best to please everyone I care about. I love my family, after all. There's nothing I wouldn't do for all of them." Chica and Trudge both went 'awwh' together as Mangle blushed even heavier. Chica suddenly had a question come to mind.
"Speaking of family, where is Chara? She normally sticks close to you."
"She's in the kitchen helping the cooks prepare our food." Responded Evan. "They've actually helped her learn to cook over the past few years so when we have occasions like this, she likes to help out in making the food." Chica squealed in excitement.
"More new food to try! I can't wait to sample it all." As Chica said this, Monty was jogging over to the group.
"Hey, Evan." The gator said, his shades covering his eyes. "Arin wanted to see you." The technician nodded and Trudge followed, curious and bored, parting with the girls. Chica sighed and looked over to her pink fox friend with a smile, seeing that she was watching Evan leave.
"Aren't they just amazing?" Chica said, snapping Mangle out of her trance. She blushed and smiled.
"Yeah. I think your boyfriend is pretty cool, honestly. Aren't you two always doing exciting things together?" Chica nodded, blushing as well as she thought of Trudge.
"Yeah, he's a wonderful guy. He's always going out of his way for me and he shows that he cares a lot about me, but isn't Even pretty cool, too?" Mangle nodded.
"Yeah, he always thinks about all of us and makes sure we have everything we could possibly want in life. He's so sweet and smart and handsome and…" She caught herself and reeled herself in. "He's the best family we could hope for." Chica nodded, not noticing Mangles slip.
"Yeah, Chara is one lucky girl. You should get yourself a boyfriend, Mangle!" Mangle shook her head immediately.
"I'm not… really interested in that kind of stuff. Maybe in the future." Chica nodded, understanding. As Chica continued to talk to the pink fox, Mangle thought about Evan and Chara, realizing that she was lucky to have them but felt as if something was missing. She felt a hole in her heart and she wasn't sure why, but she shrugged it off for now.
It was time to party and be merry. These feelings could wait until later.
-SB-
Michael had been chilling at a table with Roxanne, her tail in his lap under the table, when a woman suddenly approached them. She had been a tall blonde with eyes like emeralds dressed in a similarly emerald green dress that met down to her stilettos. She smiled at Michael and held out her hand, her emerald gemmed earrings jingling as she moved.
"Hi." She said, leaning over towards him. "My name is Vandana. I assume you're Michael, the night guard everyone here talks about?" The night guard cautiously took her hand and shook it, unsure of what else to do.
"Yeah, I'm Michael Afton. Who are you?" He said, making her look a bit flustered.
"Oh, I apologize. I'm one of the employees that work under Mr. Nafto and Mr. Koch. Just call me Vanny if you prefer." She turned to meet eyes with Roxanne. "Oh and it's so nice to meet you, Roxanne! I have been a big fan of yours for a while now. My cousin loves to come see your shows so I take him sometimes and I gotta tell ya, I love it every time I go." When Roxanne first laid eyes on her attempting to talk to Michael, she decided that she didn't like Vanny very much but after hearing the woman butter her up and compliment her performances, she decided that she was tolerable. Roxanne turned her head a bit, sticking her nose up in the air.
"Well, of course it was! It's my show we're talking about." Vanny gave a weird look, but still smiled as Michael looked at her apologetically.
"I apologize for her. She's quite shy sometimes." As Roxanne opened her mouth to protest, he started to stroke her tail under the table, shutting up the wolf. He simply smiled and continued the conversation. "So, what can I do for you?"
"Well, I was wondering if I could come and see the animatronics next time you guys need stuff fixed. While I'm not nearly as good as Mr. Nafto, I'm pretty good at fixing just about anything with moving parts or electric wires." Michael nodded, understanding her request but something bothered him.
"Why are you asking me?" He asked, still petting Roxy's tail. "3 of 4 people in charge you could ask are here today so why not ask them?"
"Well, I did ask them and I was told it was under your jurisdiction whether or not I was fine to come in and help. I suppose your manager puts a lot of trust in you." Mike had felt good about the comment but thought about it.
"As long as you don't have ulterior motives, I don't mind." Vanny's smile grew wide as she got her wish. As the man looked towards Roxanne, who was looking a lot more calm than she did a few minutes prior to, Vandana threw herself to Mike, hugging him.
"Thank you! Oh, I should probably mention this to my boss. Thank you again!" She shortly ran off with a wave of her hand. Roxanne glared down at Michael, who simply stared back with a bit of a silly smile. She scoffed at the night guard.
"Don't tell me you got excited over a hug." Roxanne said, looking at Mike in disdain. Mike simply shrugged.
"It's nice getting hugs every now and then." He replied. Roxanne grumbled and nothing was said for a few moments until she opened her mouth.
"...I could give good hugs, too." Michael looked at her in worry.
"You're not gonna bite me again, are you?" His eyes scanned her face for ill intentions as she looked at him with a toothy grin.
"If you don't want to get bit, then you better let me hug you."
"Rox, if you wanna hug me, that's fine. Just don't bite me, please." The wolf stared down at the pale man for a moment before moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around him awkwardly. A hoot and cheer could be heard from the adjacent table as Chica and Mangle rooted them on, again getting the wrong idea. Roxanne pulled back, embarrassed, and Michael could only sigh.
This might end up being a long night. He thought to himself as he watched in amusement as an embarrassed Roxanne stomped over to the two girls to try and persuade them that they weren't in a relationship. Poor wolfie.
-SB-
Michael had been talking with Trevor, Arin, Freddy and a few others in a group as food had been ready to be served. A few chefs with metal carts of food came out to greet the occupants of the room with a mix of wonderful scents as they placed the large trays of food onto a long serving table. The last person to come out was Chara, who immediately floated over to Evan and embraced him. The puppet had smelled quite nicely of some soft perfume that was noticeable only from up close like they were currently. As they parted from each other, the man couldn't help but drink in the sight of his partner.
The dark, glistening black fabric of her dress complimented her skin/fabric quite well, giving off a mysterious tone to her. The black rose attached to the top right of her mask had given her face a lot of accenting and, along with the fresh paint they applied together earlier that day, she looked absolutely stunning. The moonlight spilled from the windowed wall nearby and onto her, allowing her figure to literally glow and stun the man into silence. Chara looked up at her human.
"Are you okay?" She asked, a bit of worry in her voice. The man smiled brightly, cupping her cheek softly.
"I'm sorry, I was just so surprised when I realized you were a thief." Her face began looking a bit puzzled. "You stole my heart once again, after all." A mad blush showed on her face and she lightly hit him on the chest, her face absolutely beaming with happiness.
"Oh, stop it. I'll end up freezing up again at this rate." They both stared into each other's eyes as someone nearby cleared their throats and they realized that everyone had been staring at them. Trevor moved up to the younger man.
"I'm really happy for you, my boy, but aren't you forgetting something?" As Trevor finished his sentence, a realization hit Evan. He was supposed to be toasting before food could be touched. The embarrassed technician cleared his voice and moved into the middle of the room before he started his speech.
"We gather here today to celebrate a successful life with our friends and family. Perhaps we had troubles getting to where we are now and, while there's bound to be plenty of rough times ahead still, we have each other to lean on when things get too tough. Another thing to celebrate tonight is the joining of hands in business between our company and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaplex. I am grateful to have more outstanding people like yourselves join our wonderful family and, while we may argue or have disagreements and don't even share the same blood, at the end of the day, we're family. Won't you join me in a toast?" Everyone proceeded to pick up the small shot glasses in front of them, most of them filled with water or juice, and Evan put his glass up to the sky. "For a happy tomorrow and for our family!"
The group cheered as they slammed down the shot, officially starting the party and going directly into full swing. For the next few hours, they had eaten to their heart's content, sat around and shared stories, played some small games out in the atrium and even danced with each other to the DJ that was blasting music nearby. At one point, Trudge had taken a Ring Pop out of his pocket and jokingly proposed to Chica. Everyone had enjoyed the show of the two lovebirds making a scene and everyone had seemed happy. Well, almost everyone.
Mangle had been at the table alone, watching everyone having fun while she had felt very out of place. This strange feeling she had in her chest hadn't made matters much better for her. She really wasn't having much fun and she wasn't sure what to do about it. Around this time, Evan had passed by to see the glum look on the pink fox's face.
"Hey." He said as he sat down next to her. "Why the long face, Mangle?" She felt embarrassed that Evan of all people was the one to find her like this. She looked at him and sighed heavily.
"I'm not sure. I'm just… not feeling it, I guess." She said as she rested her head on her hand.
"Well, maybe I can help you."
"Mmh… thanks, but I don't know if there's much for you to do." As she said that, a slow song came on and Evan got an idea. He grabbed her hand and got up.
"C'mon, we won't know until we try." Mangle could've refused, but for some reason she chose to follow the man to the dance floor and start slowly dancing, two stepping in a small area. Evan smiled at her as she blushed, the two in sync perfectly on the dance floor. "So, what's on your mind? You can lay it on me." Mangle sighed, looking at the human.
"I just feel like I'm missing something." She explained, following Evan's lead. The man smiled at her and suddenly twirled her around slowly before continuing to dance.
"I understand that feeling."
"You do?"
"Yeah. I feel like there's something more to be had at times and feel like I'm not satisfied. Of course, it's not either yoursand Chara's fault, but it happens from time to time."
"So… how do you feel better?" Evan thought for a moment before responding.
"Well, for me, I just go and visit you two." Mangle had been surprised by this comment. "I know I say it often, but you two are my everything and while everyone in the household is family, I wouldn't want to part with you nor Chara."
This had been a revelation to Mangle as she had constantly been looking for new things to make her feel better and, while some did give very short term gratitude, nothing felt better than spending time with her two favorite people. She smiled and hugged the man as they continued to dance.
"Thank you, Evan. I can't say I feel 100% better yet, but with you and Chara here, I really have nothing more to worry about. I love you." Evan smiled warmly as he stroked a hand down her back comfortingly.
"Yeah… I love you, too." Mangle realized what she was doing and pulled back briefly, dusting herself off, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Y-yeah. We're family after all." Evan grabbed her hand and hip and pulled her into himself, causing the pink fox to blush madly.
"Well, as a family, we oughta make sure to help each other out in times of need so let's get a smile on your face." He started spinning her around slowly as she became flustered.
"Wai- wait! Evan! Ahh!" She squealed a bit as the man dipped her, making them both laugh.
-SB-
Chara sat at a farther away table with Chica and Trudge. She watched as her human and sister danced with the few other people dancing on the floor. As she watched them, Chica moved closer to the puppet and whispered to her.
"Shouldn't you be out there with your man?" She asked, trying to keep her voice down. Chara shook her head.
"We'll have our time together tonight. For now, I want my sister to be happy." The bird understood and simply watched the pairing on the dance floor until Chara pointed something out. "What about you two? Why aren't you dancing?"
"Well…" Said Chica nervously as Trudge butted in.
"We don't know how to dance." He said, nonchalantly. This surprised Chara as she assumed that at least Chica had some sort of knowledge on dancing.
"Well, I could show you how." Chica lit up at the offer.
"Could you really?!" Said the bird with lots of enthusiasm. The puppet nodded.
"Yeah. Evan taught me a lot about dancing a few years back and we do this at times. It's pretty simple. You just…" As she continued to explain as she led the couple to the dance floor and gave them instructions on how to slow dance.
Strangely enough, it had been a bit more difficult than the puppet thought it would be, but watching the couple happily succeed made it all worth it in the end.
-SB-
Michael had been dancing with Roxanne nearby, who pestered him to slow dance with him while he was dancing with Freddy. Luckily enough for him, he learned how to dance through the soap opera he used to watch back when he worked in ARI and showing Roxanne how to follow his pace wasn't too hard either.
"You're pretty good at this for not having a girlfriend to dance with." Said Roxanne who had been extra clingy tonight. Vanny had been hanging around Michael on and off all night and, while she was currently dancing with Freddy, Roxanne felt as if she needed to be on alert with her around. Mike chuckled at her comment.
"I learned this in such a lame way, too." He said as he led them on the slow dance. "I never thought I'd be able to use it, though."
"Well, lucky for you that you have amazing me, huh?" She said, teasing the man a bit.
"I'm lucky you're not stepping on my feet anymore." This flustered the wolf a great deal as she huffed in response.
"This is the first time I've ever danced. I'm sure you weren't amazing at it when you first started."
"...Rox, this is my first time. I've never danced like this with anyone before you."
"Oh." That sent her into silence for a moment before she bounced back. "How are you so good at this?"
"I don't own two left feet." Roxanne grumbled in response.
"You'll own no feet when I'm done with you…"
"Romantic." Mike said simply as silence fell between the two once more. Not that the night guard minded much as he wanted to enjoy time with Roxanne tonight and it seems that she's at least happy now that they're dancing. Suddenly, an unexpected question hit Michael full force.
"Do you like that Vandana girl?" Roxanne asked, throwing her partner's train of thought off the rails.
"I mean, she's cool. I'm sure she's a lovely lady." He responded, causing the wolf to huff.
"No, not like that. I mean, do you like her romantically?" This threw Michael off even more as he couldn't understand the faye's thought process behind this.
"Wha-, no. I barely know her, Roxanne. At most, she's probably a friend." This seemed to calm her down some. They danced in silence for a bit before anyone said anything else.
"...sorry." Roxanne said meekly. Frankly, it wasn't often that she apologized but usually it wasn't something that warrants a real apology.
"Don't apologize, Rox. There's nothing wrong with asking a question or two."
"But I feel like I'm being a bother and not in a funny way."
"Hey, don't say that. You're always welcomed around me." It didn't seem to convince her, so he pushed it a step further. "After all, who wouldn't want to be around a beautiful wolf like yourself."
At this point, they passed by the window and the light dropped on Roxanne in such a perfect way that it had Mike at a loss for words. Her normal silver fur had shone under the full moon and her eyes dazzled like gems. Her smile stole his breath away and he didn't realize he stopped moving, staring at her. It wasn't until Roxanne called out to him that he snapped out of the trance.
"Mike. Mike!" She called to him, shaking him a bit. "Are you freaking out on me?" He shook his head.
"No, sorry. I had realized that I was more right than I thought." This confused the wolf and Michael started walking to grab a quick drink.
"What do you mean by that? Mike? Answer me!" She ran after him, trying to pry information from him at any cost. He smiled as he thought about how gorgeous Roxanne could be, but he'd never admit it. He found another secret he wanted to take to the grave with him, but he wasn't so serious about this one. She was beautiful and he felt a feeling he felt before earlier that night. It had been bizarre, but he liked it strangely. He then made another quick discovery.
Well, she's beautiful when she's quiet. Michael thought to himself as Roxanne proceeded to pester him, unrelenting in nature.
-SB-
Somewhere nearby, Freddy and Monty decided to dance to a slow song and had been awfully quiet while they did. It was Monty who broke the silence between the two, speaking what they both were thinking.
"This is pretty gay, huh?" The gator said as he fought the bear for lead in the dance. Freddy heavily sighed, wondering what he did to end up in this position in the first place.
-SB-
As the night continued, most people started getting tired. The first person to leave was Trevor who commented he had business to take care of in the morning so he excused himself first. Following this, Arin also ended up getting tired and coaxed the Rockstar group to return to Pizzeria, minus Chica and Roxanne who were going to go back with Michael.
Michael had felt as if it was time to head back himself and grabbed a few plates of food, one for Cooper who had still been at the pizzeria somewhere working on a project of some sort. While Michael was unsure about the whole project, he knew that if he gave the food to Arin, he'd make sure that Cooper got it.
As the remaining Rockstar group was saying their goodbyes and Mangle had been hugging it out with Chica, Evan and Chara found themselves outside in the atrium. They both were slow dancing without any sort of music with Chara resting her head on the man's shoulder and they held each other's hands tightly, quietly enjoying each other's company. It wasn't before long that the silence had been broken, but they continued to dance.
"I saw that you spent a lot of time dancing with my sister tonight." Chara said casually, not moving from her spot embedded in Evan's shoulder.
"She was feeling pretty down for a while, so I wanted to help cheer her back up." The man responded to her, smiling as they danced in the crisp cold of an autumn night. Chara hummed at his response.
"I'm proud of you. I cannot tell you how much it means that you look out for us as much as you do."
"Well, you two are my treasure. I truly enjoy seeing you both smile and be happy. It gives me joy." Chara looked up at Evan with a funny look, eliciting a response from the man. "What?"
"I thought I was your treasure." Evan became flustered over the comeback in his sweet talking.
"You are. She is, too, but in a different way, I guess." Chara giggled a bit.
"You're not trying to seduce me and my sister, are you? You're quite a sly one, Mr. Afton." Evan chuckled a bit at her teasing.
"And get pulled apart when you two fight over me? I couldn't think of a better way to die." This made Chara giggle again as Evan brought a hand up to her mask and traced the edge of it with his thumb. They both stared longingly into each other's eyes as Chara whispered to him.
"I know we're not technically dating but, this once, could we-" The puppet had been swiftly cut off as her human kissed her, making her sound off in a funny noise and clinging to him, as she was going limp. Their faces parted slowly after, leaving a large smile on both of their faces.
"Maybe just one." He whispered back to her and he held her tightly to him. They continued to slowly dance in the full moon as they were intertwined with each other, one not wanting to part with the other.
They both relished this moment in their lives and they wish it would never end, but all good things do come to an end.
They'd try to hold onto the feeling a bit longer, neither ready to let it go.
-SB-
Mangle, who was now alone in the dark, quiet room by herself, had been watching her best friend and her sister love on each other for the past minute or two. She saw their passionate kiss they shared and she thought it was lovely that they were finally making steps in their relationship.
Except, something didn't feel right. She felt that same nagging feeling she had before and it was worse this time. She attempted to ignore it as she knew that she had all she needed in front of her in the form of her family, but still she couldn't escape the feeling.
Mangle hoped that the two would hurry up a bit, but wouldn't dare rush them. Even if it meant going through a bit of pain, she wanted her older sister to be happy.
So she'd let them have this moment together. Maybe I should get a boyfriend. She thought to herself. Those thoughts didn't go much further than that.
-SB-
As Arin headed down into the deeper parts of the pizzeria where no one ever went, he found the door that he needed. It was a security door that locked from both the inside and outside with a clearance pass that only a handful of people owned. He heard a power drill whirr up inside as he knocked hard on the door, hoping that the occupant could hear him
"Cooper." Arin called out as the whirring died down. "We just came back from the party. I have some food here for you."
There was a bit of silence before the power drill whirred back up, making the younger man sigh. He placed the plates on the table nearby and called out again, even louder.
"I am leaving the plates of food outside the door for you. I'm going home. Goodnight." Arin left the area and a few minutes later, the door opened, a hand quickly grabbing the plates before the door shut and locked once more and whirrs could be heard again, echoing down the empty hallway.
-SB-
In the basement of Evan's house, a pair of eyes opened up to a static filled screen once again and a head full of dreadful thoughts. Foxy hadn't felt so useless since the time he died and he hated it. He was left alone while his first mate Lillie had been lost out there, somewhere, maybe hurt and afraid.
Foxy had to do something, but he couldn't do much while just being a head. At that moment, he got an idea. Evan had his parts to make his body and all he needed to do was cooperate. The pirate captain wanted to be left alone to wallow in his misery but he steeled himself as he knew what needed to be done and all he had to do was wait.
He was good at waiting. He wanted for his friends to wake up in the old pizzeria. He waited for those plastic ripoffs to get discontinued. He waited many years to be saved and, thus far, waiting had done him good.
But he hated to wait. He hated the powerless feeling he had as everything changed around him and he couldn't do anything but hope that his body wouldn't rot so fast and that someone would eventually put him back together. He hated that he had to watch all of his friends suffer from afar. He hated that he watched his best friends die by William's hand and there wasn't a single thing he could do about it.
He wouldn't allow these feelings to conquer him because no longer would he sit idly and allow his fate to be decided for him. He'd fight back against all odds and save his family from everything that keeps trying to destroy them. He'd have his revenge and he'd have it soon.
Except, he just needed to wait once more. He was good at waiting. He'd wait and once he was free, he wouldn't allow a single thing to stop him.
He had waited long enough.
Authors Notes
This was a very fun chapter to write. I love a good romance as it's one of my favorite genres to read, especially when it's paired with action and adventure.
On another note, I realized I turned this entire chapter into the last Fast and Furious movie with all the talks about family. I'm not going to change it, though. Might as well embrace it.
Lovely stuff here. Chapter was a bit shorter this time around. I hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I did and I'll see y'all in the next one!