The next morning Harriette woke up feeling groggier than usual. Not wanting to risk being caught off guard she sucked on one of the sundrops till she was feeling more awake. She found a bathroom and brushed her teeth and searched out a better breakfast option. She might have food but she didn't want to use it if she didn't have to. She might find she'd need it later. She'd used one of the hair ribbons to tie her Plushies to her backpack. She felt embarrassed that she hadn't thought about it. She also realized she was allowed to grow her hair out if she wanted. Nobody could stop her, and that might be for the best. Her Aunt and Vernon thought of her as a boy, so if her relatives were forced to report her, everyone would be looking for a boy. Because of that she'd decided to wear the one skirt and to put her hair into a pair of ponytails on the side of her head instead of the bottom. She felt nice. She was still careful to avoid staff, and people she'd seen the day before. She made sure to carefully avoid staring, or drawing attention to herself. She was able to sneak more food abandoned at tables for shows, and by just wasteful lazy people. She wondered if she should be annoyed that they didn't clean up after themselves or be grateful. She eventually decided it didn't matter.
She threw away the stuff she couldn't eat. If someone did notice her they might be nicer to her since she cleaned up after herself, well maybe she was cleaning up after others, since even if she didn't eat the food she still threw away the trash and stacked any trays she found. She managed to get a decent breakfast by wandering the food area, she dodged around security bots, they had facial recognition and guest files would flash on their internal screens if she was seen by them. She didn't want them to call the actual security on her.
She decided to go to one of the arcades and snuck further in the back. She remembered Emelia mentioning that sometimes there were just open vents, and Mr. Moon said that the MiniMusicmen made those their home. Since she was going to be sharing the space with them, she thought it was only polite to greet her neighbors. Besides, they were supposed to be nice as long as you weren't rude, so they might help her if she's not rude. She found the vent she was looking for and as luck would have it there wasn't a cover. She checked to make sure no one was around then she knocked on the side of the wall and waited. The TinyMusic-man appeared in the opening looking confused. Harriette hummed the greeting tune Moon had taught her late one night after a bad nightmare. The TinyMusic-Man greeted her in turn.
"Sorry, that's about all I've learned so far, but I would love to learn more of your language," Harriette said. "I hope that's not rude." The TinyMusic-Man chimed, waving a hand. "I hope that means it's okay to learn your language." TinyMusic-Man nodded. "Thank you." Harriette said, smiling. The TinyMusic-Man waved. "Thanks for talking to me, sorry for bothering you. I'm sure you have other stuff you'd rather be doing. I like your design by the way." Harriette said. "Oh, we should both probably go," She moved her hand up to signal she was going to tell him a secret. "Neither of us are supposed to be here." Her smile grew wider at the chime of the TinyMusic-Man. "Bye-bye, Mr. TinyMusic-Man." She said, standing, and waving, the TinyMusic-Man waved her forward, backing away from the entrance and waving some more. Harriette crouched down.
"Huh? Are you- are you inviting me inside your vent?" Harriette asked. Mr. TinyMusic-Man nodded. "Really? Thank you. I know how big a deal that is, so I'm really happy that your letting me share your space even for a little while." Harriette said she checked to make sure nobody was looking and then slipped into the vent.
Harriette followed Mr. TinyMusic-Man for several minutes before arriving in Mr. TinyMusic-Man's 'home' . It was a small… Pocket, grouping, area? Harriette wasn't entirely sure what to call it, Harriette and Mr. TinyMusic-Man fit in the small square outcropping fairly comfortably. Mr. TinyMusic-Man pulled something toward her. It was a packet of glow in the dark stars. Harriette looked confused. Mr. TinyMusic-Man chimed, before showing her that he just couldn't open it. His hands just weren't designed that way. So Harriette opened it for him. He chimed.
"Is that a thank you?" Harriette asked. "Because if it is, you are very welcome." Mr. TinyMusic-Man nodded. Pulled out one of the stars and pointed, making a very specific note. Harriette nodded, humming the tune herself. "Is that star?" Shake. "Sticker?" nod. Another tune and then Mr. TinyMusic-Man traced the shape of the star. "That's star?" nod. Harriette hummed the tone. Then Mr. TinyMusic-Man tried to remove the back of the sticker so they could stick it on the wall. Harriette ended up helping with that. Mr. TinyMusic-Man teaching her the tunes for several words. Harriette humming along as best she could. Harriette helped the TinyMusic-Man decorate his home before going back to the rest of the pizzaplex. She scrunge up a lunch pretty easily, cleaning up the tables. She wrapped up another a bit of food for dinner. She was walking past another of the pizzaplex's many arcades when it happened.
"Mummie, look what I won!" a little boy shouted. Harriette wasn't sure why she turned to look. The boy was dressed in a colorful shirt with a picture of the character that Harriette learned was Freddy Fazbear. The woman was wearing a matching shirt, the boy practically threw himself into her arms. She laughed.
"Good job," She said, adjusting the hat on the boy's head so they were looking at each other properly. Harriette swallowed. Her throat suddenly felt desert dry, chest hurt. She watched the two as the woman dipped down to kiss the boy's forehead, and Harriette's own forehead felt like it had been burned. Her fingers twitched at her side toward the pair as they laughed, passing by her as if she wasn't there. Harriette looked down. It hurts to breathe, she gripped her backpack straps and forced a lungful of way too hot air into her lungs. She continued walking.
(Eventually insert Harriette and Daisy meeting.)
Harriette learned the route pretty quickly, by the time she made her way back to her little home in the dump she was pretty sure she knew all the ways in and out. She'd also met several other TinyMusic-men and was invited to several of their homes in the vents. She'd helped a lot of them finish up decorating their homes with little personal touches, mostly stickers but a few other things too. She'd traded her button and thread for passage through a few other vents.
She'd also met a Mop bot who, if she was guessing right, went by the name Daisy. If she was right he also used he/him pronouns. Harriette thought that was neat. She'd never met a boy with a flower name and she'd always thought that was too bad.
She settled into her 'bed' with a soft slightly contented sigh. She was safe and while not warm perse she wasn't cold. She was sheltered from the elements, she'd learned from the few nights she'd spent outside that it was better then not being sheltered. She was fed, and her throat wasn't dry, and she wasn't covered in any new injuries. It wasn't as nice as her week in the daycare, but it was better than all five of her years with the Durley's.