Hello hello! Posting later at night tonight because I feel like it and why not.

Also it's a bit short, sorry about that. Just thought it might be a good break from the 7569 word long beast previously...

Jacq121: That's an awesome costume! I'm going as a plague doctor with some of my friends, but I plan to keep a little Freddy plushie with me just to appease the fnaf gods...maybe I'll find some other ways to incorporate fnaf into my costume!

I was thinking that we haven't had a Steve chapter in a while, then when I finished writing this I realized I wrote one like two chapters ago haha! So here's a Minecraft Steve chapter extra early yay.

Enjoy!

Chapter 15

Steve Meets The Crew

"And over here is where you'll be working!" The tour guide explained with a hint of pride. She waved her arms excitedly, as if to emphasize the awesomeness of twenty or so people hammering away at various animatronics. The lady, who Steve had identified as Linda from her nametag, would do amazing as a real estate agent. She certainly had the voice of one, and her always-turned-on smile could rival that of an alligator's. Steve nodded politely.

"It's...bright!" He tried. Which was true, due to the humming white fluorescent lights above, with several crispy fried flies trapped under the glass. Linda smiled even wider, and Steve was sure that her face had to break at some point.

Two of the people working on some random silver endoskeleton turned around. The woman smiled at him and pulled off her glove and stuck her hand out. She had interesting short curly orange hair, dirty leather work gloves, and stained, ripped jeans. Steve smiled and shook her callused hand.

"Hey, new guy. I'm Elise, and this grumpy guy over here is Kenny, my cousin." Elise had a sort of farmgirl Southern accent. "We work here as engineers, you know, just building robots and stuff. I like it, but Kenny here prefers being a makeup artist. Isn't that right, Kenny dear?" Elise asked Kenny.

"Grunt," was Kenny's sullen reply. Elise laughed and waved a hand at him.

"Oh, you. He really doesn't talk much, but he's a real sweetheart. Usually I talk for him, because I'm a bit on the talkative side. Did I tell you that Kenny here landed himself a girlfriend? Yeah, she's so sweet, like tea. She makes tea too! Her name's Rosie, can you believe it? Rosie's just the nicest, and her birthday's comin' up too, in about a month! A November birthday, which is so nice, just when the leaves are turnin'! Mine's in spring, which is also really nice because the flowers are a-bloomin' an' the skies are clear! Kenny's birthday's in January. We're both turnin' twenty-seven that year, prime time fer us if ah'm being honest with you. Now, Rosie's a bit younger, 'bout twenty-four. And she can make a mean sweet tea, lemme tell you! She uses…"

Kenny grunted in agreement. Steve noted that Elise was probably the type of girl who could talk your ear off if you weren't careful. Linda smiled unpleasantly at Elise.

"Hello...Elise. Uh- are you coming on the tour with us?" Linda asked, as if speaking to a bit of mud on her flawless designer business suit. Elise gasped and put a hand to her heart.

"Well buckle my buttercups, ain't that just the nicest offer ah've ever gotten! Oh course I'd love to come with ya, Linda darlin'! Come on Kenny, let's go with this lovely lady and this Steve guy. Oh, Linda- goodness me I haven't heard that name in years! Linda, yes, that reminds me, I had a great-aunt named Linda. She passed a couple years back, but oh my word, was she the nicest. Shucks, Auntie Linda, we called her Linnie, was so beautiful, she had all the guys in a coma when she came 'round! And then when she met ma Uncle Lewis…"

Elise had wrapped an arm around Linda, who was very clearly holding her breath and trying to get away. Kenny followed silently behind them like some sort of bodyguard. Steve shook his head and tried his hardest not to laugh at the disgusted expression on Linda's face as they walked up the stairs.

Linda pulled Elise's arm off her shoulder gingerly and smiled at them, regaining her composure. She led them to a door at the beginning of the hallway. The gold plate read, Henry Emily, VP of Fazbear Entertainment.

"Steve- or should I call you Mr Anderson? This is the office of the VP, Henry Emily! Now, Henry is a little...on the eccentric side, but he really is an artistic genius, so just pay no mind to him if he says something...a little odd." Linda explained, smoothing down her powder-blue jacket. Steve nodded.

"Got it."

"Oh, this is so exciting! Mind you, I've met Henry loads of times, and he's quite the character! Rather shy and sweet, sort of a deep artist. Just like Cousin Albert! He could paint up a storm, really, his drawings were incredible! Now, I remember one time when little Albert and I were-"

Linda cut her off with a short glare and opened the door of Henry's office.

"Yes, could we get someone to take down the photos of Elizabeth Afton? You can? Oh, thank you. Yes, it's terrible what happened, and to a six-year-old, no less. No, no. Really! He's taken it pretty well, which is good because he still has his sons to look after. Yes. Yes! Okay. Thank you again. Bye!"

The tall man with light gray-brown hair and brown eyes put the phone back in the charger and smiled at Linda, Steve, Elise and Kenny.

"Um. Linda. Is this the new employee? Oh, and hello Elise and Kenny!"

"Grunt," Kenny said, waving to Henry.

"Oh, Henry! Hello to you too, sugar. You know, you might just be my fifth favourite person in this building! After Kenny and William and Linda and Steve, of course. Actually, it's hilarious what happened yesterday."

Henry's face seemed fixed in a smile, but his eyes were wandering. Henry seemed definitely like a daydreamer artist, living in his head more than the real world. Steve walked over to him and stuck his hand out.

"Steve Anderson. I'm here for the position of an animatronic builder?" Henry shook himself like a dog with a wet pelt and shook his hand awkwardly.

"Yes! Steve! Hello, yes, we need more animatronics! Or...no. Hah, sorry, I can get sort of spacey sometimes!" Henry chuckled. Steve nodded slowly. Not sure what to say, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"So, uh, why did you want those photos of Elizabeth Afton taken down? Isn't that...William's kid?" Steve asked unsurely. Henry sighed.

"Oh, about a month ago Elizabeth went missing. The police think she was kidnapped...and she's been presumed to be dead. We're taking the pictures down because we thought it might be hard on William to see his daughter every day and to be reminded of what happened to her." Henry hesitated. "Also, his wife left him about four years ago, so we're taking those down as well."

While Henry seemed a bit odd at first, it appeared that he truly did care about his co-worker and best friend.

"I-I'm sorry." Steve said awkwardly, unsure of what to say about something like that.

Henry smiled a sad smile.

"It does happen... I guess it's just one of those things that you think will happen to someone else." Henry paused and sighed. "Unfortunately, we're all someone else to someone else…" He drifted off.

Everyone in the room shared awkward glances. Linda cleared her throat. Elise, for once, was at a loss for words. Kenny was gruntless. Henry plastered a smile on his face.

"Anyways, you lot should probably go...meet William and see the place! You seem nice, Steve, and I uh- yeah. Bye!" Henry waved to him.

"Well, that was weird." Linda breathed as they were out of earshot. Steve nodded.

"Yeah...is William like that at all?" He asked nervously. Steve wasn't so sure if he wanted this job if that's what all the workers were like. Of course, Henry seemed like a nice enough guy, just a bit...on the eccentric side, just like Linda had said. Speaking of her, Linda waved a hand at him.

"No, no, not at all! In fact, if one of the two of them is normal, it's certainly William! Yes, he's very kind, and funny too! He can come on a bit...strong, but honestly, he'd never hurt a soul!" Linda gushed, praising her boss. Steve had a sort of feeling that William may or may not have told Linda to say that, but whatever, none of his business.

The four of them walked down the hall as Elise blabbered on and on about her last family Thanksgiving and how her great-great-great grandmother's turkey recipe was the best way to cook a turkey, and how her nephew's collie puppy ate the whole apple pie. Steve knew that Elise would make an amazing grandmother when she grew old enough.

Linda gave them all a big smile as she opened the door reading, 'William Afton, President of Fazbear Entertainment'. Smiling, mostly because she didn't want to hear Elise yammer on about Buster the dog or whatever.

The door opened and Steve stood on his toes to look over Linda's head. She noticed and quickly scooted to the side so he could catch a glimpse of the man behind...haha, that's funny, Steve was just about to think 'the man behind the slaughter'! No, no, the man behind Fazbear Entertainment of course!

The room was a rich shade of tan, with a nice outlook of the city park. There was a desk and a seating area, with a large white sofa, a smaller armchair, and a little coffee table in the center, an interview area probably. There was a cute poster of a kitten hanging on the wall, as well as some decorative... knives? Probably some heirlooms, Steve guessed, though it was a little weird.

William was pacing around the room, rubbing his hands together. William himself wore an oddly bright purple suit with a black tie. His dark jet-black hair was in a braided tail tied with a purple elastic and hanging on the nape of his neck.

When he saw that he had company, he turned to them and raised his arms.

"Ah! Linda, my favourite tour guide. I see we have guests! Come in, come in, make yourselves comfortable." William took hold of Steve's shoulders and guided him to a nearby long white couch. Linda and Elise sat next to them, while Kenny inspected a poster of a kitten on the wall by the door. William took a seat on a smaller armchair across from them. He smiled brightly and looked right at Steve with his flint-gray eyes.

"So! It appears you are new. Tell me about yourself!" William coaxed cheerfully.

"Well...my name is Steve Anderson, and I've just gotten the job of an animatronic builder." Steve explained. William nodded eagerly, waiting for more.

"I, uh, have a wife...she's actually pregnant right now! And I have a daughter, she just turned two a week ago." Steve told him, unable to keep the pride out of his voice. His family was doing well now.

Unlike his, the voice in his head scolded. Idiot, think about him! His wife left him, and his only daughter is presumed dead! Feel bad for him, at least!

Steve knew that he probably shouldn't outright ask him about his home situation without coming across as incredibly rude and unempathetic, so instead he asked him this;

"So...what's your favourite board game?"

William paused, for a moment longer then he should have, then laughed a deep throaty laugh. He put a hand on Steve's shoulder and laughed again, louder this time.

"Oh Steve! A funny one, are you? Linda, I like this one. Tell Christian he gets a promotion." William ordered. Linda nodded and quickly jotted it down on a clipboard, which Steve hadn't even noticed she had.

"I meant, NOW." William fixed her with a hard, steely glare. Linda nodded quickly.

"Yes sir." She said, and hobbled out of the room on her pointy heels. Steve shivered. Had the room gotten colder all of a sudden?

William clapped his hands together.

"Back to the subject! So Steve, at this job, we don't want it to just be some big corporate office where nobody has fun. Our motto is even 'a place where fantasy and fun come to life!' So, we're having a contest here, whoever creates the best animatronic will have it featured as one of the Fazbear Four! Doesn't that sound like fun?" William asked cheerily. Steve nodded.

"Yeah, it does!"

Elise elbowed him in the side.

"Me an' Kenny are making a cute fox girl. She's gonna be pink an' white with lip-smackin' red lipstick!" She crowed excitedly. Kenny grunted in agreement. William smiled at them, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Ah, a lovely idea! I remember when Henry and I made Foxy. It was winter, and a rather cold one at that! We even had to huddle for warmth in our cold workshop as we sewed the pelt for Foxy...heh, good times." William trailed off. Steve was surprised to see that the seemingly stiff man was blushing.

Huh, maybe more than friends?

"What do you think you'll make, Steve?" Elise asked him. Steve shrugged.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I might just get my daughter to come up with one, she's always got the best ideas." Steve chuckled, remembering how she was the one who even got him into this job from an ad on the TV.

"You speak very highly of this daughter of yours. She is smart, I take it?" William prodded. Steve nodded.

"Oh yes. She's already reading Berenstain Bears on her own, and she's very active. I've been playing lots of sports with her. Soccer and lacrosse, to name a few. She even-" Steve stopped himself, realizing how this must sound to a man who's just lost his daughter. Steve looked at him sadly.

"I'm sorry. I-I heard what happened, to Elizabeth...Are you- are you alright?" Steve asked hesitatingly. William sighed heavily, and Steve just then noticed the bags under his eyes.

"I'm fine. Both my parents...they died in a skiing accident when I was ten, so I know how to deal with loss. And, well, I'm a single dad with two sons. One of which is terrified of everything, including his brother, and the other isn't scared of anything and loves tormenting his little brother. I've got to focus on the present, not the past. Live in the moment, right?" William made an attempt at a positive attitude, but fell flat. Steve gave him a small smile.

"Well...I'm glad to see that you're not taking it too hard, but remember that it's OK to be sad when something terrible happens." Steve told him. William smiled at him wearily.

It was odd. Steve expected to see sadness, or even gratitude in his eyes. But they weren't...well, anything. They held no emotion. Just two, empty, gray, flat eyes.

William sat up, the chair he was sitting in creaking as he did so. He smiled, a bit too widely.

"Well, not that this hasn't been fun, but I think it's time you lot headed out." He ushered them out back into the hallway. Well, not exactly ushered. More like...shoved forcefully out. Kenny grunted in an annoyed sort of way and pulled away from him. Elise patted his shoulder and laughed.

"Well, not that you mean any harm, William dear, but don't you get on the wrong side of Kenny now! One time, there was this dog, and his owner was...well, long story short, Kenny here made mincemeat out of that owner! Not that the owner didn't deserve it, mind you. Not nice at all!"

William chuckled darkly.

"Oh, I have my ways…" He muttered softly.

Steve felt a chill run up his spine. He didn't know what it was, but there was certainly something very off about this business, and he would find out what it was…

Even if it killed him.

Oh dear Steve...you have no idea what you've just gotten yourself into, do you.

Welp, true fnaf fans can guess how this one's going to end…

Happy Thanksgiving if you're celebrating it now!

Bye for now!

~Ghost