I Don't Own Fnaf
Charlie could feel the faint tremors of nerves racing through her body as she stared ahead at the door in front of her, she had agreed, of course she did, she wanted to be here, but the fact that she had been sitting on this for so long, now that it was finally happening... It felt like everything was suddenly moving so fast that she had no idea just where the breaks were. She had been glad that Mike had canceled on her last time, she had been freaking out more than she wanted to admit, unsure just what she was supposed to do or say after running off the night before, but now... It had been a full week since, and now she was here again, on an invite from the two for.. Dinner.
It felt weird, but she was here now, and so, after a long moment, she reached up and knocked on the door after standing out on the porch for what had to be a bit too long, shifting a bit where she stood, looking down for a moment as she looked herself over. Was it weird she wasn't sure what to wear to this? She was pretty sure there wasn't an outfit for this kind of situation, she had tried to get some help from Jessica, but without being able to really explain it, she just had to say that she was going to have dinner with Michael and his roommate.
That had become a whole very embarrassing thing with Jessica reading way into that, and led to more questions than she even wanted to think about from her friend about her and John. She had no idea if there even was a her and John, they dated for a little while back at high school before she had left town, but did that mean anything now? They weren't dating now, but they still talked a lot so that had to count for something, but if they never talked about that, then did it mean anything at all? Were they supposed to or something?
Frankly, she was more than happy to keep thinking about that mess instead of the one she was about to willingly walk into, as she felt herself flinch a bit as after a long moment after the knock, the door in front of her was pulled open to reveal Michael. He was dressed about as casually as he always was, which made her feel better about keeping her own green jacket on her shoulders in spite of what Jessica had said about being too casual.
"Hey, come on in" Charlie could only just nod, walking in behind the man, her eyes already shooting around to look at the things in the house, she hadn't seen much the last time she was here, and she didn't have a great memory of what this home had been like when she was a kid, they hardly were ever over at the Afton's. There weren't as many pictures, but everything else felt about the same, as she walked into the living room, on the lookout for more than just differences in the furniture.
"Where is...?" Michael glanced around for a moment, clearly on the lookout now as well, as a faint sympathetic if bordering on exasperated look came over his face, as he said.
"Around, come on, he's probably hiding out in the kitchen, besides I need to check on the stuff in the oven, it's almost done but it'll still be about another twenty minutes, started on it late" Charlie could only nod, walking behind the man as they moved into the kitchen, now that he had mentioned it, the sudden almost overpowering smell of cooking food filled her nose like she had only just realized it was there. It smelled great, she hadn't thought Michael would have gone through the effort of making a proper meal, but as she stepped into the kitchen, her head turning to the left to look at the stove and oven in question, it was clear there was a few things cooking as Michael quickly moved over while calling out to who she had thought was Charlie herself at first.
"Right, you should just get it over with, hiding under the table isn't going to be helping anything Stripes" Jerking her head back around to the other side of the kitchen, which was where a fairly large dining table sat, she could only feel her heart rate suddenly spike with nerves as she watched as from one of the seats, out popped the mask of the Marionette, the sound of a sharp chime coming from the air and Charlie had no idea just what that meant, as she watched with faint wonder as the puppet slowly rose up more, before it was sitting there, in the chair, like anyone else... Before giving a short, hesitant, wave.
She knew it was her brother, she knew that, but all she could see was the puppet in front of her, acting in ways that hurt her brain to rationalize. She had thought she had been ready, that she had managed to get her head around the idea of ghosts, possession, and the like, but clearly she had been wrong, the idea that Sam was back had been enough that she hadn't truly thought about just how he was back enough it had seemed as she slowly just itched closer to the table, uncertain what to say as she felt her mouth open and close more than once trying to parse out words.
"H-Hey Charlie" It seemed the puppet didn't have the same problem as she felt her breath hitch at the sound of the voice that she heard come from the animatronic, the same one that came from the phone last week, his voice.
It was Sammy's voice, but at the same time it wasn't.
The voice wasn't of a young kid, it was of someone her age, of course it would be, but that wasn't it, beyond sounding older in a way Charlie had never thought to think about, his voice clashing with the memories of her brother's from when they were kids, there was something else, an... Almost filter, making it just a bit harder to tell, his words came out almost melodic in nature, like a music filter over a song.
"S-Sammy" The puppet fidgeted, his whole body seemed to move, his hands coming up to wring themselves nervously in a way that was so human that it made her head hurt, as she found herself staring at the mask of the puppet's face that didn't change, just stuck with that saccharine smile.
"I-...I prefer Mari. I don't remember enough about... Me, to feel that name is right" Charlie felt like her heart was being squeezed, why wouldn't he want to be called his name? It didn't make much sense to her for a long moment, but eventually she found her voice.
"I-... Alright, Mari" She said it to test the way it sounded on her tongue, it didn't feel right, none of this felt right, but this was her brother, and if he wanted to be called something like Mari, then she wasn't going to say no if it meant she got to talk to him, "I-... I don't know what to say" It came out of her mouth the same time she realized that fact for herself, all this time, all this build up to see him again, and... And she hadn't thought of just what she was going to say.
"I'd start with hello" Both seemed to jump at the sound of an almost amused voice from the other side of the room where Mike was standing, seemingly still busy with keeping the cooking, as he glanced back in time to see a pair of unimpressed looks being leveled at him. He chose the tactful option of not mentioning they were looking like twins again already, and instead turned his gaze to Mari, as the puppet seemed to get the message, as he slowly floated out of out of the chair, moving over as he spoke, dragging Charlie's attention back in time to gawk at the sight of the floating animatronic in front of her, somehow she had forgotten that her brother could fly.
The fact that that was one of the least strange things about this situation almost made a faint laugh of the sheer ridiculousness of the situation escape her as the puppet said simply.
"Hello... We should talk" It- His, head tilted in a way that made Charlie's neck ache but she just nodded, unsure of just what they were going to talk about but following after the floating animatronic into the living room, her nerves not taking it lightly as she found herself sitting down in one of the side chairs as Sam took the couch.
It was somehow stranger to see the marionette just sitting in a person's living room, the fact that she was sure he would have looked wholly comfortable if this wasn't happening made the image somehow even more strange. She couldn't help but ask before Sam could start talking.
"Are you really... Like, fully him?" The puppet fidgeted some more before slowly nodding.
"Yeah, possession doesn't change us... Well, it does- But it's not bad! I, uh, have some new interests that I probably wouldn't have had before, can do some weird things, but, as a person?" The puppet seemed to pause, taking a long moment looking away, before turning to face Charlie once more as he said in a firm, certain voice, "I know you may not recognize me at first but I assure you, it's still me"
Charlie could only nod, feeling a bundle of emotion trying to pull itself up from what felt like the base of her neck as she was doing her damnedest to not do something as embarrassing as cry, but she was pretty sure she was going to lose that battle, as she asked carefully.
"I- Why... What happened?" Sam seemed so incredibly tense all of sudden as he asked carefully.
"Are you sure you want to know? It's... It's a long story, and not one that is... nice either" Charlie thought about that, did she want to know? ...Not really, she didn't want to know any of what had happened, didn't want to have spent the last few months pouring through newspapers, going through abandoned buildings, being suspicious and half afraid that she was just going crazy, she knew her friends had been worried about her, but... But just because she didn't want to know, didn't mean she didn't need to know.
She had to know, because that's what all this had been for, to find out what had happened, what really happened. Why her brother had to die, why her father had to die, why her mother gave her up so easily, why Aunt Jen was the only person who let her feel like a kid anymore even though it didn't feel like she had been one in over nine years, not since Sam.
And now that she was here, with her long dead brother that she would have given anything for to see again? Even like this, it was more than she had ever imagined she would have found, and if this was just the start... What was the real story she needed to know? So of course there was no answer that she could have come up with that was anything different than what she said.
"Tell me. I need to know" The puppet shifted a bit before finally nodding.
"Right" He didn't say anything more for a long moment, and Charlie wondered briefly if he was going to say anything at all, Sammy used to go silent for hours at a time when he felt stressed out, she used to have to do most of the talking for the both of them. But apparently she had greatly underestimated just what it was that the puppet was getting himself ready to say, and the weight of what she was about to be told, as Sam focused back on her...
And explained the last nine years of his life.
It was horrific, and if she wasn't sure he was sparing her some of the worst parts of what he and apparently so many other kids went through, then she probably would have already felt sick at the thought of it all. As he talked about his time at the original Freddy's, the faint blurred memories of being repaired, only to be moved eventually to the second one, the one their father had helped make, only for that one to somehow become something even worse, so many more deaths... Before he and all the others were sent away, locked up, only for another to come around, the last one in a chain of misery and suffering, were only four came back to the stage as he spent years locked away and toyed with.
No wonder her father couldn't take it, if he had known... Did he know? He must have thought something was happening right? Why else would he had done what he had, snooped around, hid recordings in a safe with a name on a badge that wasn't his? If... If that was the case, why hadn't he ever told her? Her father had to have been the one to put the marionette back together, it had been basically destroyed in that rainstorm, so... so he must have thought something was happening right?
It felt like her head was burning with more questions than ever, but it was muted by the horror of it all as well, as she just stared at the puppet in front of her, hearing the tales he had to say, leading all the way up to when he had been found, in that warehouse, by Michael who... Brought him here. It seemed that was about as far as Sam was going to talk about the past, ending it off with the strange tale of him and the others Michael had recruited having a building-wide chase of the killer... A man she had once thought as basically an uncle, William Afton, until it ended with him being trapped in his old suit, trapping and dooming himself, locked in a room.
In the last half hour of talking, it had been nothing much, one death after another it felt like, talking of the demise of so many kids, of innocent men who worked the guard shift, not knowing what they were getting into... Hearing just how many people had died in those halls, it was like a stain was casted over the image of the place she had once viewed so long ago as something special. Her view of the Freddy's pizzerias hadn't been anything kind for years now because of what she had lost there, but now it felt like she was seeing them truly for what they were.
"W-...Why after all of that... Why open another pizzeria? Is... Is Michael mak-" Before she could finish the sentence Sam was already speaking again, an agitation to his voice that hadn't been there, he had spoken softly, with clear grief and a sense of melancholy, but not anger, not like this. She didn't want to think poorly of the older man, but... Something about Michael this entire time, since she had started looking into him, just... Didn't line up, she wanted to think better, he had saved her brother... But saved him from what? From a crate to another pizzeria? What kind of life was that?
"No!" It was a single word, but it was loud and sharp, as Charlie suddenly felt herself tense up, watching with a faint horror and sense of wonder painted in disturbing intrigue as the mask of the puppet changed, shifting like a slideshow of images into one that looked angry, firm, and... Protective? "Mike hasn't made any of us do anything"
"Then... Why? After all that stuff you went through, why would you want to work in a place like that again?" Charlie just couldn't understand it, she could still remember the vague sense of disgust she felt when she had first seen the Diner back up and running. The offer Michael had made her to work at it had felt like a joke even though she knew the man was serious she just couldn't imagine what would make her want to spend time in those walls. It was just... It was too much before, and the idea of thinking that would change for her now, knowing the history, knowing what a place like the Cove stood for...
Before the puppet could try to explain, a new voice spoke up, coming from behind, making Charlie jump a bit in her seat as she turned around and stared at the sight of Michael, leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, Charlie had no idea just how long the man had been there, but judging by the unimpressed glance he shot Charlie, which had her sinking in her seat in a way she really didn't like to know she still instinctively saw him as something of an authority figure in her life, he had definitely heard her.
"Everything Freddy's and Fazbear Entertainment stood for was nothing more than a lie at best, it was all just for my father to play his twisted games. The Cove isn't that, it'll never be like that. It's there to be everything that our father's couldn't manage to accomplish, fantasy and fun come to life. It just happens the animatronics are about as fantasy as it can get. They all agreed, you can talk to Foxy if you want, he'll talk your ear off about how much he likes performing, and Mari can explain what he does and his roles. They aren't props or toys, they're my staff, and they are treated just like everyone else is" Charlie couldn't think of anything to say to that, a feeling of speechlessness hitting her all at once, even as her brother said back, warmth to his tone that Charlie suddenly realized she hadn't heard in so long it made something in her chest hurt.
"Fantasy and fun? You sound like a dork" Michael just huffed, shooting the puppet a glare that lacked any heat as he said as he pushed himself off the door frame saying as he moved to be standing just behind the couch.
"Yeah, I'm the dork, you're the one that spends his free time designing plushies" The puppet crossed his arms, leaning and turning around to stare up at Michael who was now leaning against the back of the chair.
"Yeah, cause that's my job"
"Is it your job to make sure you keep one of every plushy variant we end up making? Your room is overrun with a bunch of mini-yous as it is" The puppet, Sam, let out another chiming sound that Charlie couldn't hope to understand the meaning of, it was like a weird verbal tick or something, but Michael got a little grin on his face at the sound.
"I- It's important to keep a record!" He sounded almost embarrassed and a tad defensive but Michael just hummed, saying with a raised eyebrow.
"Sure, not because of any other reason, you won't mind at all if I clear the room out and move them to storage then?"
"You try and I'm cutting off any sweets made in this house!" Michael instantly held his hands up, seemingly surrendering at what sounded like the most ridiculous threat Charlie could imagine for the massive man to take seriously.
"Fine fine, you're a cool puppet who only keeps the coolest of toys" Sam just huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, but seemingly mollified by the teasing comfort, as Mike let a small, casual grin pull on his face... Before stopping, his eyes glanced up at Charlie, who was admittedly gawking a bit at just how... easy the two talked and interacted, like nothing in the world was different about the situation, it was like watching two friends just banter back and forth without fear of anything getting between it.
It made something squirm in her chest in a way that she could almost immediately recognize as jealousy, seeing the way Michael so easily fell in line with her brother, but... But they had been living together, working together, for nearly a year now... Maybe it only made sense they two were close. She could recall the things Michael had talked about with his roommate in the past. Marion, Charlie could remember those talks, they hadn't been long, but he had expressed such a bond with the other man that now that Charlie knew who it was... It was weird, but it wasn't anything she could think of as false...
Michael wasn't some big bad, he wasn't lying about his goals or motive, he truly wanted to make something good from everything that had happened... And Charlie suddenly felt awful for thinking something so bad of him, as she felt her eyes lower to her lap, staring at her hands as they clenched tightly together. What... What would have happened if she just talked to him months ago when she had started having these doubts? How much longer did she delay meeting Sam again because of her own paranoia?
No! No, Michael wouldn't have ever answered her questions! He had denied it all right up until she had proof that he couldn't lie his way out of it! Maybe things could have worked out differently, but it didn't matter right now, as she heard the sound of Michael's voice again.
"Anyways, food's ready, didn't want to interrupt the catch up though, I'm starving so if you two want to keep talking, feel free but I'm going to make a plate" The siblings glanced at each other, and while Charlie was ready to ask more questions, even if she wasn't sure just what they knew about what happened to her and Sammy's father, she still had to ask them... Only for the sound of a faint grumble to echo from her as she stared down at her stomach in betrayal as Sammy quickly floated up, waving her along as he followed Michael back into the kitchen.
Charlie was shocked to see the absolute feast of food that was laid out over the counter, it should be enough to easily feed five of her, and she could only watch with faint shock as Michael moved ahead, two plates in hand being balanced as he loaded them both to the brim with food.
"That's a lot of food" Sam let out that same chime again, moving around to grab a plate from one of the cupboards, and for a moment Charlie could only wonder if the puppet was planning on eating with them, only to blush in embarrassment as he floated over and held it out as she realized he was just getting one for her... Which meant Michael really was planning on having two plates, as she carefully took the plate from the animatronic.
"Mike eats a lot, and we usually send any leftovers to Jeremy" Michael shot a look back at the puppet.
"Was that a comment about my weight?" It sounded teasing, but there was a faint something to it that Charlie couldn't quite grasp, even as Sam said back just as quickly.
"No, if anything you're getting skinny" Charlie couldn't imagine eating that much and being skinny, but Michael just seemed to brush it off as nothing, even if he did give a short look at the plates in his hands for a moment. Charlie couldn't help but ask.
"Jeremy, I remember him, do you give him leftovers a lot?" Michael shrugged, but Sam just nodded adamantly.
"Mike has a feeding people thing" Mike called back quickly as he moved over to the table.
"No, Jeremy has a microwaved dinner thing, this is me making sure he doesn't somehow give himself scurvy. We don't need the Cove to be that authentic to the pirate theme" Sam just gave Charlie a shrug that looked so strange on the puppet, but she got the impression the gesture was out of fond exasperation. She just glanced between the two, unsure what to say, but saying the first thing that came to mind.
"You must care a lot about him if you're that determined he eats right. You used to do the same thing to us" It was a thing back then, one of the perks of Michael being the one that looked after them all, there was always snacks to be had, her dad had gotten on Michael's case more than once about it, something about junk food not being a good substitution for lunch. She had almost forgotten about that, it felt like a lifetime ago.
Michael apparently was in the same boat, as he seemed to pause for a moment, not quite frozen, but it was enough that Sam moved to float back over, hesitating for a moment in what to do before Michael seemed to snap out of whatever it was that had possessed him, as he glanced back and shrugged.
"I- uh... Yeah, I guess you could say that, the man's too skinny" He more muttered that last part but Charlie still caught it always as he quickly moved over to the table as Charlie hastened herself a bit to move over and get her own food from the pots and pans, moving over as she asked a bit more carefully, not wanting to trigger another strange reaction, so going for something a bit more playful.
"You must be a treat to have during Thanksgivings" For some reason that seemed to get an even bigger reaction as the man's head whipped up, a startled look on his face as he suddenly shot a look over at Sam who was just staring back with what Charlie could only imagine to be concern as that was her reaction at the... very out of character reaction as the man suddenly said.
"Thanksgiving... Do-... Am I supposed to invite the crew over?" Sam just stared for a moment before shrugging.
"I-... Maybe? It would be nice to have everyone here for the holiday, or at least Goldie and Foxy... Bonnie if he's willing, but Jeremy, Fritz and Janet all have their own families to go spend the day with" The man slowly nodded, leaning back in his chair for a moment, before seemingly just shaking it off like he hadn't just had a massive, for him, reaction to what Charlie had thought to be a simple question given just how quickly that day was coming up.
"Yeah... I'll ask, might as well see if I have an excuse to try out some new recipes..." He trailed off, clearly thinking about said cooking, and while Charlie found herself slightly in amazement at the idea of Michael being anything close to a foodie, something she really hadn't been expecting from the man, her thoughts turned to the holiday she had inadvertently brought up.
Honestly, she hadn't had any clue what she was going to do on the day, she had already been given an invite to basically all her friends to join their own family time, none of which she had any intention accepting given she hadn't wanted to be any kind of burden, she had thought about calling her mom or Aunt Jen, but that didn't seem as... Important all of a sudden.
"Would, uh, would you mind if I came around?" Michael blinked back into the present before glancing at her before glancing back to Sam, who was looking over at her with that same unmoving expression that she really wished wasn't a smile of all things, it made it very hard to tell just what he was thinking, but thinking it was very clear he was doing, especially with the slightly to loud chimes that rang out before being suddenly cut off with a harsh sounding click.
Y-Yes! I- uh, mean, if you want to, I'm sure you have your own plans, but... That would be nice. It would be a good way to really get you introduced to the others, we uh... Haven't really talked to them about this whole... thing yet" Charlie sort of gave a half nod, glancing between the two, once more feeling that faint sense of jealousy she had no right to.
It wasn't just Michael, her brother had built a whole life out of what this was. Clearly, if Michael was willing to invite what sounded like a whole host of people over and Sam not even thinking twice of them coming over. He had friends, and with how he and Michael talked, it was more like they were family than it felt like she and her brother were at this point. It made something ugly and painful squeezed in her chest. She hated that it was there, but that didn't make it go away, the idea that she had missed out on so much of her brother's life... death? Whatever it was.
But the fact he seemed interested in having her over, showing her and properly introducing his friends, the people he had built a new life around... She wouldn't trade that chance for the world, as she said quickly.
"That sounds nice, I don't really know much about them... Could you tell me about them? I mean, and about everything you've been up to. I think I'd like to hear the real story about why the Din- Uh, Cove, needed to undergo renovations... And just what happened for Michael to get hurt so bad he went to the hospital" Maybe she shouldn't have asked that, at least not at this exact moment, as she watched as the two shared a glance... Which was a bit ruined by the fact Michael had a massive amount of food in his mouth that he had stopped chewing half way through her question, as she quickly corrected herself.
"But, uh, we can talk about that after dinner!" Neither seemed all that bothered by the backtrack, and Charlie just quickly made the effort to actually start eating, she knew they would be in for a long night if the silence from the question had meant anything, so she might as well get her fill in now. No matter what it was, it couldn't be worse than what she had already been told.
Jeremy scratched the back of his head as he looked around the metal container, it was... a bit messier than it had been the last time he had been in the thing, and given that had only been last night, it said something as he stepped over the discarded and crumpled up pile of papers that was covering most of the ground as he asked carefully.
"What happened?" The rabbit in question just huffed, turning away from him at the table that he was normally sitting at, hunching over more as he seemed to work at something in his hands, as Jeremy moved over, taking the silence as an invite, as Bonnie usually made it pretty clear when he wanted the man gone. Looking over the animatronic's shoulder and blinked at the sight of the game he had given the animatronic, the bunny's plastic fingers flicking about trying to hit the inputs correctly over the screen. He seemed to be doing a decent job, though from what Jeremy was getting, Bonnie wasn't quite doing as well as he wanted to, a faint but not so subtle layer of irritation radiating off of him on an empathic level... and from the faint creaking of plastic that Jeremy wasn't sure was from the animatronic's plastic fingers or the plastic casing of the device... Or both.
Jeremy felt like he should say something, but instead just kept himself silent, watching inside as Bonnie continued to play for another long five minutes, staring over the aniamtronic's shoulder for most of it, not really sure what was happening to be honest, he wasn't much on these kinds of games himself. When he had gotten it... He kind of just asked the man at the store what games young teenagers like. He had gotten a really weird look for that, but he had just done his best to not feel to awkward about it.
Though suddenly it seemed something happened as the screen turned dark and the animatronic let out a short hissing sound of aggravation which Jeremy took as a bad thing.
"Did you lose?" The rabbit seemed to jump at the sudden sound, spinning around before huffing as he stared at Jeremy.
"I thought you left" Jeremy just shook his head before moving to be able to sit down more comfortably on the ground, crossing his legs as he spoke.
"No, just didn't want to distract you. So what happened?" Bonnie gave him a short look over, shifting a bit himself, but eventually turning the device over so the man could see the screen a bit more clearly.
"Nothing, just a dumb level, this one has a bunch of fire bats and they keep swarming me before I can get to an area that they can move in well" Jeremy nodded, not really knowing anything about what he was being told, but willing to listen all the same, as he asked.
"I see... You going to give it another shot?" The bunny just huffed, shooting the man a look that gave him the impression Bonnie thought he was an idiot, he did his best to not feel as hurt as he actually was.
"Of course, nothing else to do in this damn place, not unless you want to drag a tv in here next" Well... Jeremy did have a tv he didn't particularly use much, but that seemed like a bit of a bad idea. Not because he wanted Bonnie to not have something to make him more comfortable, but setting this place up as a more permanent place to stay didn't seem... Healthy, for all the reasons Jeremy had already thought about why this warehouse wasn't good for the animatronic.
"That, uh... Do you mind if I ask you a question Bonnie?" The animatronic paused for a moment, still staring down at the game, before turning to face Jeremy, the man took a deep breath, before asking, "Are you alright with staying here in this place? I mean, if you had the chance to be somewhere else would you take it?"
"What are you talking about? Is this another pitch to try and get me at the pizzeria, because I do-" Jeremy quickly held a hand up.
"No! Nothing like that, just... Some stuff has been happening, and another animatronic that we learned about recently might be moving in with a friend at some point in the future because of... reasons. And I was just wondering, given it doesn't seem like you like staying here, what you'd think about that as well"
"...Are you asking if I want to go to some random weirdo's house with another animatronic? You trying to make a daycare or something?" Jeremy knew wasn't exactly being as to the point as he could be, but frankly he was feeling really awkward about this as it was with how strange the situation was, but it was clear he'd need to be a bit more blunt if he wanted to get this across to Bonnie who was no just looking incredibly unimpressed with the idea of randomly shipping him off somewhere with someone he didn't know. Which was incredibly fair given Jeremy's sudden inability to speak about what he wanted to say directly.
"No! Nothing like that, I think Scott would die of a heart attack if we tried to put anymore animatronics on him. No, I was... Well, I don't really have a big apartment, but I do have a tv" It was silent for a bit to long, and Jeremy was beginning to get worried, as he continued speaking, "But, I mean, it's just a thought, I know-"
"Can you leave now?" Jeremy paused, feeling something sink in his gut at the not... cold, answer from the rabbit, his tone was just firm, even as he could feel the confusion and mistrust ache through the animatronic's shell, as he waited a moment, trying to think of something to say, realizing he must have rushed this to quickly, but before he could say anything to make it better Bonnie was standing up and walking away, out of the container once it must have been clear that Jeremy wasn't moving... Right, well...
"Sorry, I'll take my leave" The man waited, if just for a moment, to see if the animatronic would say something, but Bonnie didn't just turned and waited until Jeremy headed out the door, as the rabbit continued to stare for a long moment, before huffing, moving away and towards a particular area, the faint waves of confusion rolling over him as he did his best to just ignore them, it wasn't important, the man was probably just full of it. Or it was just some elaborate thing to make him admit that he was to weak to deal with being here, like he'd ever admit to that.
He couldn't trust him obviously... Probably.
He was a night guard, he couldn't be trusted by default, he worked with that purple jerk who while maybe not as bad as his dad, was still a massive dick who corrupted Marionette into being a massive... He was getting distracted, so he just marched ahead, even as he felt the nerves begin to build in his chest as he didn't bother with knocking, instead walking into the office where the bear was half slouched into a couch staring ahead at nothing while some radio show played.
Why couldn't he have a radio? He hadn't asked for one, fine, but he bet anything the bear didn't either. Did no one think about him ever then? Was he just as invisible as he was when he was locked in that container? Well, no, that annoying Jeremy kept showing up, and now he was saying dumb stuff that Bonnie couldn't trust. The last time he willingly followed an adult anywhere he got himself stabbed several times in the back and then shoved into a bunny suit. Sure, he could take Jeremy if the man tried anything, he wasn't some small kid anymore, and the guard hardly looked all that capable of defending himself, but... but nothing.
"What are you doing in here?" The rabbit didn't stop, just moving past ignoring the bear for a moment, heading over to the phone on it's hook, picking it up before looking it over... He... didn't know the number, as he let out an annoyed grunt, turning around and pointing at the bear in a sharp gesture.
"What's the bastard's number!" Goldie still hadn't moved, just still sitting there staring at the animatronic for a long moment, debating something silently in his head, before seemingly deciding he couldn't care enough, as he instead of chasing the rabbit off, just asked.
"Who are you talking about?" Bonnie huffed.
"You know which one" Unfortunately Goldie had a good idea, as he just sighed.
"You need his cell number or the house number?"
"Why would I want his cell number? I don't want to talk to that jerk" The bear seemingly needed a moment after that comment, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose before saying the number as Bonnie quickly punched the number in, holding it up to the side of his head... before shifting a bit and lifting it up higher to his ear... before moving it back down when the sounds got dimmer. Completely ignoring the look he could feel the bear giving his back as the line rung for a long minute. Before-
"Uh, hello? Schmidt residence" Bonnie could feel the way the gears in his chest whirled at that coming from the puppet's voice, but he wasn't looking to get pissed off with how confused he already was, he just... Wanted to know a few things... Even as he couldn't help but snap out-
"What, saying hello not domestic enough for you?" The sound of surprised chimes came over the line as Bonnie just rolled his eyes.
"B-Bonnie? Is that you?"
"Is there still another around I don't know about?"
"I- Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to call!" The rabbit didn't like how delighted the animatronic sounded, deciding to shut that down right now.
"I didn't call cause I want to talk to you, I just need you to answer a question" Another chime, a disquieted one that Bonnie refused to feel guilt about, not that his refusal did much good to actually stop the emotions, the damn things, as he continued to speak before the puppet could try and lie to him like he did the last time they talked, "Why'd you give the short one a gift?"
The line was quiet before it appeared that the puppet wasn't going to bug him any with pointless talks, instead asking carefully.
"Jeremy?"
"Yeah, that one" The line was silent for even longer this time, as Bonnie turned around and gave an eye roll to the bear who was just there watching, as he tapped his foot impatiently on the floor.
"Well. I-... Do you remember the day Mangle... acted out?" That was certainly one way of describing what the used to be Toy Foxy had done. he hardly could blame the fox, with what the kids had done to them, and what the staff had refused to do to even bother acting like they had cared about the state that Mangle had been left in... It made him sick to think about.
"What about it? What, you just felt real bad about Mangle killing him? You never cared before with the others" Marionette only cared when it mattered to him after all, Bonnie was just blind to it before now, to much of a dumb kid to realize, but he wasn't blind anymore, not with everything he had seen and everything that the puppet willfully ignored.
"Bonnie... Mangle didn't mean to attack Jeremy" Bonnie couldn't help but feel something cold roll down his spine at the sound of Marionette's voice, mournful and sad.
"What's that mean? What else would they have been attacking? He was the only adult there!"
"Adults weren't the ones who broke Mangle Bonnie... And- And with what had been happening, the place was getting closer and closer to shutting down, and it was that last party... I- I don't know why they did it, never got to ask, but... But Mangle didn't- You know how they were at the end" Bonnie did, could remember the screeching of radio static, of crashing rushes into the office, ripping at the ceiling more like a beast than anything else, than the person Bonnie could remember them starting as in those first few months as Toy Foxy, before... Before they were taken apart and put back together more times than Bonnie could count.
"What are you saying? They just went crazy and went on a rampage?"
"Mangle didn't... I don't think they really knew what they were doing, they just... Wanted someone to hurt... Jeremy got in the way and... He protect them, and he was doing to die for it. The only guard in the entirety of Freddy's who protected the children... And I couldn't let that happen" Bonnie just stood there, thinking about that, thinking about what that meant... As much as the rabbit didn't want to think anything nice about the puppet at the moment, it didn't change the fact that Marionette was a judge of character better than anyone else Bonnie had known or knew currently.
If he wasn't then this phone call would have never happened in the first place.
"Are you... If you don't mind me asking what happened?" He didn't bother answering, just slamming the phone into the receiver with more force than was required but hoping in a small way to get a jump out of the puppet from the loud bang before the call cut off, as he just stood there for a long moment before huffing and moving to leave.
Bonnie needed to think about a lot of things.
"Get what you wanted?" Bonnie just used his hands to give the response to the bear... And maybe walked a bit quicker at the sound of groaning metal and compressing springs from behind him.
Scott must have a death wish, end of story, that was the only logical reason that he was here, staring out at the shed in front of him like it would somehow give him answers about why the hell he was back after last time involved him running around in an underground miles away from anyone who might even be capable of helping in case something went wrong. Had he learned nothing from what had happened the week prior? Apparently not, but then again, if Scott was capable of learning from his mistakes, then he would have left Utah years ago.
As it stood, he just took a deep breath, before moving to get out of the car, ignoring the squirming screams that were trying to let themselves out of his chest as he reached back in to the passenger seat to grab the bag that he had packed before coming here. It felt like a mistake already, stupid and a dumb idea, but... They were kids right? And if his time at Freddy's has taught him anything, kids could be bribed fairly easily if you knew the right things to bring.
Given he had no idea what a tangled trio of animatronic children would want... The bag was pretty full, he honestly went a bit overboard, but the idea of having something heavy to throw in case of... emergency had admittedly tempted him more than he'd like to admit when he had awkwardly moved through the shelves of a nearby store. He had remembered stammering out some excuse about a toy drive when the lady behind the counter gave him a look. He couldn't really remember a time that he was fully honest about the things he did.
He didn't want to think about that anymore, instead just following along, heading to the door of the shed, his free hand opening it up before pulling out a familiar card. He had never really worked at Afton Robotics, but he knew he was on file somewhere, this place was basically just another Freddy's with a new name but with familiar horror. And that was shown by the fact his card worked here, he wasn't surprised, but that didn't mean he liked it, as he moved over to enter the elevator, he really didn't like that this was the way in.
Claustrophobic would only be the nicest way of putting how Scott felt about being trapped, and this place seemed to only make that faint sense of impending entrapment infinitely worse. It made his hand shake, and the doors weren't even open yet.
Trying to take a deep breath only meant the stale air had an easier time infiltering his lungs and making him feel as if he hadn't gotten a breath in at all, this place was just... awful.
Maybe that was another reason why he was such an idiot as to come back here. He could leave, but... But they couldn't.
They were just kids... They still are.
Those thoughts went out the window as the lift shuddered to a stop, the doors opening to reveal the now familiar hallway, and a familiar bundle of wires on the ground that twisted and jumped up into an almost shape, the familiar mask gone, replaced by the face of some kind of Freddy model, white and purple, though the thing had been battened about and looked almost like it had been dosed in oil, making it look rusty and closer to orange, as Scott felt a whimper come out before he could help it at the sight of that face.
God, I love recycling quotes from this series, it really has some powerful lines on occasion, and Mari being the one to say 'it's still me' was just... Really nice.
Honestly this whole chapter was a lot of fun, I reread it just before doing these notes and oh boy was it something. Charlie's not really taking this all well, and I can't really blame her, she's had a lot of thoughts going into this and almost all of them were being tested right away, but the whole scene was just a lot of fun, the twin's both being nervous, Mike's wonderful poking and prodding, and the sort of weird peace they found at the end of it was cool.
On the other side of things, Jeremy's just going for it with Bonnie, so we might be seeing some more animatronic roommate happenings soon which is cool, and we got more Jeremy lore out of it, showing just why Mari give him the gift that he did. Poor Mangle, really using them as a scapegoat, but they ain't around to complain so... whatever.
Then there's the short moment with Scott, who is just... trying his best. I... Honestly don't really have anything to say about that to be honest, it was fun cause I like writing someone who is just constantly scared out of their mind, but that's about it if I'm being honest, nothing insane there just yet, still building up with all that.
I'll go more into it on the next update next week about all my thoughts and feelings and writing thoughts and bullshit that I only probably care about, but I wanted to ask here, before then, just... What's everyone thinking? It's been a bit since the last time I asked about thoughts and all about the story, and now that we're so close to an insane milestone and towards the end of this section of the story, I figured this would be a good time to ask again to see what the vibes like. I love reading the reviews, it let's me know what people are thinking at certain points and it's just fun to see them. But that's about it, I don't got anything else to add, so... See ya!