Mable: Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Fifteen
Natalie didn't have a problem with the Staff Bots. While at first glance she had been a little wary of them, she quickly learned that they were harmless. They didn't act like they were possessed, so they didn't act human like Freddy did, but they were pretty docile. Except the one handing out maps, in which case that might've been part of its job.
The Security Bot wasn't much different to what she had seen. As she sat down to check the cameras, the bot absentmindedly circled around the room behind her. Occasionally it would stop at a wall and stare for a moment before turning itself around and rolling back. Not exactly the intimidating bodyguard she wished it was, but it almost felt like there was someone else in the room.
Also, unlike the Mop Bot- or what she assumed- the Security Bot had managed to figure out stairs. His large wheels would carefully lift him from step to step and he smoothly followed onto the second floor. Natalie was surprised, a little impressed, and moderately concerned about how this would work coming back. It did though, and the bot followed her on her first and second rounds.
Speaking of her second rounds, she had heard footsteps walking around in Kids Cove while walking the second floor of the atrium- deciding to take the first floor on the first set, second on second, and so on. She hustled over to the side of the walkway where she could peek down into the playground, equally expecting to see Foxy or the rabbit wandering around inside.
Instead, she found neither. It was none other than Freddy Fazbear himself walking around down in the playground. He didn't seem to be feverishly searching this time, but he was still looking around for something.
Natalie sighed and shined her flashlight down on him, causing his head to snap up. "What are you doing down there, Freddy?" she asked tiredly.
"Officer Vanessa! I was just… stretching my legs. My apologies, I will return to my room," he quickly said. A little too quickly.
"Relax, I'm not sending you to your room. What did I tell you the other day? I'm not going to make you stay in your room. The only reason I took Chica back to hers was because she was unsteady," Natalie said. He seemed a little relieved, but it was short lived. "Come on. What are you really looking for, Freddy?"
"I-I am afraid I do not know what you are talking about." Freddy was, unfortunately, terrible at lying. His eyes flickered back and forth all over the place, his voice stuttered, and even he sounded unconvinced with his explanation.
Natalie decided she wasn't going to play around with him long.
"Freddy, enough. I know that Foxy's been sneaking in, and I know you were hiding him in your room last night."
Freddy gasped and froze up for a second. "I… I…" Then he suddenly turned and bolted. Natalie furrowed her brows at him.
"Freddy, where are you going?!... Oh." Exasperation fizzled out as she realized he wasn't running away, but upstairs so he could loop around and meet up with her. He hastily jogged over and came to a stop before her and the Security Bot.
"Please do not tell anyone that you saw Foxy," Freddy desperately pleaded. His hands clasped and fingers laced together. "I know he was not supposed to be here, but there could be serious consequences for us both if anyone found out… Besides, it is my fault that he stayed as long as he did. I think he came to see Kids Cove, but I was the one who invited him back to my room."
"You understand why he can't be in here, right?" Natalie asked. "I know you do, because you knew to hide him."
"I, erm, I am aware."
"If Foxy was found out, who knows what would happen to him. It's not even a matter of being locked up somewhere; there's a good chance he wouldn't make it back to his pizzeria. The technicians here might shut him down, move him into the basement- at best, because they might see him as a threat and totally take him apart," she forewarned. Her scare tactic must've worked because he looked rather frightened with wide pupils and an agape mouth.
"You're not in trouble, and neither is Foxy right now, but that's only because I'm cutting you both a break," Natalie said with a little more sympathy. Freddy nodded and lowered his head in shame. "I'm not going to report Foxy, but if I see him again, I'm cracking him over the back of the head with my flashlight." Freddy's head popped up and mouth dropped in aghast. "…Okay, that was a joke, but I will not-literally wring his neck if he sneak in here."
"I see. I will tell him if I see him…" Freddy agreed.
"Good. Thanks." Natalie wasn't exactly happy with having to knock Freddy down like this, but Foxy's safety was the main importance. Freddy's too, as she couldn't predict what Fazbear Entertainment would do if he kept getting caught wandering around when he wasn't supposed to. Let alone breaking security protocol in such a way. She sighed and affirmed, "Look, I'm not trying be hard on you. I'm just doing my job."
"No, no. I understand," Freddy assured. He lifted his head and returned to a more neutral look, though it could've been a cover. "Thank you for not telling on us. I will return to my room now."
"I'm not telling you to return to your room. You can do whatever you want to, okay? As long as you're not in danger, you're free to do whatever you want," she said. His eyes glanced up towards the corner thoughtfully.
"Hmm… I think I may go down to the Pizza Bar- if that is alright with you," he half-asked.
She knew he was going to go watch the area where Foxy came in and yet she didn't call him out on it. She gave him an approving nod. "Anywhere you want, just be careful."
"I will. I do not have much trouble on the stairs myself," Freddy said with a tinge of amusement. Of course he would assume that was what she meant. "I will be seeing you!"
Even when saying that, Freddy walked alongside Natalie as she and her Security Bot companion returned to the elevators to the lobby. They exchanged a wave before he turned to hear to the stairs. She watched him disappear before heading into the lift with her bot.
After that point, the evening seemed to get a little quieter. Natalie returned to the lost and found while her bot companion started rolling around the fountains. Which was fine by her as elsewise it would've just been circling around behind her. At least like this it had a chance of actually spotting something. She meanwhile returned to the cameras to take a quick look around.
There had been no sign of the rabbit woman tonight. This should've been a relief, but not knowing where she was made Natalie even more antsy.
Which hit its crescendo when an alarm went off on the computer, causing her to jump slightly in her seat. She hastily checked the map and realized that it was out in the lobby by the front door. The Security Bot must've spotted something.
"That's got to be her," she guess quickly. Yet before she could even get up, a second alarm popped up on the screen right beside the initial one. "What…?"
She didn't question it long. Instead, she sprung from her seat and made a mad dash out of the lost and found, sprinting across the lobby and towards the source of the alarm. She could already catch a glimpse of the Security Bot around the corner with its flashlight raised and its body rigid as it stared something down. She pushed through the turnstiles and raced around the corner.
Only to find that the white and grey being that the Security Bot had cornered was not the rabbit woman but the Mop Bot. Both were blaring obnoxiously loud alarms as they stared each other down. The Security Bot shining his flashlight into the other's face, the other waving its hand as though to flag down help.
"…Are you kidding me?" Natalie huffed. She walked over to them and pushed the Security Bot back to break their stare. "Whatever this is, you two stop it."
They had the presumed gall to then silently stare at her like she was the one who was out of line. She turned to the Security Bot.
"He's not what you're supposed to be on the lookout for. He's supposed to be here," she said. He either nodded or proceeded to size her up, and she was almost positive in either regard that it was a reflex and not any real acknowledgement. She sighed and beckoned back towards the lobby. "Alright, let's go. You're hanging out in the lost and found with me."
He must've gotten that as he started to roll past. Natalie looked back to the Mop Bot who watched him leave before looking back at her.
"You're fine, buddy. Just keep doing what you're doing," she said in a gentler, assuring tone. It occurred to her that he probably didn't understand, but she felt somewhat protective of it regardless, since from the dent it was obviously the same bot who fell down the stairs. It looked for her a moment longer before beginning to mop again. "There you go. Good job," she encouraged before walking back towards the turnstile.
As Natalie was crossing through, she looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of something on the second floor. It was sudden, a blur, just like what she saw on the stairs.
"Who's there?!" she called out. She was answered by the clatter of the daycare hallway doors opening.
She immediately broke into a sprint and hastily climbed the stairs to the second floor. Her hand already clutched around the taser hanging off her belt as she barged through into the daycare hallway. She couldn't see anything, but she heard a clicking and realized it was the door to the men's bathroom closing. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, and she began to slowly creep towards the door.
She unhooked the taser from her belt and switched it with her flashlight, which she now poised high in her left hand. She was careful to be as quiet as possible as she slowly moved in on the door, sidling along the wall, her heart pounding as she braced herself for what she was about to do, a very foolish and risky maneuver.
Mustering up all of her courage, Natalie steadied herself and then rammed through the bathroom door. She felt it collide with something on the other side before swinging open.
"Freeze!" she yelled. She aimed both the flashlight and taser ahead and prepared for a fight.
But instead of a fight she got yet another Staff Bot, one significantly different than the others she had seen. It was designed to be more feminine with molded blue hair, painted eyelashes, and a purple dress with painted on buttons and apron. It was rolling back away from her.
Natalie's face dropped from both relief and exhaustion. "Oh… Sorry, I thought you were someone else. I didn't mean to knock you around," she apologized. Knowing that she probably set off an alarm slamming into it.
The lady bot stopped rolling back and stiffly raised a hand as though in greeting. Natalie noticed how strange it looked in contrast to the other Staff Bots' behavior but found the suspicion dropping when its stiltedly dropped its arm and did a big, awkward circle around her to try and get to the bathroom door. She stepped out of the way so it could slip by.
"I'm really sorry!" she called after the lady bot as it took a sharp right and started heading down to the daycare. She didn't even know why she tried, but it almost made her feel less embarrassed. She watched the bot roll to the end of the hallway and stop outside the security door for the daycare, scanning the rest of the hallway and only turning back to the lobby door when she was sure the area was clear.
She didn't notice the bot turn around on the other side of the security door to watch her. Nor the yellowed arm that reached out pulled it away enough that the door could shut.
Natalie pushed open the doors to the lobby and immediately gained a befuddled look upon seeing that the Security Bot wasn't alone.
"Hello again! I heard a Staff Bot alert and came to check and see if everything was alright," Freddy said. His semi-excited tone betrayed that he probably expecting something else, likely Foxy.
"It's fine, Freddy. This one here got in a dispute with the one that fell down the stairs, and then I, uh… Got a little too gung-ho and crashed into a lady bot in the bathroom… It's all good. She's alright and I'm heading back to my post."
"I see! Then you do not need my assistance. Just know that I am not far away if you do," he offered warmly. "You said the Staff Bot who fell is here?"
"Right over by the front door if you want to drop in and say hi," Natalie offered. She started back to the stairs while beckoning the Security Bot with her hand. It followed obediently, as did Freddy. "Sorry, I'm just a little on edge."
"Because of Foxy? Do not worry about him! He is very friendly," Freddy insisted. She shook her head.
"Not him… Don't worry about it, I've got it under control."
She was hesitant to mention the rabbit to him. Not because she thought he would have some kind of intense reaction, but because he was very open with his thoughts and feelings. If she told him something, there was too high of a chance that it would come out to someone else, and she needed as much control as she could have on the situation. Even when it felt like she had very little.
Thankfully, Freddy didn't press and while she and her Security Bot headed into the lost and found, he headed over to check on the Mop Bot. She didn't blame him; the poor thing needed a close eye on it.
Natalie was starting to feel a little winded and was ready to settle into her chair for at least an hour or so. She let the bot in before dropping into the chair and pulling up her bag into her lap, fishing through for a protein bar to chew at while watching the cameras, then scooted up to the desk.
Only to notice there was a folded piece of paper tented on the keyboard. She froze up as she saw it, pausing in tearing open the plastic to stare at it, then picking it up and opening it to see what was written inside:
Are you having fun yet?
Natalie's stomach twisted up as she read it. She put the paper and bar down and was on the cameras in a heartbeat, flipping wildly through. Or she would've been if the cameras weren't tellingly slow, and just like before she couldn't find anything on them.
But she didn't have to see the rabbit to know it was there.
Suddenly all that confidence Natalie had earlier was gone in an instant. The taser didn't help, the bot circling behind her didn't make her feel any safer, and she still had no idea where it was other than knowing it was close by.
After clicking through the lobby cameras, she made a very sudden decision. One that could possibly be a mistake, but one that she needed to make regardless. Standing from her chair, she hastily, but cautiously, made her way back out into the lobby. Her security bot following closely behind. It didn't take her long to spot Freddy past the turnstiles.
"Hey, Freddy!" she called over. He looked back at her. "What do you think about hanging out for a while?"
"I would love to!"
So, he did. Freddy seemed more than eager for any type of socialization- which was odd since his entire band seemed to be as aware as he was- so he hung around in the lost and found with no complaint. It didn't make things any less uncomfortable really. She could tell when the cameras suddenly bogged down, and she caught the faintest sounds of movement in between their talking, but she never saw it.
She never saw the rabbit, but she knew she was there. Waiting, watching.
After a night like that, waking up after only five hours of sleep was the last thing Natalie wanted, but there was her cellphone ringing. She peeled up her sleep mask with her thumb as she reached for the phone with her other hand.
"Hello?" she answered groggily.
"Hello."
That was the last voice Natalie ever expected to be calling her. She recognized it right away as the hushed voice of Baby.
Her silence must've come off as questioning as Baby continued into an explanation.
"I know you must be surprised to hear my voice, but it is urgent that I speak to you. I know you have been spending your nights in that new Freddy's."
There was a bitter tinge to the name, but the rest was rather mild, and it was hard to guess what she wanted. Though Natalie knew she wanted something if she was calling. They never had the best relationship. Baby had apologized and Natalie had gotten over the 'scissor incident', as she called it, but they didn't spend enough time communicating to have much beyond an acquaintanceship.
"That's right," Natalie replied. Her grogginess came through on her voice. "Why, what's up?" she asked. Hoping this wasn't going to lead to a request to be let inside.
"I have some questions about the location. About the animatronics inside…" Baby said. Her voice quieter, as though to hide what she was saying. "…Did you see anyone… familiar while you were in there?"
"What?" Natalie's brain wasn't awake enough to sort out that vagueness.
"Is there a new Circus Baby?" she asked much more bluntly.
"Uh, no? Not that I've seen, and there's no Baby themed restaurants or anything."
"Oh…" Baby said. She waited a long second and then, before Natalie could speak, swiftly asked, "You wouldn't hide it from me if there was, would you? I can handle it; I just want to know."
"Baby, no. I don't have any reason to hide that from you," Natalie said, managing a gentle tone even though exhausted, trying to talk the clown down. "I'll admit that I haven't seen all of the animatronics, but I haven't seen any posters, any signs, anything for you or anything that even looks like you."
"But there could be?"
"Maybe, but I think I would've seen something." Natalie stifled a yawn. "Tell you what, I'll ask around tonight. Okay?"
"Yes. Thank you… Forgive me for being blunt, but you sound awful."
The blond smiled a little. "I rolled into bed at seven."
"Then I will leave you be. Thank you for your time, and for being honest."
From how quickly she was trying to get off the phone, she was probably uncomfortable. Natalie was fine with that so she could get back to sleep. "No problem. Talk to you later, Baby."
Baby gave a hum as a goodbye and let the call end there. Though she wasn't fully satisfied in what she had received.
Natalie had sounded sincere enough. She wasn't invested enough in Baby to lie on her behalf either, unlike some other parties. This was why she dared to ask her instead of someone who may feel reluctance… like Charlie.
That was the problem, in fact. She had been updated daily at the pizzeria when Natalie came in and recounted what she had seen. Whether it be about the animatronics or the Staff Bots, who Charlie would go into deep, speculation-filled conversations about- which Baby barely understood but enjoyed listening to her passionate explanations- she was always upfront about what she knew or heard about the Pizzaplex.
Until she wasn't.
It was exactly when Charlie had told her about Foxy sneaking into the Pizzaplex that she began hiding something. Baby couldn't say she was shocked by the reveal and was sure enough that Foxy could handle himself if he had managed to get inside on his own, but she did notice that there was something being left out. Something that Charlie was tiptoeing around.
Now, Baby trusted Charlie and knew that she would do whatever she could in her best interest, but that was exactly the problem. She could be shielding her from something, and if she was doing it now then it must've been serious.
The only thing that she could imagine that would be horrible enough that Charlie would have to protect her from it would be that there was a new Circus Baby, or a new animatronic resembling her, or a rebrand, or something like that. Baby had made it very clear that she was worried about the prospect of being replaced and forgotten by an upgraded animatronic made to sap away her remaining identity, so Charlie could've been hiding it.
Even Ennard hadn't had a great reaction when he found out about the weird sun animatronic with his voice. At the time he played off being curious and finding it 'neat', but Baby could see that competitive edge in his eye. That feverish questioning of what could possibly be encroaching on his identity, even though his voice was already just Funtime Freddy's with a tinge of a lower pitch. He might've smiled, but she knew it was driving him insane.
The only thing worse would be not knowing, and Baby felt like she was in that boat.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing she didn't know about.
Scott had done something rather odd today, which inadvertently set off Baby's quest for knowledge. This morning he had tried to slip in a large package while Ennard was still asleep and she was in her room, but she had caught him after hearing him coming in with it. He slipped it into his office and hadn't mentioned it to either of them for hours, and after this long she was suspecting he wasn't going to.
There were no gift-giving holidays coming up and neither of their would-be birthdays either, so she doubted they were gifts. She wasn't naïve enough to see a box being brought in and assume it was gifts. It was just something that Scott was hiding and that was weird. She hadn't mentioned it to Ennard yet- distracted with this whole Pizzaplex replacement Baby thing- but she was sure to mention it to him later.
Of course, she could've always asked Scott, but she found that Ennard was better at getting answers out of him. Though that could wait. Scott hiding things wasn't the problem, it was just peculiar timing.
After hanging up the phone, she rolled out of the office to check if Scott and Ennard had overheard her. They hadn't, still sitting where she had left them; Scott sitting in his armchair reading and Ennard stretched out on the couch and watching television, both sharing the same bowl of popcorn. Both looked properly distracted and she decided to leave them as such, save one interruption.
"I'm going to use the computer," Baby announced.
"Go right ahead," Scott answered. He didn't react in any way out of the ordinary, so she rolled back into the office and shut the door halfway.
She rolled over to the computer and turned it on, and after a few minutes of booting she found herself online. Her fingers danced across the keys as she eagerly typed 'Freddy Fazbear Megaplex Circus Baby' into the search engine. The results weren't exactly what she was looking for. She found the website for the "Pizzaplex" and scrolled down it, through paragraphs building up about all these attractions and their grand opening ceremony coming soon.
Yet she found nothing relating to herself, or Circus Baby. She went through a few more results and the closest she could find was an article about "What happened to Circus Baby's Pizza World?" Which had very little information other than some speculation about the restaurant being built shoddy and a rather offensive suggestion that it was not a spinoff but a knock-off. She wasn't even sure why it irritated her.
Next she looked up "Freddy Fazbear Mega Pizzaplex Animatronics" and found a page connected to the official website talking about the band itself. It was a dead end, just talking about the four faces of the franchise when she knew there was at least one other animatronic in that building. Nothing on Circus Baby's, though Roxanne Wolf's outfit almost looked like her original molded clothing design if she squinted and pretended really hard.
After a while, the search boiled down to "Circus Baby Animatronics Still Functional" and she tried to hunt down any remaining animatronics like her. She had done this before but had given up when she couldn't find anything. This time she was more than determined, searching through what she could find: an online auction of some props, footage of a birthday party featuring a Ballora that might've been hers.
Then, finally, there was a result that caught her eye. It was a webpage for an amusement park called Fairyland Park, which wouldn't have been interesting if not for the "original Circus Baby's animatronics" highlighted in the description. She hastily clicked to pull it up.
The park itself looked rather unimpressive from the pictures and she couldn't see any of the animatronics themselves. Baby almost thought she had been misled when she spotted the highlighted line in the entertainment paragraph. It listed off live music and performances by various local singers, whom Baby couldn't care less about, and original Circus Baby's animatronics. No pictures, no other descriptions, she couldn't even tell if it was a full band.
"One of them must be a Baby," she thought. "Otherwise they would've said they were from Freddy's. Both Freddy and Foxy were recognizably Freddy's own. So, unless it is Ballora, Freddy, and Foxy all together, there must be a Baby." That brought up an uneasy idea, "Unless it is my band… No. Don't be stupid. There's no way they could've been repaired. They were barely keeping it together even before they met the furnace."
That was an uncomfortable thought to think of. An equal mix of guilt at her actions and anger at there's. "May they rest in peace… and stay there."
Which finally led her back to the issue at hand. There was very likely a working Circus Baby animatronic in that park right then and there.
…And she decided she wanted to see it. She didn't care how dinky and unthreatening the park itself looked. She wanted to see if they had a real Baby and how it looked and functioned in comparison to her.
Now there were two ways she could go about this. The one would be to wait until nighttime and sneak out. Get someone who can drive on board, like Charlie or that redhead who was so wowed by Ennard- maybe even get Ennard on it if she was sure he wouldn't tell on her- drive the- she quickly looked up the city online- two-to-three-hour drive there, sneak in, see the other Baby, slip out and home, get in without alerting Scott, and tell him later on.
Or she could just ask Scott to take her.
Without another moment wasted, she rolled out into the living room. She didn't have much confidence in this plan even though it was arguably the right thing to do. It must've showed on her face when she rolled up beside him, because he got a look of concern when he saw her.
"What's wrong, Baby?" Scott asked gently. So warm and friendly, unaware of what she was about to ask.
"Scott, can I ask you something?" she began.
"Sure. What's on your mind?" he asked, pulling off his glasses.
"It's such a silly thing… I know you are going to be against it. I just know what the reaction's going to be," she said.
"Maybe not. Ask away."
"But I suppose it is better to ask you than to slip out and do something rash without trying. That has never truly worked in the past, has it? I should be upfront and honest."
"…I'm not sure if I like the way this is going, but okay?" Scott said, now starting to get a feel of what was coming. Baby noticed that look of hesitation but decided to go ahead and continue with it.
"There is a still working Circus Baby animatronic at an amusement park called Fairyland and I want to go see it. Will you take me?" she asked. She tried to soften her voice in the hope that would soften him up. Much to her dismay, she sounded more pitiful and childish than she intended to.
The reaction was immediate, with Scott fully embracing the startled look and even Ennard's head snapping up to look at her.
"There is?! How'd you find that one out?" the other clown asked.
Baby slouched a little and confessed, "I was looking to see if there was a Circus Baby at the Pizzaplex. I spoke to Natalie on the phone and she said she didn't think there was, but she wasn't certain. However, I have doubts, and their website is not to be trusted. That's when I found this place, Fairyland Park, and they were saying that the have a Circus Baby band of some capacity, which likely means they have a Baby."
"Quick question: what's this got to do with the maybe Baby at Freddy's?" Ennard asked. Baby stared blankly for a moment, having mostly forgot the immediate connection.
"…It doesn't. I just want to see this other Circus Baby too. That will soften the blow when I find out about the one at Freddy's," she suggested.
"Who said there was a Circus Baby's at the Pizzaplex?" Scott asked. As bizarre as this all was, he couldn't help but notice that her tone was out of sorts and her logic was jumping in a way it didn't typically. She was beginning to sound genuinely upset; he had no idea she was frantically searching for answers like this. Just the unsureness as he eyes darted away and back felt telling.
"Nobody said it. It was more what they didn't say," she said. She looked away again, her eyes crawling along the floor. "I just have this… feeling that everyone knows something, and they aren't telling me. Trying to shield me or protect me, and that is the only thing I could think of them hiding." Her eyes finally locked on the TV screen before she turned her head away with a disgruntled sound. "I hate this commercial."
"Yeah, me too. Baby, you know we wouldn't do that. It's alright to be scared about Freddy's, I am, but you know that nobody's going to hide anything like that from you," Scott gently assured.
"I don't know what to think. The last time I spoke to Charlie about the Pizzaplex she did that halting talking she does when she's anxious, when she's trying to avoid something but fumbles in doing so with halts big enough to see through. Between her speech impediment and your enormous box, and now this other Baby, I feel like-."
"Hold up. What box?" Ennard asked. Turning himself enough to prop his head on his elbow.
"-I don't have a grasp of much that's going on," Baby finished. She huffed a little, flashing a scolding sort of look at the other clown's interruption, and then recalled what she said. "It's nothing. It's just this large box that came in the mail. The least of our problems considering I'm having a crisis."
Ennard looked to Scott with a smiling tilt."Scottie, did you buy us a puppet?~" he playfully asked.
"N-No, no. It's not that. It's just…" Scott hadn't expected either to find out about it this early but wasn't too surprised. After all, it was sitting in the office. There was a good chance someone was going to take notice. He had planned on bringing it out sometime tonight, having stalled because of his own nerves about the reaction. He guessed this was as good a time as ever to get it out. "You know what? I'll show you. Wait here."
Scott set his book on the armchair's armrest and got up to head into the office, which surprised Baby. She hadn't expected him to be so willing to show her what he was hiding.
"I sleep in one day and you go out and make a kid without me!" Ennard called after him. He then looked back to Baby, head propped, and eyes lidded. "So, what's the place like?"
"Wouldn't you rather come with me and find out…?" Baby coyly offered. Ennard's eyes widened.
"Wha- me? No, no, no, no, no. Not without the van, not without Scott, nope. No more dying on the side of the road," he quickly denied. His eyes darted between her and the office door, making sure he hadn't been heard.
Baby hummed. "I suppose I should be happy to hear that… In this case, perhaps not." She didn't say anything further as Scott returned with the large box. He rested it on the back of the pouch.
"Alright, here we go! Ennard, come on up. It's for you," Scott said. Ennard shot upright and was over the opposite armrest and swooped around the back of the couch in an instant.
"For me?! Aww, you shouldn't have! You didn't have to!" the clown said. Though it was clear that he was barely holding himself back from tearing apart the box. Scott slid it to him and watched as he eagerly pulled open the flaps, which were already cut open, and pulled off some packing plastic.
He was met by the sight of green fabric and the edge of a white frill.
"Wait, what…" Ennard's volume dropped dramatically. Not in disappointment but in shock. He peeled more plastic back. "Is this- is this a…?" He got his fingers around the fabric and drew it out.
It looked like the coat a ringleader would wear, though green in color and without coattails. Golden colored buttons lined two rows in the front, with a zipper hidden under an edge of fabric between them. The collar was a deeper, emerald color and edged with sequins that matched the buttons. The sleeve's cuffs matches the collar, but with an edge of a white frill lining it.
Ennard's reaction hadn't kicked in yet. He was still staring at it in his hands, so Scott took the moment to chime up.
"I know what this looks like, and it's not. I mean, it's not a costume. It looks like a costume, but if you feel the inside, you'll see it's not built like one," he quickly explained. He opened the jacket in Ennard's hands and felt along the inside. The inner lining having a much studier texture, fireproof and partially insulated, but dolled up on the outside. "Not like that flimsy stuff you get from the Halloween store and tears open when you move the wrong way."
"Scott, did you…?" Ennard's voice sputtered, pitch wavering. "D-Did you- Is this a-…?" Suddenly it all caught up to him and his pupils widened in excitement as he clutched the jacket tightly. "Did you MAKE ME A SUIT?!"
The change of volume was almost startling, but it brought an eager smile to Scott's lips as he watched the reaction play out before him.
"Well, not really a suit. Just a… Uh, well, actually, I guess it would be a suit," he said.
Ennard made a choke and a metallic wheeze as though buckling under his own emotions before holding out the jacket before him.
"Th-This is AMA-Ammmaazing! It's like the real deal, really made for me, could've been the- wait! Wait, wait. You said suit, so you're saying there's…?!" Ennard held his tongue as he reached in and pulled aside more plastic. He spotted green and yellow fabric underneath. "THERE'S A WHOLE SUIT!"
Scott chuckled a little. He had started to second-guess himself the moment the box got here, thinking Ennard might take some offense to the fact that he got him something more clown themed than traditional technician's coveralls. They definitely would've been cheaper, and probably would've lasted longer than these were going to, but he was just so thrilled as he hungrily dug through the box.
The pants had one leg green and the other yellow and were made out of a slightly stretcher material, but otherwise looked like normal pants. There was a pair of new work gloves and boots in the bottom. These were relatively simple compared to everything else, just forest green to somewhat match the theme of the rest. There was a velveteen red ribbon in the bottom, likely to be tied in a box, and something else tightly wrapped in bubble wrap.
Scott was practically relishing the other's reaction. "I take it you like it?" he jokingly asked.
"Like it?! I LOVE it! Them! I LOVE ALL OF IT!" Ennard exclaimed. He swooped in and caught Scott in a tight hug between the jacket and pants. He giggled with glee before pressing the mouth of his mask to his forehead, mimicking a kiss noise, and noise squeaking as it bopped the top of his head. He quickly pulled him back to arm's length with an eager smile. "Where'd it even come from?!"
"I knew a guy who used to make costumes for Freddy's. I had to pull a few favors with him, had to tell him I was working on a new project, but I got him on board! He made everything himself- except the shoes and gloves."
"But this must've cost a fortune! Scott, you didn't have to do that for me. You know I would've been happy with anything," Ennard reassured. Though then proceeded to clutch the suit to his chest, excitement crackling in his voice. "…But not THIS happy, ha ha! It's my own suit! My own skin! Not some kinda hand me down refurbished Freddy's clown suit- it's mine! It was made for me!" He was nearly trembling. "I'm putting it on right now!"
He eagerly spun the jacket around to his back and slid it on easily, it being just big enough to fit comfortably. Which was a big surprise considering that Scott had taken measurements some time ago to look for a jumpsuit. Turned out that the jumpsuit was just a delightful ruse to get his size. He restrained himself enough to carefully draw up the zipper, babying it in case it could break.
While doing so, Ennard spotted the still wrapped object in the box and started to pull it out. "And what's this?" he coyly asked.
Scott was quick to reach out and push it back down into the box. He made a head motion over towards. Ennard got the picture, a playful look budding across the joy.
"Oooh," he said. The punctuated it with a click of his teeth and a wink.
Up until this point Baby had just been staring at the scene in surprise. Not in the suit itself- though she had to admit that Scott managed to get something remarkably tasteful considering that it was such sharp colors- but the fact that the box had actually been gifts. She had gotten so into her own head that she just assumed it was something else. Maybe something from Freddy's, maybe parts, maybe inherited items from a deceased relatives, but nothing so innocuous.
It sparked a memory in the back recesses of her mind. Vaguely she remembered sneaking into her father's bedroom and searching for early Christmas gift. She couldn't remember much except that she was sorely disappointed. That she had tried to climb onto something to reach the top shelf and then…
And then she noticed the motion Scott had made towards her and took attention to it. "What?" she asked.
"Oh well, since the jig is up…" he said, eagerly pulling the wrapped object out of the box. Ennard's reaction had given him a little more confidence and he handed the gift to Baby. "I didn't think it was fair to get Ennard something and not you."
It was clearly a smaller gift in comparison to the suit, but Baby didn't feel any jealousy. Instead, her eyes lit up at the prospect of getting something for herself and she carefully peeled away the layers of bubble wrap, slowly revealing what was underneath. It didn't take her long to realize it was the shape of a top hat. It confused her until she finally pulled the plastic off the rest of the way and saw it.
It looked like it might've been a refurbished Freddy's hat, though which model she couldn't identify. The black fabric had been replaced with a crushed red velveteen and was wrapped with an orange band. A small, fluffy, cream-colored faux feather stuck out from under said band. It was simple, but elegant. Almost like the hats Baby had seen in magazines, save the top hat design of it.
"It's beautiful…!" Baby said quietly. She held it on her claw so she could trace it over with her fingers. "…It's well made. Nothing like a costume, so subdued, even the feather… It's not a hat a clown would wear, even with my coloring."
Baby's quieter reaction was expected, and Scott could read in-between her words. Ennard was the one who wanted exaggerated costuming, Baby just wanted something simple and sublime.
"You didn't have to. I would not have been jealous," she said. It wasn't the first gift she had received, but it felt so odd getting something for no specific reason. Not to mention that she wasn't feeling great about suspecting him now that she knew it was just her own paranoia.
"No, no! I wanted to," Scott assured. "And don't feel pressured to wear it either."
"I will… Wear it, I mean." Baby considered putting it on now and while she would've had to figure out how to fit it on over her crown shaped headpiece- or just removed and replaced it- she found herself surprisingly hesitant to do so. It was such a beautiful little hat, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to put it on. "…Thank you, Scott."
He could hear the smile on her voice and smiled himself. He always had a way of making her feel like a child, though not necessarily in a bad way. It was soft and warm, even if only on the inside.
Then the mood was ruined by Ennard thumping into the back of the couch while fumbling to get the pants on. He was then back in the box, plucking out the work gloves and pulling them on.
"Oh, these are good. These are really good," he praised as he flexed his fingers in them. "And they've got that sort of grip on them! You can't believe how slippery stuff gets when you're nothing but wires."
"Oh no, I believe you're slippery," Baby flatly said. This caught a giggle out of Ennard but, more importantly, a laugh out of Scott. She liked being the one to make him laugh. It made her hate what she was going to do next. "Scott?"
"Yes, Baby?"
"Now can we talk about Fairyland?"
"…Oh, right!" Scott got a tight grin that didn't cover the anxious dread at all. He was probably hoping she had forgot. "Well, I just- let me just say that I'm so proud you came to me instead of just sneaking out and doing it on your own."
That was not a good start.
"But I don't know, it seems like it's a little risky?" he tentatively offered. "An amusement park- an open amusement park- is a way bigger deal than getting you guys into a closed down pizzeria where the doors are unlocked and there's no security. Plus, it's not… I don't think it would be… great to go find another Circus Baby. All it's going to do is upset you."
"He's afraid you're gonna pull a Funtime Chica on her," Ennard translated. Slinging the ribbon around his neck and beginning to tie it in a large, neat bow.
"That was different. I was unstable… and low on wiring," Baby defended, her voice tailing off at the end. She found it again though. "But this is different. I just want to see the other Baby; I don't want to destroy it. I didn't want to destroy Chica either, but my options were between her and him," she said, pointing past at Ennard.
"In that case you made a good choice then, but still, I don't know…" Scott was very concerned and unsure about this whole thing. "…I think I need a little time to think about it. That's not a no, but just a… a maybe for now."
"Of course. Take your time," Baby agreed, rather certain it was a no. For a moment she considered going back to Plan B and seeing if someone else could take her, but then her eyes dropped back down to that hat she was still holding. It was enough to fizzle out any defiance. Maybe that was his plan all along. She sighed and added, "I'm not going to be upset if you say no. Just consider it."
"I will, I promise."
"But first, consider this," Ennard chimed in. Now fully in his new suit he stuck a partial pose while tightening his bow. "Do I look great or what?"
"Or what. You look fantastic," Scott said. The clown snickered.
"Ha ha, great! Then I guess it's time to break it in," he said. That was his only warning before catching him in another tight hug. Nearly pulling him off his feet in the process.
Baby scoffed a little at the scene, though more in an amused way than in distaste. Just dealing with these two was a little too much. Though it wasn't without its perks.
One of which being the hat she still held. Scott did care and she would give him the benefit of being patient, assuaging her disappointment with her interest in the lovely, little hat. She couldn't wait to wear it.
…
Someday.