Mable: Enjoy!

Going Home in a Box

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Somehow, the night had been salvaged. Foxy and Freddy took Gregory under their wings for most of it, playing games and scouring the arcade. Foxy catching sight of a couple of inappropriately named scores and laughing so hard he bowed over. Freddy was much less amused, pondering how it was never noticed by staff while Gregory shrugged and gave suspiciously quick answers.

Beelora accompanied them for a while but couldn't keep up. That was when Charlie decided to step up and offer her own companionship. While Beelora initially seemed more interested in the bear and fox duo, it wasn't long before she warmed up to Charlie. Charlie initially got the impression that she wasn't around a lot of other girls, but it became eventually clear that Beelora simply wasn't used to being around anyone outside of being a tour guide in a casino.

Because Beelora had a little difficulty getting herself around- she promenaded across the arcade well enough on the carpeted floors, but the tiled floors were almost impossible for her to tackle alone- Charlie had convinced her to get into one of the racing arcade cabinets. Beelora was surprisingly taken by being behind the wheel. Her eyes inching open a sliver to watch the road on screen, excitedly swerving all over the road. They had a surprisingly good time, even if Charlie would have an awkward story to tell Baby.

Thank goodness the Babee on her lap didn't look like Baby.

Finally, there was Mike and Marionette. They had moved to one of the more comfortable square shaped couches where Marionette finally succumbed to his exhaustion and fell asleep. Mike wasn't disappointed. In contrast, sitting in a corner relaxing while keeping a eye on the main room, watching for if anyone or anything else tried to slip in, made him feel a little better about sticking around. Someone needed to stand guard while the others had fun, why not an actual security guard?

The reminder that he was technically a pizzeria owner and yet couldn't even get a job as Freddy's newest security guard swung past again. Briefly deflating his ego before he shrugged it off. Not like he wanted the job anyway, he told himself without much conviction.

But his thoughts didn't stay there long. Most of the time he was just zoned out listening to the ambience. The comfortable weight and warmth of Marionette curled up beside him, head in his lap and arms loosely around his waist, was soothing for a stomach still in knots.

Then after a while and out of the blue, Marionette raised from the couch like a vampire rising from a coffin. He then turned and faced Mike with smile, both looking still worn out and like he was up to something. Mike quirked a brow at it.

"Are you up for that dance?" the Puppet asked. To Mike's relief, his voice had cleared out. He couldn't say no to that.

"Always am."

Mike passed on lookout duties to Charlie, and they headed to the dance floor. It took a little effort to rouse the DJ- Mike had to go so far as knock on his stage to get a response- but then he was up and eager, and the beats began to flow.

Despite Mike's initial concerns, Marionette seemed to have somewhat regained his energy as he quite literally glided around the dance floor. At times spinning around him before swooping in to join their arms together, pulling Mike out of his groove and into his own. Not that he was complaining at all. He could keep up.

They got through the techno blitz and a few rounds of macarena before Marionette started to lose his second wind. His movements growing slower and languid. To which Mike pulled him in close to help him continue through a slower dance. He signaled the DJ with a wave down and he got the gest and switched to a song to match the change in speed. It was still faster than typical slow dance music, still techno, but the pulse was lowered to fit the change of mood.

He noticed that Marionette was a slightly shorter than usual, but he didn't realize his legs were touching the floor again until one brushed his foot. He glanced down and watched the other's pointed legs carefully step around his. From his ability to do this while struggling earlier, it was clear that he was relying somewhat on his levitation still, but the effect was noticeable. At least Mike noticed how gracefully he took each step. How controlled each movement was of his usually free-floating striped legs.

Marionette took notice of Mike's gaze and smiled coyly before lifting his chin with a finger. He leaned in to nuzzle his mask against Mike's face. Mike grinned and pulled him in around the waist, pulling him directly into a kiss. A trill rang through Marionette's chest as he kissed back, gently caressing over his cheek as he did.

That moment was worth any before it and would outlast any other from that evening.

They weren't sure how long they danced. It must've been for some time as they were interrupted by voices from the nearby arcade; Freddy, Foxy, and Gregory have coming back downstairs. Marionette lifted his head from Mike's shoulder where it had rested through the last song and finally they separated. Not too far, their hands still held fast together, as they went to check on the others.

It wasn't too long after that when Freddy had announced that it was time for Gregory to head to bed. Gregory tried to talk him out of it, but the bear didn't budge, and Foxy decided to accompany him as they headed out.

That left them with Beelora, who had to be settled before they could drop in on Jake. Thankfully, Beelora didn't seem nearly as needy as earlier. She offered twice to have them come in for a few minutes, promising she wouldn't sealing the door. She asked Charlie specifically especially, having warmed up to her company. Charlie politely declined, but promised they would come back when they could.

Then she got an idea.

"I need a pen," Charlie said. She looked to Mike.

"Fresh out," he replied.

"I can get you one," Beelora volunteered. As eager to please as ever, she headed into the Hive Arcade to get one. Charlie, who decided to smartly wait at the door, called for her to bring a scrap of paper too.

Beelora returned with a pen with a Freddy Fazbear Mega Pizzaplex label on it and a little sticky note. It was used, already having a 'refill the change machine!' note on it. Charlie turned it over and wrote their home phone number on the back.

"Don't show this to anybody else. The DJ's fine, but not any of the employees, okay? This is our phone number. If you need anything, call us," she told her.

Beelora took the paper and held it in her folded hands like it was treasure. She thanked them and let them leave without any fight. The two Babees at her feet watching them leave.

They then made their way out of the arcade, stopping by the dance floor to say goodbye to the DJ before they left. Unlike Beelora, the DJ seemed much more nonchalant about them going. He waved and went back to working with his soundboards.

"How's Baby going to feel about you giving out your phone number to other ladies?" Mike jokingly asked as they made their way through the entrance lobby.

"One step at a time. I'm still trying to think of how I'm going to break it to her that there's a Ballora clone in here," Charlie replied.

"I should've asked her who she was," Marionette said distantly. Mike turned back to see him staring at the floor, pupils alit. "Or if she could remember who she had been."

"Eh, not on the first date," Mike jokingly remarked. It could've sounded like a brush-off, but both knew it wasn't, and it was followed with an assuring squeeze of the hand. Though he did have a point hidden in that joke; blindsiding an animatronic as fragile as Beelora with a question that heavy could've been a bad idea. Marionette nodded in agreement and freed himself from his thoughts.

They headed off to the daycare and met up with Jake in the back room. They got about an hour of visiting with him and Foxy got one more hour with Freddy before they packed it in and left the Pizzaplex.

There was a misty rain coming down as they left the Pizzaplex. Not hard enough to get them soaked, but heavy enough that Mike ended up having to put the windshield wipers on. It was a quiet drive but not forebodingly so. Foxy might've been steeped in his own thoughts, but the quiet ride was a nice change of pace after a charged night. Marionette sunk down into the passenger's seat and fell asleep; Mike tried to keep himself from getting lulled by the empty highway before them.

It didn't take long before they got home. The roads were empty, as was the neighborhood around the house. Mike pulled up into the driveway and shut off the car before looking to Marionette, who had roused and started to sit up. Getting an idea, Mike took off his jacket and handed it over to him.

"Put this on," he said.

Marionette accepted any invitation to slip into Mike's warm well-worn jacket. He took it and all but rolled himself up into it as Mike got out of the car. He then came around and opened the door, then leaned over beside it while pointing a thumb on his back. Marionette caught on and instead of pointing out that he was certainly awake enough to pop himself inside, accepted the free piggyback ride. Another invitation he would've had trouble passing up.

Mike carried him to the door and unlocked it, smiling as he listened to and felt him chime through his back. He stepped inside and held the door open as Charlie and Foxy both sprinted inside. The former barely getting out of the way before the latter darted through on her heels. Foxy nearly came to a skidding stop on the carpeted floor as Mike quickly shut and locked the front door behind them.

It seemed at first like no one was awake from how dark the house was. The television being the only source of light and turned down to a mere murmur. That was, until a voice spoke up from the couch.

"How was it?" Michael asked groggily. He gave no effort to sit up or look over the back of the couch.

Marionette slipped off Mike's back and peeked over the back of the couch. Michael was looking up at him through squinted eyes.

"It was a very good evening," the Puppet replied. He slumped onto the back of the couch, resting his head on his arms. "We only had one disaster and still finished the night on a high note."

"What was the disaster?"

"Music Man showed up," Mike answered. He came up and leaned on the couch beside Marionette. "He had a growth spurt since the last time we've seen him."

"…Freddy's must be more desperate than we thought," Michael muttered.

"They have a Ballora too," Charlie added in.

Michael's eyes snapped open at that.

"In a new, totally original character. Completely different from the Ballora we know," Mike insisted sarcastically. He paused a beat, then tagged on, "Her name's Beelora."

"That's bad."

"I think it's rather cute," Marionette remarked.

"No, that's bad. Because Fazbear Entertainment wouldn't have gotten that close to a character unless they had the rights," Michael pointed out in a foreboding tone.

Marionette seemed less than concerned and made a brushing off motion with his hand. "You worry too much. I'm sure they're skirting this close to the rights because they know they'll get away with it. That is a very Freddy's thing to do."

"…It is, but that doesn't mean they don't have them."

"It doesn't mean they do."

"Go to bed, Marion," Michael said flatly.

The Puppet laughed a little and dragged himself upright off the couch. Mike took that as a signal to follow.

"We'll bring you up to speed the rest of the way in the morning," he promised. To which Michael gave a nod. "Alright. Night."

Marionette chimed in a 'goodnight' as well while Charlie took their place at the back of the couch for a moment.

"If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure Beelora isn't the Ballora we ran into down in Afton's. She's completely different," she assured. She said it with certainty too.

"Not sure if that's a good thing," Michael remarked cynically.

"Sure, it is! It means I gave our phone number to a complete stranger instead of someone who tried to kill us. Just letting you know if she ends up calling. She seemed lonely," Charlie said. After a moment she noticed Michael give her a suspicious look. "…What?"

"Is this a setup?"

Charlie gave him an unenthused look.

"Sorry," he immediately retracted.

"If I was planning on setting you up, I wouldn't make it this obvious. Give me some credit," Charlie said with mild amusement.

"Of course." Michael's voice then softened up a bit, "Get some rest. You've had a long night, I can tell." Charlie gave him a quizzical look and he clarified. "Marion."

"Oh." She knew what he meant. Marionette's fatigue was very visible. "I will. You should too. Goodnight, Michael."

She turned to leave, looking to Foxy who passed the couch and headed into the living room. He noticed her gaze and waved her down the hall.

"I'll be off in a bit, Lass. Go on, Mari's waitin' for ya."

Charlie nodded and headed into the hallway. Marionette, and Mike, were waiting for them both but heard the exchange and headed on without the pirate. The three stopped at the end of the hall and said goodnight- and checked in on each other one last time- before heading into their respective rooms.

Foxy waited until they had left before dropping back into the armchair with his arms over his head and his feet stuck out. He sat there for a long moment before he could hear the shifting of Michael sitting up on the couch.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Not much," Foxy muttered through his sleeves. "The staff ain't treatin' Freddy right and I'm his best friend."

"He must be terribly lonely too."

"Aye, he is… Wait, what does that mean?" Foxy asked suspiciously.

"It means he's not getting along with his bandmates?" Michael questioned.

Foxy noticed the slightest glint to his eye but decided to not take the bait and dropped it, like he dropped his head back and his arm over his eyes again.

"Aye, he ain't. This whole Chica thing's put a big wedge in the whole band. Or between the whole band an' Freddy. Not that they were gettin' along all that chummy, but Freddy and Chica were and now they ain't, and that's all on me."

"You didn't push Chica into the trash compactor. Gregory did, and he had every right to do so. She was attacking Elizabeth, she had been hunting him for days- under those circumstances, anyone might've made a rash decision."

"But that decision wouldn't have been made if I'd been there to break it up," Foxy pointed out. Then realizing the fallacy in the comment, quickly tacked on, "Or wasn't there distractin' Freddy, who could've put a stop to the whole thing."

Michael looked at Foxy for a long moment. It soon became apparent that this was likely to rouse himself enough to formulate his words.

"Gabe, Chica was damaged in a walk-in trash compactor that was left open and active with no failsafe to stop itself if it sensed a person or animatronic inside. There were also no deterrents to guises or ward off animatronics even though we know Freddy's was using that king of programming system nearly ten years ago and they're aware that Chica herself has an issue with eating trash. Forget the fight between her and Elizabeth. If that compactor had been closed, Baby and Ennard would have eventually subdued Chica and all three would've escaped relatively unscathed."

For a moment Foxy was rendered dumbfoundedly quiet before giving a quiet, "…Yeah, you got a point there…"

Michael hummed in agreement.

"She ain't doin' so well. Chica. Freddy said they didn't replace her voice box and they sealed her beak shut. She can't eat, can't talk, and that on toppa them gettin' on them fer handin' out passes or not meeting some sorta meet-and-greet quota," Foxy explained.

"That is… terribly tragic," Michael sympathized. His firm voice finally softening up. "I can only imagine what she must be going through."

"Can you fix her?" Foxy asked.

Michael looked to him like he was insane. Foxy gave a sort of shrug in response.

"Not without the parts," Michael answered.

Foxy returned a nod. "Figured as much. I'll let Freddy know… Speaking of Freddy, they split up."

"No."

"Now ya didn't even hear me out."

"I heard that Freddy is blissfully unaware and very taken and that Chica is a trash-eating child-chaser. I don't need to hear anymore."

"So, it's both lad and lasses, is it?" Foxy questioned, rubbing his chin.

Michael balked at that. "I did not say that."

"Y'know, Charlie's got this friend named Jake. He's real into tinkering and he's got this big handunit that he built himself. I know you've into that sorta stuff."

"Goddamn it, Gabe."

Foxy choked on a laugh and slouched back in the armchair once more, though now much less rigid as he did so. Michael rolled his eyes and laid back on the couch once again.

"Back on topic: these things happen sometimes. Not all humans are going to be as trusting and friendly to animatronics. I wasn't," he said. Quick to get the conversation back on track.

"Ya had reason to not be. These boyos at Freddy's ain't like us. Err, us bein' me and me old crew. They ain't dangerous to anyone but themselves, save Chica and that was bad luck with a longstanding grudge," Foxy replied.

"Still."

"Aye, still."

There was a long pause of silence in the dark living room. Michael staring up at the ceiling, Foxy staring off towards the wall, and the drone of the low volume TV mixing with the ticking of the clock. Eventually broken by a scoff from the off-yellow rabbit-suited animatronic.

"Frankly, I don't know how you can stand continuing to return to that place," he muttered. "After all this trouble it's put you through, I can't see what keeps drawing you back. Not to watch that crazed rabbit woman. She seems, if I may be so blunt, harmless if not downright incompetent. She's been there for weeks and all she's done is played games with you all and run off at any pushback. Is it to protect Gregory? That's a fair reason, but that cannot be the only one. Elsewise you would bring him here."

"Elsewise I wouldn't bring him here. Gregory ain't goin' anywhere he don't want to. That's the whole reason he ain't over at Fritz's right now," Foxy pointed out. "And me? Eh, I love the place. I love usin' all their machines and eatin' their food, and them bein' none-the-wiser. It's like I'm pullin' one over on Freddy's. Gives me a little more control than iff'n I was just hidin' away at the pizzeria, wonderin' and worryin' 'bout the stuff I didn't know."

"Just be careful," Michael said. His concern making it through. "I don't want you getting in so deep that we can't get you back out."

"That's… That ain't gonna happen," Foxy assured.

"Good."

There was another sort of pause between them. Then Foxy leaned onto the armrest and broke the silence with a rather direct:

"Now that Beelora's a real sweetheart. Might be a lil on the clingy side, but she's just pretty lonely."

"You should go for it, Mikey," Max said. Announcing his presence from the corner of the living room. "Desperation is the one thing you've got in your favor."

Michael defiantly rolled over and all but ignored Foxy's snickering.

…

It was a typical quiet morning before work, which suited Jeremy just fine. He didn't find anything hiding in the bathroom or left out on the counters, which was already a good sign. Michael had very little news to deliver as well, which suggested to him that the night before had gone well. Jeremy was relieved and made himself some breakfast. He considered making Mike some too, but then decided to wait and let him sleep in. It wasn't like it took very long to fry up eggs.

Jeremy was halfway through his meal and watching the Minireenas practice today's routines on the kitchen floor. They had decided to wear their sailor dresses today, or little white dresses with sewn-in handkerchiefs that Jeremy called their 'sailor' dresses. Each one's handkerchief matched their signature color; yellow, pink, and blue.

They also had their own accessories; Daisy wore a little faux-straw hat with a fake sunflower on it, Rose wore a fake rose like a necklace with the bendy wire stem around her neck, and Forget-Me-Not had laced and tied dark blue ribbons around her feet and up her legs, and around her wrists. Which Jeremy had helped her tie- something she initially fussed against but eventually accepted the help once it became apparent that she was having trouble tying it alone.

They were ready for the party today, as was Jeremy. He just had a feeling that today was going to go well. Likely because he had a good night's sleep devoid of any dreams, let alone any nightmares. That was more than enough to put him in a good mood.

He heard footsteps and looked to the hallway in time to see Foxy shuffling out, much to his surprise. A pleasant surprise though and he grinned broadly.

"Hey! I didn't expect to see you up!" Jeremy greeted. He tossed an arm out invitingly and Foxy walked into it and the hug it offered. Returning his own around Jeremy's back and leaning down to rest his chin affectionately atop Jeremy's head, nuzzling into his blond locks.

"Mmm, didn't think I'd be, but got the party," Foxy muttered. Jeremy could tell he wasn't entirely awake and snickered a little, rubbing at his back sympathetically.

By time Foxy pulled out the chair across from Jeremy and sat down sideways he was a little more roused. He was still slower than usual, but it made sense, and there was little doubt he would perk up long before the party.

"How was last night?" Jeremy finally asked.

"Long night. Real long night," Foxy said with a sigh. He rested his arm on the table and leaned onto it tiredly.

"Want to talk about it?" Jeremy invited.

"Yar, I should… Alright, strap in."

With that, Foxy began his story. It was quite a story too. There wasn't much else to call a story that began with an arcade "bigger than their pizzeria" and somehow arrived at "trapped in the bathroom with a giant Music Man shoving his hand in". That certainly had Jeremy's attention, as did the brief mention of Vanny, but he paid especially close attention towards the end. When Foxy started to talk about his conversation with Freddy.

"He asked me to come back and like the rash fool I am I said yes without thinkin' 'bout the greater picture," Foxy admitted. He looked up across the table at Jeremy. "What do ya think I should do?"

"Well… What do you want to do?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't know," Foxy grumbled in defeat. He slouched down and rested his head on the table. "What keeps drawing me back?"

"Well, for starters, you've got friends there. It's a pretty cool place too. I mean, it would be a lot cooler if they weren't trying to put us out of business or strongarm us into selling out but ignoring that, it's cool. It's like a big indoor amusement park," Jeremy said. This was something he would've never voiced to Foxy before, but hearing his mixed feelings it seemed like an appropriate time to do so. "It's new, it's flashy, and it's sticking it to Freddy's whenever we sneak in there."

"Aye. Good point," Foxy agreed. He peeked up at Jeremy with one eye. "Would ye ever go back?"

"Me?... I don't know."

"'Cause we could go back together," Foxy continued. He sat up onto his folded arms. "Letcha see those lil Babees, get to know Freddy's, make off with about thirty bucks worth'a junk food."

"I mean, maybe sometime. I don't know, I have to think about it first," Jeremy said hesitantly. Just the thought of going back there made him nervous. He didn't want to disappoint Foxy though, he wanted to cheer him up. "…But there is something else we could do tonight," he offered. He leaned forward on the table and lowered his voice. "But it's going to be risky."

"Riskier than runnin' around with Freddy and friends?"

"Way riskier. This would be a lot more out in the open."

"…Now you've got me curious." Foxy lifted his head. Ears perked up from their sorrowful slouch to show his intrigue. "What's the plan?"

"So, I was going to go look at a few apartments today… but how about I skip that and take you out tonight to look at them together We'd only be able to really get a look in the windows, but it might be fun! And I could really use your opinion."

Foxy hummed curiously at the thought. Now that would be more than a little risky, but a different sort of risk compared to visiting Freddy's. They would be able to escape the scene a lot quicker, but there was always the chance someone would notice them loitering and call the police. In which case he would have to either bolt from the scene and hide in the bushes or play dead in the back and pretend like it wasn't abnormal that Jeremy was driving an animatronic fox around.

This should've filled Foxy with more trepidation than excitement. Unfortunately, it didn't, especially with the temptation of getting to help Jeremy with such a domestic decision. A decision that Jeremy clearly wanted his input on.

"I think I might take ya up on that offer," Foxy agreed.

Jeremy broke into a grin. "Great! How about ten o'clock? Late enough to be dark, less people going around, but it'll look less suspicious than us creeping around at one in the morning."

"It's a date," Foxy said with a sly glint in his eye. When he got that excited little grin in return, he knew he had made the right choice.

The day went on as usual. The party had been bigger than usual but went off without a hitch. There was something rejuvenating for both Foxy and Marionette to be surrounded by and tending to happy children. It certainly made Freddy's feel like it was a dozen miles away.

There was always a chance that the kids came here because they couldn't afford Freddy's, that they would've rather gone there. Foxy acknowledged that, but to see them having fun despite that was enough to ease his mind.

They couldn't be Freddy's, so they would be Foxy's. He couldn't be Freddy, so he would be Foxy, and someone would appreciate that Gabriel realized.

The day went by steadily and after closing, and after night fell, and once the place was cleaned up and everyone was heading home, Foxy took off his head and put on his mask and he and Jeremy were off.

The first apartment they visited was sort of a duplex. Four apartments built into two separate buildings. Each apartment looked to have two floors but the windows on the first floor were barely covered with partially drawn blinds. Jeremy pulled up close before they got out and snuck up to look inside. Using the side windows, hidden behind a few scraggly bushes, to remain inconspicuous.

From here they could see the square living room, the kitchen and dining room combo, and the stairs that separated the two.

"It's got two bedrooms upstairs, which would be great. Good sized kitchen, I like the carpet; the only problem I see is how close it is to the other apartment. You could probably hear us through the wall," Jeremy explained.

"Prob'ly's a funny word, Jere. It implies they might not hear ya."

"They'll definitely hear us."

"Aye… But it's a cute lil place. There a backyard?" he asked, pointing his hook towards the kitchen and the back door.

"Yes! Sort of. It's a little small, but it's fenced in," Jeremy said. He beckoned Foxy and began to lead him around back.

Indeed, it was sort of a backyard. A little too small to fit anything too spectacular and the grass was shallow and worn away in places, but a nice addition. Especially since it had the protection of a wooden fence instead of a chain length one.

Foxy scrutinized it from a safe distance with a hum, peeking over to the back door as well and mumbling a remark about the safety. Jeremy leaned on the fence and looked out at the distant mountains visible far behind the apartment. That would be a nice view to step out the back door and see. Or to see from the second smaller bedroom that had its windows facing that view. A much better view than from his old apartment.

"You know my old apartment building rebuilt and they're renting out again," Jeremy remarked. Foxy looked to him in surprise.

"Blow me down, really?!... Wait, why didn't they offer you one of those apartments?"

Jeremy smiled a little at Foxy's huffy tone. Like he was about to be offended on his behalf. "They did. I turned them down."

"…Oh." Foxy almost sounded disappointed. "Might I ask why? Lookin' fer an upgrade or just ain't ready to head back?"

"…Yeeeah, that's kind of it right there. We could use a little more room. The living room's smaller but the bedrooms are both bigger than what I used to have. And having a complete second bedroom, I could make it into a playroom or get some little beds and section off parts of it into a bedroom for everyone so we're not always sleeping on top of each other. No more accidentally knocking someone else at night, and gives them a little more room to space out if things get tense… But also, I just… I don't see myself feeling safe back at my old apartment. Or an apartment that looks like my apartment but is on the other side of the building. I think it'll be better for all of us if I can just find a bigger place and not have to unpack all those feelings again."

"Anything ya wanna do, I'm behind ya all the way," Foxy assured him. He hooked his arm around his first mate and pulled him in close. Leaning to nuzzle his cheek, misjudging the distance, and leaned closer before finally bumping his head against Jeremy's. "For what it's worth, I don't know if I'd ever feel safe with ya stayin' in that shoddy building neither."

"What about this shoddy building?" Jeremy jokingly asked.

"Ain't half bad. The sound problem might be somethin' worth thinkin' about. Then again, might be one of those things ya have to settle on with an apartment," Foxy elaborated.

This felt as good of time as any to say what he wanted to say, but at the last moment Jeremy lost his nerve. He clammed up before the words could come out, so they instead remained in a comfortable quiet.

Those words finally returned when they returned to the car after thoroughly checking the back and side windows again. Upon hearing something- what was likely a car driving over a pothole a street away- the two speedily got back into the car preparing to check the next place. It was there while pulling on his seatbelt that Jeremy decided to take the plunge. He grabbed the steering wheel, took a deep breath, and turned to Foxy.

"What would you think about moving in with me?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Moving in with me. But only if I got a new place with enough room. I know it's sort of cramped with everyone stuck in one room," Jeremy raced out. He gave Foxy an out but didn't want him to take it. "What do you think?"

Foxy mulled it over for a few seconds before giving a conclusive, "Cramped doesn't bother me."

"It doesn't?" Jeremy asked hopefully.

"Nah!... Err. Well, there be a big difference between a whole apartment and one scrawny bedroom. We get us a wall in between some of us and I could live with it."

"So, is that a maybe?"

"That be a yes."

Jeremy was surprised but thrilled. "Uh- great! That's great!"

"Ain't gettin' nervous already, are ye?" Foxy teasingly asked. He side-eyed him through the holes of his fox mask.

"Try stunned. I really thought I was going to have to fight you on leaving the pizzeria."

"Yeah, well… I don't need to sleep there. Maybe shuttin' meself off there's the whole reason I got into this mess with Freddy. So stuck in me own head and squirreled away, breathin' in me own fumes."

"Having trouble with the exhaust pipe again, Gabe?"

"If I was, you'd know," Foxy cracked back.

"But you're right. Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with you and I don't think you're just friends with Freddy because he's there, but I think maybe it's time you took the plunge and stepped out of your comfort zone. With me! We'll do it together."

"We're gonna quit after a week," Foxy predicted.

"I don't quit anything after a week," Jeremy proclaimed. Grinning like a fool and as happy as a lark. Foxy watched him turn on the car with a newfound pep, a flourish in his movements. Just that excited at the prospect of them moving in together.

And while Foxy wouldn't deny that the thought of permanently taking up residence with Balloon Boy and the small squad was daunting, he couldn't help but be excited too.

"I love you," he said.

"Love you too, Gabe," Jeremy returned. That smile angled back at him. "There's another place over by the railroad tracks that's all on one floor. Want to check it out?"

"We better. Halfa those lil minnows of yers are too small to use the stairs."

"Good point! I trip on someone coming down the stairs and it's game over."

This got a snicker out of Foxy and Jeremy beamed as he backed out of the parking space and began to drive off to the next place. To their next choice of their future home.

And as gut-wrenchingly terrifying as it was to leave the safety of Mike's, to leave that little support system and try to make it work on his own again, he found himself a little more okay with it. Much more okay with the idea of not going at it alone, of having a reward at the end of the tunnel drawing him through. That was enough to keep him going.

As for Foxy, he had been feeling a lot of confusing and conflicting feelings for the last night and day. Though he couldn't say he hadn't considered the idea of moving in with Jeremy permanently- only if he had made the offer- but he never thought it would come so suddenly, nor that he would agree to it. But if this thing with Freddy had taught him anything, it was that he needed more out of life than hiding away in the pizzeria.

Because Foxy's could be just as lonely as Freddy's, but he had the choice. He wasn't going to squander it.

…

Charlie expected a little awkwardness from this visit. After all, she was primarily coming by to break the news about Beelora. To lighten the blow, she had suggested that she stay over afterwards. Which shouldn't have been anything too abnormal.

That was, until she realized that this was going to be her first time staying over with Baby since she had her little talks with John and Jessica. She had seen Baby and talked to her on the phone with only a little awkwardness in the beginning, but this was a bit different. This was spending a whole night with Baby, a significantly more amount of time when that little realization hung over her head. She tried to shrug it off as they arrived at Scott's.

While Mike and Marionette stayed back to break the news to Scott and Ennard, Charlie knocked on Baby's door. Apparently, Baby had been waiting directly inside the door for her as she opened it so quickly that Charlie's hand was left hanging in midair.

"Charlie, hello. You couldn't have chosen a better time to come by," Baby remarked as she closed the garage door behind her. "There is something I have been wanting to discuss with you."

"Sure thing. That's what I'm here for," Charlie said. To her it sounded like she was trying too hard to sound normal, but apparently Baby didn't notice.

Though Charlie did notice something new. There had been a corkboard mounted to the wall of the garage that was covered in a plethora of pinned papers. Some were pages or scraps of notes or working lyrics. A couple were covered in twisting arrows that made little sense until she realized it had to be choreography. There was a list of dates, magazine cutouts, and on the bottom right there was even a washed-out poster of Circus Baby's Pizza World- which looked to have been printed out on a regular piece of white printer paper.

It looked a lot like a conspiracy board. Or something a detective would use when solving an elaborate murder mystery. Though from the words she spotted it became clear that this was more accurately an idea board for future performances.

"Looks like you've been busy," Charlie said, impressed.

"Indeed, I have been."

"…Wait, does this mean you got another gig?!"

"Not yet," Baby admitted. She tapped her fingers on her skirt. "…But I will very soon."

Punctuating that borderline-ominous comment, Baby pushed off and skated forward, spinning around to stand in front of the board. She lifted her hand and tapped on a date on her list.

"On the Fourth of July, there is going to be a barbeque in downtown Hurricane. By all accounts it should be the biggest event of the year… save the Christmas Pageant, the Easter Egg hunt, Halloween, and such. This barbeque will have live entertainment and I will be one of those entertainers. Scott is already sewing the seeds through his congregation, and we should have the police chief himself in our pocket what with my brother employing his son. And being your friend, of course. With all this, I may just have a chance to be hired."

"Baby, after your performance at the fair, I don't think you're going to have to convince anyone that hard," Charlie reminded.

"Maybe not, but I can't be too certain."

"But this is great! You killed it last time, I know you can do it again," the Security Puppet assured her. "Have you written a song for it yet?"

"That is part of the reason I wanted to speak with you…" Baby's voice grew quiet, and her confidence waned momentarily. Though she then recovered- more quickly than Charlie expected- and replaced her hand onto her hip. "I know it is a conflict of interest- it is likely Foxy's too will be hired if the option is open… but I wanted to ask you… would you like to perform with me? In a duet?"

Charlie was surprised. It shouldn't have been that surprising with the lead up, but she never really expected Baby to offer to perform together. At least, not this soon after she started performing again. Baby had an admittedly unhealthy relationship with the spotlight and had only just regained enough of her self-confidence to return to the stage. To then willingly offer up half of the stage to someone else, it was again surprising. It was willingly giving up that center of attention that she had so hungered for.

"You want to perform with me?" Charlie asked dumbly.

"Of course. You're the only one I would," Baby affirmed. "And not just because we're friendly. I believe our voices would play well off each other, and our singing styles should complement one another."

"WHAT?!"

Ennard's voice forced itself through the wall and barged right into their conversation. "No, no! You- You've gotta be wrong!... Or kidding?! There's no way."

Charlie and Baby stood there a moment before the clown's eyes slowly rolled back to the puppet's.

"What was that about?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just, uh… We ran into a few new animatronics last night. One of them was a pretty big Music Man," Charlie excused.

"Oh?" Baby's head snapped fully to Charlie. Now fully invested in what she was saying. Charlie had a suspicion that she knew why.

"Don't worry, he's not the one we know. And he's nothing like him either. He's just a big… guy," Charlie assured.

There was an awkward pause.

"You do know that I can tell when you're nervous, don't you?" Baby asked bluntly.

"Of course she can," Charlie thought with defeat. Realizing she was going to have to fess up to something, she tried what she assumed was the lesser of two evils. "…Okay, full disclosure: I did have a one-on-one run-in with Vanny last night- but nothing happened! I got away from her, she hopped a fence, and we didn't see her again. That's all. I even had my taser on me, so if something did happen, I could've stopped it."

"She didn't touch you, did she?" Baby asked with noticeable concern.

"No, she didn't. She just spooked me," Charlie assured again. She thought for a moment and then gave a rather direct. "…And yes."

"Yes, she touched you?"

"No. Yes, I'll perform with you."

"Oh!" Baby's eyes opened wide in surprise, and she straightened up abruptly. The uncharacteristic squeak was the followed by an unusually demure, "Are… Are you certain? You haven't had long to think about it. I don't expect an answer right away."

"Well, we can wait until later, but my answer's going to be the same," Charlie said playfully. She noticed Baby start to rub at her own arm and reached for her wrist, cutting short the self-conscious gesture. She gave her arm an assuring- friendly- pat.

Baby's eyes dropped to her hand before flicking them back up to her face, to her smile. She gave a soft sound, almost like a little breath and nearly a tiny hiccup, but a delighted little sound nonetheless. Her eyes began to glow brighter as well.

"Well then… I suppose you've made up your mind," Baby said simply. She tried to withhold her elation even as it leaked into her voice, "Though if you do change your mind later, try to do it early enough that I can come up with a backup routine."

"I'll give you two weeks notice," Charlie joked. Though she then followed up with a much more serious promise of, "Don't worry about that. I won't let you down."

"You seldom do. But that's beside the point- that's wonderful news," Baby said. Her permanent smile sounding like it was appropriate. "I can have the song finished by the end of the week. Unless you would like to write it with me?"

"I'd love to. I think I've sung enough of your work to know what you're into."

"Perhaps, but we will need to do better than that if we plan to outdo our competition. We will need something new and bold, but not quite experimental and still in our range," Baby listed off as she made her way to the bed.

"It's not a contest," Charlie reminded, amused.

"Please. My life is a contest," Baby tsked. She then sat down on the side of the bed, fishing a notebook out from under it, and beckoned the other to join her.

Charlie sat down beside her. As she was doing so, her hand just happened to fall on Baby's claw. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal at all, but when it shifted under her grasp Charlie immediately overreacted and pulled back. "Sorry."

"Hmm?" Baby hadn't even noticed. She had been too focused on flipping pages with one hand. It took her a second to figure out what she meant. "Oh." Once Charlie was seated beside her, she tilted up her claw from the bed. "May I?"

"Sure," Charlie said. Unsure of what she was going to do until the claw suddenly leaned on her leg and gently clamped onto her wrist. "Oh, that's what you mean," she said almost absentmindedly. She slid her hand further into her grip, unconcerned about the points.

"What did you think I was going to do?" Baby asked, a tinge of amusement in her tone.

"…Good question!" Charlie replied with a goofily embarrassed grin.

Baby laughed quietly and presented the notebook to her. For a few seconds Charlie was able to scan through a couple of verses while Baby began to explain her inspiration.

"Considering the nature of the holiday, I thought something like this may be appropriate. It's about childhood days and adult nostalgia and peering through the looking glass to see…" Baby trailed off.

Of course Baby trailed off, because Ennard was now talking outside the door and both she and Charlie very clearly heard him say, "Does she know? Is Charlie telling her, because-." Before trailing off into a further muffled ramble.

He knew which meant that Charlie couldn't play around any longer. If she didn't come clean about it, then Ennard would barge in and do it for her.

"So, Music Man wasn't the only person we met last night. Foxy got stuck in another arcade and we wound up meeting the bee animatronic who runs it. She was friendly," Charlie explained.

Baby was paying half attention, clearly trying to listen to the quieted conversation outside the door. When something suddenly clicked, and she looked back to the puppet quickly.

"Is that the bee we saw posters of in the prize counter?"

"What?"

"There were headshot posters of a cartoon bee at the prize counter. Was that her?"

"That's her," Charlie said. She gave Baby an almost apologetic smile. "Her name's Beelora."

"…Is it her?" Baby asked quietly. Her posture rigid; her eyes no longer wide with shock, but with dread.

"No! No, I spent long enough with her to know that she's a completely different person. She doesn't act anything like Ballora did… not that I knew her very well."

"What you saw wasn't far from her usual behavior… If you believe it's not her then I trust your judgement. Besides, the chance of her coming back is… very unlikely," Baby said. The fear left her eyes but was replaced with a somberness. "…What is she like?"

"She's nice. I don't think she gets a lot of visitors or leaves the arcade much. She had these little UFO bees with her that she called Babees, but they weren't based off you. So, you don't have to worry about that."

Baby nodded as she listened. "…Is that what has Ennard so worked up?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then let me see to him. Read over this and tell me what you really think," Baby said, pointing down the page before releasing Charlie's hand and standing from the bed.

She headed to the door and opened it up. Ennard was standing in the doorway with his hands tight on the frame, as though barely holding himself back.

She chose to indulge him and asked, "What is it?"

"TWENTY-FOOT-TALL FULLY FUNCTIONAL ANIMATRONIC WORKING AS A BOUNCER!"

Baby blinked at the exclamation. She then looked past the door and back at Charlie. Then said in a rather deadpanned voice, "That better be the Music Man."

Dead serious or not, Charlie couldn't help but snicker.

Later, when everything calmed down- specifically Ennard- they returned to planning the performance. Going over possible song ideas, choreography routines, and even the possibility of additional accessories to go with the holiday.

Once again, Baby had nudged Charlie's leg with her claw and opened it invitingly. She kept her eyes on the notebook and continued with her conversation, but silently requested Charlie's hand, which she willingly gave. The points carefully laying across the top and bottom of her hand with no pressure and no pain. Instead, all she could feel was a buzz of warmth tingling on her skin. She closed her fingers around her claw as best as she could.

This was nice, she thought. It really was.