I Don't Own Fnaf
The nights at the former Afton household was... fine, it was a bit awkward sure, but the two kind of went through enough awkward moments around each other, usually with more breakdowns involved, so this wasn't enough to phase them much, so beyond tanking any kind of lighter mood that could have been had, it really wasn't all that different than any other night. They watched tv for a while, Mike picked at his newly wrapped hands and Marionette fussed at him about it, then the two went to sleep, and that...
Wasn't great, Mike felt like the room was just empty without the puppet in there with him, but he powered through it like he did everything else in his life, with stubbornness and spite. Though, that turns out to not be the best combination to use when you're trying to get a solid eight hours in. It seemed that Mari was in something of a similar boat as by the next morning he seemed about as exhausted as Mike felt, which for anyone else would have been incredibly difficult to tell, given the puppet didn't need to express himself any, but Mike liked to think he was aware of how Mari was doing.
They didn't mention it of course, and with that they headed on with their day like normal, and it was fine.
The same could be said for the day after, and the day after that.
Things fell back into a routine for the next few weeks for the first time since the bounce world as the days continued to pass by with the usual amount of good and bad, the machines and occasionally other things around the Cove broke and Fritz had to get on it, though for some reason about three weeks back it just stopped, fully, nothing happened anymore. Fritz nearly had a fit over how it made no sense but everyone eventually agreed to just take the win
But on the other side of things, Jeremy began to invite the others out more and more, and now it was nearly a staple of the week to at least go out once or so for diner as a group, though more often than not that meant the three men ending up at Mike's, where the man in question would make something for them all, it was cheaper and the company was better.
The Cove was constantly busy, and beyond a few people coming in to start trouble, which was quickly handle by any of the three workers, all of which were qualified to handle it, nothing truly bad happened, in fact business was at it's peak, being in the dead middle of summer break, the cove was fairly swamped, while not actually flooding over with kids and parents, it was still frankly more than Mike and the others could handle by themselves, and they were quickly reaching the point that they needed someone else on staff if they wanted to keep up with the workload.
It eventually accumulated into the agreed decision by everyone that they really needed help, even Marionette who was the biggest one against the idea at first, after seeing just how exhausted the entire workplace crew was after every single shift, agreed they really needed someone to come in and help. The answer as to who that would be had come as a surprise.
Mike admittedly had asked Charlie first, but she turned him down, saying she was enjoying her time at the repair show she was working at enough that she didn't want to get tossed into a pizzeria, which he fully understood, though he did also think a small part of it was she just wasn't ready to be around another pizzeria for the long term either. Which was even more understandable, she had seen more fail than he had, and she had been much closer to them than he had been. Either way, it hadn't worked out.
Mike chose to pretend to not notice that Marionette didn't seem particularly bothered about that fact.
So when the answer came as to who would be hired, that probably had something to do with the lack of a fight, and that was... Janet.
Yeah, Janet, Carol the nosey neighbor's daughter, the Janet that Mike was pretty sure was dating Fritz, or at least the two were circling around the idea. Turns out she had worked in a kitchen for a while, being a lot like Mike who had experience in plenty of simple jobs, and frankly she was getting tired of going job to job while in the middle of apartment hunting, so when it was mentioned, Janet was more than ready to jump into the kitchen to have something that would be steady and stable.
She... slotted in almost awkwardly, but not horribly. Janet was already a known person to both Jeremy and Mike, they had hung out once or twice all together already from Fritz inviting her along, not to mention the fact that Mike technically went on a date with her, though she had yet to make an appearance at Mike's house for a group dinner given Marionette wasn't to keen on having strangers over and frankly Mike wasn't either for the puppet's safety. Still, they all got along fine, but that also meant that she was more than willing to stay late at work to stick around Fritz and the others while they did closing stuff, especially when it meant not having to return home to her parents a bit longer.
Which also meant Marionette and Foxy had to retreat and stay in the background to not draw any attention. For Marionette it didn't matter to much, he could leave the second the day was over and do his 'closing' which was mostly counting the tokens sold and prizes won, along with restocking, the next morning by just popping over a bit earlier, but for Foxy it meant that he couldn't get in that hour or so after a shift being able to hang out with the others before they had to leave for the night.
The answer to that thankfully came in the form of the phone company finally getting the phone set up in the warehouse for Goldie. And judging by the new bill note, the youngest animatronics in the cast spent most nights talking. That made Mike at least happy, even though as the boss he was suddenly aware of the new bills and paycheck he was signing, not to mention the long complaint he got from the damn phone company mentioning how creepy the place was. Apparently phone company workers happened to be more sensitive to ghosts than Mike was, which he found more funny than anything, though he did have to double check to make sure with his brother that the bear didn't make 'eyes in the darkness' appear for the two men that came out to set the line up.
Goldie hadn't, Mike chose to pretend to not notice that the bear seemed to find the idea interesting.
Beyond that, the most interesting thing in the last two weeks was the fact that nothing went off, literally, nothing broke down for once. Fritz was having... Well, in simple terms, a fit about it because it made no sense, but frankly Mike was just glad that everyone reached a level of just calm busyness, instead of any panic or fear of something going wrong or in the middle of working on getting things set up, it just was. It was frankly really nice, the only thing that was off was Mike and Marionette's... whatever.
Mike had also slowly become more and more convinced Mari didn't actually have any kind of crush on Jeremy, he was a bit too perceptive for him to just miss any and all signs of that, and there just weren't any beyond that single day, even if his mind was just telling himself he was deluding himself, he took it as it was and chose to believe he wasn't that blind to miss something like the puppet obviously being interested in someone, when he clearly wasn't.
So that was a thing.
But in terms of weirdness, there were still some things, Goldie and Marionette had been working with Jeremy, Mike didn't really know any details there, frankly he wasn't all that interested in knowing them either to be honest. Still, according to the man himself, it seemed to be working, in some way at least, apparently he could now sort of... lower the volume, at least that was the way that Jeremy described it. It wasn't like a mute or off switch or whatever metaphor was trying to be used, but it was better. And as such, Jeremy seemed to be doing a bit better for it, which was all Mike really cared about regarding the situation.
And that was about everything that had happened in the long and short of it. Things were good, though Mike was certain there was something still going on with Marionette, the two hadn't talked about it, mostly because Mike had no idea what it was he was supposed to be addressing and it felt just a bit... crass to poke at something that wasn't an issue, nothing was wrong between them, they were the same as always, they interacted the same, talked the same, joked the same, just now they didn't spend quite as much time solely together anymore.
Still, even with that, something told Mike he was missing something, that gut instinct he had which had gotten him through more than a few situations alive, but he made the decision, like he often did with Marionette, to push aside his urge to know what was happening, and just let it rest for a bit longer until the puppet would bring it up to him or he got an actual reason to talk about it inside of, you know, dragging something he might not have any rights to onto the floor, pressuring his friend to talk about something he didn't want or need to.
As it stood, Mike was out on the floor of the Cove, his eyes looking around just to keep an eye on things while his mask obscured his face like always. His back was against the wall of the Prize corner, it wasn't the best spot to get a look over the entire floor for some, but he was tall enough that even the poorer angle didn't really mean much, and it let him get a direct line of sight on the arcade, the stage, and put him right next to were all the most important thing in the building was, the merch.
It was a standard enough day, nothing much was happening beyond the normal hustle and bustle, they were in between the busy hours of the day leading to a small lull of activities. It was to the point that no one needed to be in the kitchen for the time being, which was something of a rarity nowadays, but there was still plenty of people moving about and around, kids running by with tickets in hand and tokens spilling across the ground with the casual clumsiness only children could really manage.
Like normal, more than a few of the little brats liked to stop and stare a bit, usually with awe given he had a foxy head on and was about as tall as the animatronic, nowadays he often found himself being dragged into things. Mostly by the kids, but occasionally Foxy himself liked to move over and just drop him into the act where he had no choice but improvise with whatever it was the fox was trying to get at. Something that only occasionally worked, not that the kids ever seemed to mind.
As it stood however, he found himself reaching up and lightly tapping on the side of the mask, it was... familiar, he was beyond used to it at this point, he literally didn't even notice the weight anymore after months of working sight hours daily with the thing on, but even he had to admit, after so long and with so little complaints or mentions of the bad press that the Cove had been very fortunate enough to be able to side step, it did feel a bit silly to still be wearing the thing for the reasons he had first put it on for that first day of work.
Still, he liked to wear it now, it was a comfort and just habit as well at this point more than anything, as he moved his hand away from the fabric that made the mask, before glancing to the side into the Prize Corner were Marionette was currently handing over a yo-yo that had the image of foxy stickered in on the side of it. It was one of the reused designs for the toy, not one that he had made, though most of his work and designs filled the Prize Corner, though he was sure the puppet would love to point out that it was Mari who gave him the ideas that he turned into the designs.
Still, in a way, the Prize Corner, out of everything in the Cove, was something that Mike had put the most work into, he had done most of the installing and work in there, given back then Marionette still wasn't talking to anyone else to be ordered around to get the grunt work done, and now his work filled the shelves for the puppet to give out. The only other place he had put as much effort put into that he could claim was the kitchen, the rest had been a definite collaboration of effort with the others.
So, yeah, he had a bit of the same pride that Marionette held with the Corner, though his also happened to be mixed up a bit as well with the pride that he held for the puppet, as he found himself simply just watching as the animatronic did a little performative little twirl, spinning around in his delivery of the toy to the young boy who reacted with a small giggle and excited hands to get a hold of the now presented toy.
The mask hid his face, which let the smile of fondness at the simple action on his face grow a bit larger than he normally would have let it. After a moment though the kid was running off in his direction, given he was parked by the doorway, and with the movement, came the following eyes of Marionette, who finally noticed Mike, as the two's eyes meet for what felt like a long moment, as Mike felt his smile grow just a bit more as the puppet gave a soft wave and a head tilt, a small gesture but an inviting one as he glanced back to the main floor for a moment before sliding his back against the wall until he spun on his feet into the Prize Corner.
The other reason he liked this spot so much.
Heading into the Corner, Mike made the guise of moving behind the counter to at least act like he was looking over the stock as Mari casually moved to his side, smile locked in place, as the puppet said in a quiet tone.
"Hey" Mike glanced at him for a second before saying back.
"Hey yourself, slow day?"
"A bit, I'm thinking about joining Foxy on the main floor" Mike raised a hidden eyebrow at that as he asked casually while reaching down to pick up and looking over a small golden foxy, the same version he had seen a few times sitting next to goldie, the plushy, in the most recent weeks.
"Yeah? Should I put on your dancing music?" The puppet turned just enough that Mike knew the animatronic was giving him as much of an unimpressed look as the unmoving mask could.
"I wish you never learned about that"
"What? That you got more than two song programs? Sorry to tell you Net, but I knew that long before you were in that bot, I just wish I could remember them... Maybe I could ask Charlie for her dad's old notes, I bet he had a master list somewhere" The puppet let out a dial tone of discontent as Mike just smirked for a moment, before feeling the smile fade, the mention of Henry was a great way to kill his mood nowadays, not that he let the man's kid know that, but instead of thinking more on it, he continued on, "Or we could play a guessing game, I get to put on old tunes and see if you try to kill me or get me a free yo-yo"
"I'm not just going to let you do that"
"Fine fine, what about Toreador March? That was Freddy's thing but does that do anything?" The puppet tensed for a moment and Mike knew he had something, as the puppet slowly looked at Mike who just stared back, before... the puppet leaned in close and said smugly.
"Nothing, it's just one of the closing themes, I thought you'd know that much mister know-it-all" Mike just huffed, but he was still smiling as he closed the now smaller distance between the two to nudge the puppet a bit as he said back.
"Oh I'm definitely going to test that later, and if not… I'm sure I could get you to dance even without music" Mari seemed ready to say something for a moment before just stopping suddenly, leaning away almost a bit too quickly to be normal, though Mike certainly still noticed it as he felt himself keep himself relaxed as he turned to the front, expecting to see someone there, but... Nope, no one, Mari just did that for some reason. It unfortunately became a more and more common thing, it was something that was going to begin to drive Mike up the walls one of these days... But it did give him an idea as he watched as Marionette gave some excuse before moving forwards and leaving the Prize Corner to do what the puppet had said he would do.
Mike found himself slowly moving out of the room, his mind staying on that move away, it had been stuck with him for a while, and he hadn't just let it stay quiet, being silent on the issues between the two of them never worked out, but whenever he had asked, the puppet simply deflected or gave an answer that was just enough that Mike didn't think about it until the next time it happened, but that had long since stopped working and now he was just wondering what it was that he had done to make the puppet cut all contact of all things. Nothing else was different at all, just... that.
It shouldn't have been enough to bug him, he wasn't a touchy person, at least he hadn't thought himself as one, but once you get used to constant small touches and things like hugs, the sudden cut off from them made... It made him feel weird, strange really, it was something he wasn't sure just what the problem was, but he really wanted to get it sorted out and handled. Which just made him feel kind of selfish given it was clear Marionette was avoiding the issue and that was a whole other thing that was the main reason Mike hadn't brought it up yet.
But he should, it was getting more and more noticeable, and he wasn't blind to not notice the looks Jeremy had been giving them, so it was probably something that should be addressed. The question just became how?
...Hmm, actually, Mike just might have an idea... But for that to work out, then he had someone to talk to and would have to spend some time to get it sorted out.
Fritz, strangely enough, felt the need to tear his hair out for once as he looked over the arcade machines because of the lack of issues more than their actually being anything wrong. It felt bad to say, but the fact that everything just suddenly started working fine out of the blue, randomly and without any cause, after months of constant problems with no foreseeable reason beyond just being there to keep him busy, nothing, not a single thing had gone wrong in weeks and frankly it was beginning to drive Fritz up the wall.
Not because he was expecting everything to collapse around him or anything, he was honestly glad the issue was over with, whatever it had been, but it annoyed him to no end that he had no idea just what the issue was in the first place, having no idea just what had been the problem and being unable to solve it had been a thorn in his side for ages, and not it looked like he wouldn't even be able to be the one to figure it out before it sorted itself out by itself.
He wasn't great at letting things like this go, and was still pretty determined to figure it out, deciding soon to go over to the warehouse and looking over the machines there to see if he could figure anything out, Mike had mentioned that the arcade cabinet that Goldie used had reset itself once, but hadn't afterwards, maybe he could find something there if he opened it up.
Speaking of Mike, he watched as the man in question walked over towards him, his head shifting around to scan the pizzeria though given his head was obscured by the mask he was always wearing, leaving the only thing to be seen was the blue of his eyes. Fritz didn't think twice about that though, instead just giving the man a head bob in acknowledgement as he moved to stand up from the completely fine game table he had been looking over.
"Hey, do you happen to know where I can get some home speakers?" Fritz raised an eyebrow at that, mostly because of how out of the blue it was, as Mike went to clarify, "We really only have a tv at the house... And I want to do something for Mari" That... sort of made sense, Fritz unfortunately found himself speaking before he could stop himself.
"Date night?" He had been doing good at keeping his foot from his mouth, but occasionally things like this still happened and he felt incredibly awkward. Thankfully it was Mike, the man who rolled with literally everything, as with only a small side look, the man just said right back.
"Something like that, so know anywhere to get them?" Fritz just took the situation as it was and chose very clearly to himself to not think too hard on the exact words Mike had just said, and instead thought over what Mike was asking.
"Sure, but if you want, I know we got some speakers that you can hook up pretty easily at the warehouse. They were a bit old, and the system wasn't big enough to fill the whole space here so I just left them, but they work fine. If you want, next Monday we can go over there and I can show you how to set them up" Mike tilted his head to the side for a moment, thinking it over while Fritz did his best to not act like he also wanted to go over to the warehouse to mess with some of the other machines and having Mike there would speed the process up. Fairly quickly Mike got his answer.
"That'd be great, thanks Frit" ...What?
"Frit?" Mike shrugged.
"I'm trying to figure out what I can shorten your name to, but there's not much there to work with"
"I- Any reason?"
"Just realized I don't have one for you, Jere's got one, I call Mari something different every other day, and Goldie and Foxy are kind of already nicknames when you think about it, and even then I have nicknames for them, not you though... It's bugging me" Fritz let out a disbelieving huff at that before shaking his head.
"Really? That's what bugs you?"
"Once you notice it, then it's always there in the back of your mind, so I'm trying things out" Fritz raised an eyebrow but couldn't help but ask with a curious amusement.
"Alright, what do you got?" Mike hummed for a moment before saying.
"Tech Guy, but that felt too impersonal. Fritzy, but I think we both rather I never say that again. Fiz, but that makes you sound like a soda. And lastly, Friedrich" Fritz just found himself staring at Mike who was looking right back, like he was waiting either for a reaction he could get amusement out of or his actual opinion. Finally he found himself saying.
"You should probably keep working on that... I don't mind Fiz, but if you ever call me Fritzy I'm quitting. Also, what's with you and putting 'E' sounds at the end of people's names? Goldie, Mari, even Mike, and heck didn't you name Foxy?" Mike just shrugged.
"I'm not really the best with names" That got a laugh from him as he said back.
"No kidding" Mike gave him a glance before asking a bit goadingly.
"Think you could do better?" Fritz wouldn't be stooping to the level of giving the man ammunition to later be used against him, so he just said back.
"Nope, I'll leave that in your, uh, capable hands" Mike just rolled his eyes, but Fritz had the inkling that the man was smiling under that mask.
The conversation ended there, as Mike spotted Jeremy, Fritz just rolled his eyes this time good naturedly, as he watched the man move over, pulling a bag of chips out from somewhere and casually tossing it to the shorter man. Mike had been doing that a lot recently, Jeremy constantly had some kind of snack on him now, or what reason beyond Mike thinking the guy was skinny, Fritz had no idea, but it was certainly funny to watch.
Swimming colors and pictures of people flashed across through his line of sight faster than he could hope to see them for what they looked like beyond blurred refractions of parts, clear light brown eyes, dark brown hair, a scruffy beard, the sounds of intermixed voices, one that he was sure was his own but didn't sound anything like himself.
It was too much, too many, and too soon, for he wanted it to be forever before this moment now, as he pressed and pushed the thoughts away, until all that remained was a single figure. Standing in front of the confused man, unsure of himself or his form and too worried to see what his own hands looked like, so instead he stared at the worst of what he could see.
Purple, pouring, dripping, seeping purple, leaking off of twisted monstrous features that were beyond inhuman. It couldn't be human, with limbs that felt too long with how the color of death dripped from its fingertips, leading to the impression of reach that made something tight ball itself up in the watcher's throat. As he could only watch with horror as the purple monster's long limbed legs stretched forwards closer, and closer, the distorted voice echoing from the thing in front of him, taunting him.
"Ma-ri~... R-emem-ber what he did M-arionett_e? Rem_ember who he_ -killed? Remember how_ you w-ere killed? W_-hy forget your m_on-ster? I'll make you remember MARIONETTE"
It was to much, as everything felt for a single moment like an indescribable heat and anger that felt so familiar yet painfully foreign, the man, Marionette, felt a gasp- tear through his speaker as the puppet shot awake, pouncing from his box, the overwhelming urge and need to get away from that monster sending him half way out of his room and into the living room before he could realize just what he was doing.
Once he did, the puppet felt a tear of frustration rip through his voice box in the uncomfortable sound of a dial tone as he felt the need to grab and fling one of the few things that were laying around, the feeling of violation was back and it haunted him as he found himself sitting alone on a familiar couch, his long arms coming around and hugging onto his own form in some pathetic form of self comfort as his body shook through the waves of emotions echoing through him.
He wanted Mike, the almost painful urge to move and head up the stairs to the man's room, where he was sure he would be pulled into a tight hug and comfort. It was almost as bad as the painful determination to ride this out himself. He couldn't keep relying on the man for this, otherwis-
"What happened?" Marionette felt himself freeze before sinking into the touch of two arms wrapping around his shoulders, covering his own limbs that were still clinging onto himself, but couldn't feel anything but relief as he leaned back, his head pushing against the familiar warmth of the man who was now bending over the back of the couch to hold onto him. It was too easy to find himself answering the man.
"I-... Bad dream, did I wake you?" Mike just hummed a bit before saying softly.
"Not really, heard you though, you alright?"
"I-... I will be, just need a second" Mike just hugged a bit tighter before letting go, as he moved around the couch and sat down right next to the puppet, who only watched with faint confusion for half a second before an arm was wrapped around him again as Mike said casually.
"Right, well, let me know then" Oh god... Marionette really had no chance of getting away from his feelings did he? This man was just... It was almost infuriating, but right now his emotions were too worn and his self control a bit too short to do much more than simply lean into the hug, and quietly asked.
"Could you turn on the tv?" The instant sound of the screen cutting on told the puppet Mike had only been waiting for the puppet to ask. It made him feel a warmth that helped fight against the cold terror that was still trying to lightly wrack his form, as he found himself at the angle he was at, looking at the arm wrapped around him. Mike had gone to sleep in a t-shirt, leaving his arms bare.
In an ironic manner, that Marionette couldn't find it in him right now to appreciate or find all that funny, the puppet found himself comforted in the sight of Mike's own stained purple arms holding onto him where not even moments ago the same sight had paralyzed him. The color was the same, but the people couldn't be more different that Mari could never find purple on Mike anything short of comforting. ...Though he was a bit confused about the not-dream, he knew exactly who killed him, so...
Marionette decided he didn't care right now, instead lulling himself into comfort once more as he turned his attention to the tv which was playing some late night cartoon that he knew for a fact Mike didn't care much about, but knew Mari liked for how childish they were. It was kind of embarrassing just how hard he had fallen for the man wasn't it? Given the sheer feeling of just adoration he felt for such a simple action.
"Are yah sure you want to do that Goldie?" Goldie, or maybe Evan, found himself pausing, if only for a second, at the concerned tone of his fox friend over the phone, as he said back down the line quickly enough.
"It's been long enough, and I want to see a few things"
"Do you want me to be there fer yah?"
"Maybe... I don't know yet"
"Well I be here if you need me, captain's promise" Goldie found himself touched by the gesture though he wasn't really sure if he needed it or not. He had been thinking about the whole thing for a while now, but had mostly been putting it off for his own comfort until now.
"Thank you Foxy, I'll keep you up on it"
"I'd appreciate it... What you gonna tell yah brother?" That was a good question, something Goldie himself wasn't quite sure yet.
"The truth I suppose, though... I don't think I'll ask him to be there, I don't think I'm ready for that"
"What about Marionette? He be a good lad and he'd be there normally" The bear got the impression that the fox didn't want him alone with his thoughts, something that while touching was mostly unneeded, he wasn't his brother... Though he could admit, maybe the company might help.
"Yeah, maybe... I'll think more about it, I just don't know yet, I just know I don't want Michael there for it"
"Well, I'm sure he'll let you do it, he cares an awful lot, but he'll probably still wanna help by being here. It do be his house you're looking to visit"
"Yeah, well, it was my home as well... I just want to see it again, but that's for later, I'll talk to Michael about it tomorrow and let you know if I'm any interested in having someone there to watch me have a break down" That got a surprised laugh from the fox which did make the bear feel a bit better about all of this, even if he could admit he was strangely nervous about the whole thing.
"Aye. Anything else you wanted to talk about then matey?" Goldie just said no, he wasn't much for talking much without a reason. Thankfully it seemed Foxy was more than willingly to take over from that point now that the serious matter that the bear had wanted to talk about had been discussed, the pirate launched into a tale of stolen ice cream at the Cove.
Goldie just found himself sitting down, listening to the tiny phone in his hand connected to the nearby wall, which he had to carefully cradle to not crush on accident, at the sound of his friend's voice as he excitedly went to talk about the mundane mess up as something grand. A part of the bear knew that Foxy was doing it to keep the animatronics' mind off of the conversations he'll be having in the near future, and that part of him appreciated the fox's actions all the more for it.
Mike was nervous, that was plenty obvious to the puppet as he watched his friend pace back and forth in their living room looking incredibly out of sorts for the normally unfazeable man. The unconscious need to help the man came and went before Marionette could have stopped it, as he said comfortingly.
"It'll be fine Mike" The man didn't so much stop pacing as more slowed down a bit, as he said back to the animatronic.
"You don't know that, this place... It's heavy, it took me months to be able to be fully comfortable here again" Marionette understood well enough that trying to comfort Mike when he was like this with support wasn't going to get through as well, so instead he decided to turn to logic, that usually had a good chance of getting through to the man.
"You were also alone, and this place had been a run down mess, how long did you let the power stay out again?" Mike didn't seem to get what Marionette was getting at, as he answered absently.
"Two and a half months? Give or take" Mari... chose to not find that as troubling as he knew it really was, that the man willingly did that to himself, because they were past that now, and this was the more important thing to address.
"Right, well, he won't have to deal with that, the power is on, the place is clean, and he won't be alone" The man paused for a second, glancing back with a troubled look on his face, before Mike finally managed to push it down as he said back.
"Yeah, I know, but... I won't be one of the ones with him, and I know that's probably a good thing for him, but it feels... Off. I feel like I should be here"
"That's because you want to protect him from the bad memories, but this isn't something that you can save him from. He wants to deal with them himself" It was something Marionette knew for a fact he had been slowly thinking more and more about himself for a while now. He wasn't dumb, he knew those dreams, the ones he was still getting, weren't normal, they were... something that he didn't want, but he might not have a choice. And given just how long he's been pushing the matter away... Well, that was for never if he could help it.
"I mean, I know, but... Still... Right, it's fine, this is fine! You'll be here right?" Marionette just nodded, Goldie had asked him to be here for a reason that the puppet wasn't really sure of himself, given the two hadn't really talked or interacted much outside of the occasional meet up. But if he wanted the puppet to be here, then Marionette could do that easily enough, though from what he had been told, and given the plan currently, it seemed that Foxy would be joining them as well, meaning that there was a good chance that Marionette would end up more as a supervising third wheel.
Still, that seemed to be enough to give some form of comfort to Mike who took a deep breath before nodding.
"Right, well... I'd say look after him, but you all can manage yourselves just fine..." He seemed to trail off, probably still thinking about it and worrying, cause that's what Mike did when it came to his brother. Before either could either panic more or try to think of another way to comfort the one who was panicking, the sound of a short horn caught both the two's attention as Mike's head snapped over to the front of the house before saying.
"I guess that's my ride... Jeremy will be over soon with Goldie and Foxy, uh... Try to make sure that the two don't burn our house down while I'm helping Fritz at the warehouse" Mike was clearly and forcefully composing himself so Fritz wouldn't notice the state he was in over it, and while Marionette wasn't an overly big fan of the man clearly forcing his emotions down, there was a not so small part of him that was pleased that Mike was so open about his feelings these days to let the puppet see him work through his nerves and even let him help without issue.
"Don't worry, if they try I'll make sure they have it cleaned up themselves" That got a huff from Mike.
"Yeah, of course that's what you're worried about, the mess the fire would make and not us becoming homeless" Marionette gave a playful wave off as Mike was now half out of the door, saying teasingly.
"One of us has to, the place already looked like a dumpster fire once" That got the proper laugh from the man and just like that he was gone. Marionette found himself waiting a moment as the sound of the car before the realization about how awkward this was going to be for him really set in now that he wasn't thinking about making sure Mike was fine.
The supervisor joke he had made suddenly felt much more accurate given the ages of the two, and the fact that he had a not so small crush on Goldie's older brother and this was the first time they would be together without Mike also there since Purple Guy was still around... Oh, this was probably going to be really awkward wasn't it?
Help Wanted 2 just dropped, that's pretty sweet, I'm way to broke to afford it, but from what I've seen it looks pretty sick. But that's unimportant, for there are things to talk about!
Animatronic reunion people! I think this is weirdly enough the first time all three are going to be on screen together since Mike and the bots left Freddy's for the last time. Wild to think about ain't it? Time flies, and speaking of, we're in mid-to-late June people, wild how fast time moves, it's been about six months since the events of Chapter Nineteen, and nearly four months since Pirate's Cove opened up. I honestly wanted Act two be... a bit faster to be honest. I mean, we're completely on track, Act Two was planned to be about twenty-five chapters, and like Act One which was a single chapter short of how long I expected it to be, this is going to hopefully be just about right as well, which is awesome for me cause it means I'm really nailing this pacing thing which I am very proud of myself for. But I feel like in a way I'm both at times rushing a bit and as well basically slamming the breaks. Like, timeline wise, it shouldn't have taken six months to get here but... Oh well.
I could go into more detail, but, nah, I know why it's like that, with the way I structured this act, it was on purpose, but damn if it doesn't make me feel like I'm giving myself pacing whiplash. Anyways, next chapter... Ooh boy, I mentioned the Act length cause we're getting real close to that, means something interesting is going to be happening doesn't it? Wonder what that's going to be? Anyways, See ya.
