I Don't Own Fnaf
The air felt heavy, Mike just did his best to pretend that wasn't the case as Jeremy slowly moved over to sit in the chair that Mari had been in not even a moment ago, the puppet only vanishing out of instinct when the hospital door had opened to reveal the man in question who was just now sitting down. They had been talking about what all Mike had missed out on in the last week he had been out of commission. Mike thought it was funny the second after his heart rate went down when he himself realized it wasn't someone who would scream at the sight of Mari, at the look on the puppet's face before he had vanished, he'd have to tease him about that later.
But that humor went away soon after as Jeremy just stared ahead at Mike with a mournful look on his face. Mike took a short breath, because he already had an idea just what they were about to talk about, as he said casually.
"So, I hear I have you to thank for the doctors not tossing me out, thanks" Jeremy just frowned heavier and Mike withheld the urge to say something else, he wasn't really looking for seriousness right now, he already had so much on his mind that he was trying his best to ignore for just a bit longer, but that didn't stop the short man from speaking softly.
"I'm sorry" Mike frowned, just for a second in confusion, before waving the man off.
"I'm pretty sure you haven't done anything wrong Jere" Jeremy just sighed, reaching up as he pulled his hat off, this one a worn down blue cap, as he ran a hand through his hair for a moment until finally saying softly.
"I meant for you, for your loss" Mike felt as if his already dry throat became a desert as he just gulped before looking away, Jeremy had been told, they all had, Mari hadn't lied to him about that of course, but... But already having it addressed... Jeremy was telling Mike he was sorry, because Mike was dead, he was being mourned. Sort of, but did that make it better? He just shrugged.
"It's fine, I'm still kicking so I'm not to bad off I don't thin-"
"Your heart stopped" Mike paused, his words gone as Jeremy continued, "It was around five in the morning, the doctors had been ready to pronounce you dead... You were dead, they didn't revive you" Mike felt the faint nerves in his hands tremble just a bit before he spoke softly, even as his ears pricked just a bit to focus on the faint, slow, beating in his chest. It wasn't as fast as it should be, beating but not with the strength he was used to.
"Didn't even try huh? I guess I have another thing to thank Mari for"
"You did it yourself, you brought yourself back... I don't think I could have done that, but I'm sorry you had to, I'm sorry you're on this side of things now" Mike just shrugged.
"I'm alive, so I can't complain too much. It's... I'm fine Jeremy" The man just shrugged, though Mike could see the way his own hands lightly trembled.
"No you're not" Mike gave a grime smile, before just shrugging.
"Maybe not, but you'll be the first to know when I am" Sue him, Mike got through most things in life by making jokes, this was not going to change that, he refused to let this change him. Of course that's when Jeremy just let out a shuddered breath before saying.
"No, I won't... I- I can't..." Jeremy looked conflicted for a long moment before saying, "I can't feel anything from you" Mike blinked, his eyes going wide for a moment before he frowned.
"What?" Jeremy shrugged kind of helplessly, like he had no idea himself, as he said simply.
"I can't feel anything from you, it's... It's like you aren't even there" Mike just frowned, leaning back just a bit to not put too much pressure on his back before saying.
"Huh... Maybe that's my thing?" Jeremy looked confused as he explained, "I mean, being, like, supernaturally resistant maybe? Mari said our two... gifts were different, though I don't really know how, maybe you got opened up to stuff and I got... closed off maybe?" Mike wasn't sure, he didn't really have a good grasp of this stuff, and it was kind of his first day being dead... Or first day of being 'un'dead that he was awake for... the terms alone are going to give him a headache. He's just going to consider himself alive until he wants to make a joke about being dead.
"Maybe... I don't know. Mari's right though, we are different, our circumstances are different... I'm not dead, technically good as but if there was ever a place for semantics..." Mike just blinked at that. Today has been way to heavy on him, but it was clear that Jeremy had spent at the very least days thinking about it all, and if he was the one that Jeremy wanted to talk to about it, then he would listen and then hope his head wasn't foggy from the pills enough that he could give a response... Didn't stop him from asking in a slightly dumb sounding tone.
"Uh, what?" Jeremy's head rose up to rake through his hair again, a nervous habit that Mike had known about for a while now, but he still winced a bit as the man tugged a bit on a few strands that got caught, Jeremy's hair had been getting pretty long, Mike's as well now that he was thinking about it, a strange thing to focus on but... Pills.
"Brain dead, I- uh... I'm able to do things because of the plate, but my body never really died? If the plate was removed my conscience, or soul, or whatever would go with it, but my body... It would just still be there, unresponsive... Or not, maybe my body would give out, I don't know really, but my heart never stopped, I reached the threshold, but I can't remember if I ever really stepped over the line" That was... terrifying. Give Gifts Give Life had never sounded simple, but Mike had never really considered just how... dangerous it was as a concept.
It was a whole thing by itself to put souls of the dying into suits, but it was another to put a still technically living person's soul into something else, and it was probably a whole other thing to bind a soul to its own dead body, because that's what Mari had done for Mike, he had been said he had been bound to himself. Sure, Mike didn't really know what that meant, but the idea of it... It had restarted his heart after he had been dead, and while he was sure there would be side effects, he hadn't really considered, or had really known to consider, about just how it had kept him here in the land of the living.
Could... Could Mari just make people immortal? Was Mike immortal now or something? Of course, now that he was thinking about it, weren't the animatronics technically immortal? They would never die of old age, at least as long as they were careful and their bodies weren't broken down, but was Jeremy? If he was moved to the suit like he said then yeah, but he still seemed to age so... That...
Mike stopped that line of thinking harshly and quickly, because he was not sure he could handle that right now. He had no interest in debating the long term just about ever to be honest, and he wasn't looking to start now. It didn't matter, he had thought about some of that before, and it hadn't mattered then, and he wasn't about to make it matter now, he had made a promise to himself around the time he had gotten proof of the afterlife that he just wouldn't think too hard on it, least he go crazy. So instead he just shrugged to the patiently waiting Jeremy, and said.
"Maybe, I mean, there's probably something weird about this, I mean, in the end, when you think about it, we're both just two zombies who work at a restaurant filled with ghosts, none of this makes sense already, so might as well just accept it and move on. If something comes up in the future, then we can deal with it then, but for right now I'm just going to be happy with the fact that I'm still alive" Jeremy was silent for a long moment after that, his head angled down to his knees in the chair, before finally huffing, a small if subdued grin on his face as he looked up at Mike.
"I'm glad you're alright, sorry to bring down the mood right when you just woke up" Mike just waved the man off.
"Eh, I'm in a hospital bed missing, like, half a dozen organs, can't get much lower, do me a favor and call Mari to tell him to get back over here and we'll be even, you ran him off" Jeremy smiled just a bit more genuinely at that.
"I noticed, I can know what's up with him, and the panic was pretty recognizable when it vanishes a second later" Mike smirked a bit at that, before Jeremy said casually, a bit to casually, "You know, Mari was really worried about you" Mike frowned for a moment before nodding. His mind unwittingly going back to Afton Robotics, and everything there that Mike was passively thinking about in spite of himself even now. Maybe it was a good thing Jeremy didn't have a link to his mind anymore, he doubted the chaos up there would have helped the man's own thoughts and feelings.
"I know... we... We haven't talked about it yet, there's a lot there to unpack that I don't even know where to start" Mike didn't really want to either, but they would have to talk about it, they all would really, maybe not right now, but AR wasn't something they could just leave alone and hope it went away, as much as Mike desperately wished they could.
Maybe it was because Jeremy couldn't know what was going on in Mike's head that he was speaking about that uncertainty when he normally would just brush it off, that weird privacy making him want to share in some ironic way, or maybe it was because it was Jeremy. The man had more steel in his spine than even some of the animatronics Mike had known, and he always, even at his worst, seemed to have something to say to make things make a bit more sense. And Mike really needed that right about now...
Of course he quickly figured out unlike before, Jeremy could now more easily misinterpret what he was saying, as the man's eyes widened by a considerable amount as he said quickly.
"Wait, you know?" Mike blinked, glancing at Jeremy with a look of confusion on his face as he watched as Jeremy's shifted into shock, guilt, and then a bit of dread... He just sort of squinted at the man before asking.
"Know... What? Cause I was talking about Afton Robotics"
"N-nothing!" Mike stared for a moment longer before something occurred to him that he had known about for a while now but hadn't really put much thought into. As he leaned back a bit before asking a bit too casually.
"Oh, well, whatever" He hid the smirk that tried to grow on his face at the sheer relief on the other man's face. Oh, yeah, Jeremy definitely knew, and he thought that Mike and Mari were being oblivious... Ok, to be fair, they had been, but still, that was something funny enough to break him from his mood as he wondered absently just how he and Mari should go about telling the man, or anyone really given they hadn't really talked about that either...
Or if they should play it up to see how long it would take Jeremy to notice... Now that would be funny.
"So, how hard do you think it would be to figure out how to teleport?" Fritz just huffed as Mike was rolled out of the hospital doors to the car, the man had been nice enough to be the one to drive him back to his house, though, maybe that's because Fritz was the one with the keys to the van, apparently they had thought it would be easier to just roll him into the back with the ramp in the back of the van than moving him in and out of the wheelchair.
Given just how much pain he was in with even light gestures and how big he was in comparison to both Fritz and Jeremy, he understood where the idea came from, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have loved to not have to do this. It was just embarrassing more than he would like to admit that walking right now wasn't something he could handle. His leg, the one he had gotten wrapped in wires, hadn't been broken or anything, but the ankle had been slightly sprained and it was so bruised up that even after a week long coma, it hurt like hell to walk on, and his chest was way too fragile to use a crutch, so a wheelchair he was bound, at least for a few more days until he was confident he wouldn't hobble everywhere.
"I am definitely the last person you should be asking that, now shush while I push you up this ramp" Mike just hummed, but conceded the point... maybe he could ask Mari, powers would be a pretty sick deal out of all of this. Sure, he had no idea for the most part about how it all worked, but what guy didn't want to have some kind of ability? Well, Jeremy, but that just meant Mike should be careful about it, clearly they weren't all winners, not that he had any idea if he was 'dead' enough to be able to do anything like that, though he was apparently more dead than Jeremy, but maybe not as much as Mari? It was just a thought more than anything, one he stopped quickly enough as he did every time he thought too hard about his mortality.
"I'm the injured one here, I think I get to talk as much as I want" Fritz just rolled his eyes, but he didn't seem all that interested in Mike actually being quiet, as he had an interesting look on his face as he pulled the shutter up to the van as Mike just rested his eyes for a moment, the medications he was on for everything from pain to antibiotics for post surgery infections, made him feel exhausted even before he added in worn down state of his body which certainty didn't help.
The sound of the doors opening distracted Mike for a moment as he was pushed up with a bit of effort on Fritz's side as he flickered his eyes open before they went open wide at the sight in front of him as the familiar sound of chiming laughter rang in his eyes as he looked in at the sight of not only Mari, but Foxy, and his brother as well. All there sitting down apparently waiting for him.
Craning his head up he just gave Fritz a look who just stared back unapologetically with a smirk on his face.
"What? You thought they wouldn't jump at the chance to make sure you were ok for the hour drive it's going to be to get back to Hurricane?" Mike just huffed, but he couldn't hide the smile pulling to his face as well as he looked them over, his eyes landing on Mari and Goldie the most, even though he did give a wave to Foxy who looked incredibly excited, probably only not shouting out about something because they were in the loading area of a hospital.
A small part of his mind brought up the fact that not too long ago in his own perspective he hadn't thought he'd ever be able to see his brother again, he ignored it, this was hardly his first brush with death, he was fine. So he did what he always did, raised an eyebrow before saying as he leaned back to look at Fritz.
"If you take a corner hard enough for Foxy to crush me, I'm going to haunt this wheelchair and run you over with it" Fritz just rolled his eyes but he was still smiling, so was Mike, as he was rolled up into the back as Goldie reached out a hand and grabbed onto the side of the chair to keep him from rolling around, Mike just gave him a grateful look while Foxy pouted.
"Oi! I ain't going to be tumbling about" Marionette chimed in quickly as he floated over to the other side of Mike, placing a hand on his shoulder, as he said teasingly at the fox while stage whispering to the man in the chair.
"He nearly put a hole in the side of the van on the way over here, Foxy isn't much of a fan of sitting still for long drives" Foxy immediately tried to defend himself.
"N-No! You ain't telling it right! My, uh, servos! They were locking up!" Goldie spoke up dryly without remorse.
"That's not a thing" Mike also piped up at that.
"Even then those are in your head, not your legs bud" He just waved off the words while looking away, as Mike just let out a not too flattering snort. He had missed Foxy and his goofiness, for being the animatronic that he spent the least time around, he sure missed the few days he spent not interacting at all with the fox, and judging by the way the fox not so subtly turned a bit to be able to see Mike in his line of sight again, it was probably the same way around. Honestly, Mike had missed them all a strange amount for what amounts for his perceptive as only two days holed up in the hospital.
"Well, it's nice to see you all, though you really didn't need to be here for the boring drive back" Goldie just let out a thrumming huff at his side as his brother gave him a look.
"If we didn't, then there's a chance that you wouldn't make it back home without several more injuries" Mike rolled his eyes but said casually back.
"I'm not that bad" There was a snort from up front as Fritz just climbed into the driver's seat, already turning the van's engine over as he said back without a hint of hesitation.
"Mike, we are literally driving away from the hospital that you spent the last week of in a coma, don't lie to yourself like that" He just made an offended sound, but the smile remained on his face as they slowly pulled out and got onto the road, Mike's hand slowly slipping down through the side of the wheel chair to tap on Mari's wrist to get his attention before holding onto the puppet's hand with his own.
Marionette just let out a faint sound of surprise, his head moving to stare at Mike for a moment, before tilting up to look at the others, none of which could see what they were doing at the angle they had, before slightly relaxing as the hang squeezed lightly back into Mike's own. Mike just enjoyed it along with the knowledge they were leaving the hospital behind. He had never liked being in them, especially when he was the patient.
The drive itself went by quickly as it did horribly, every single bump on the road seemed to have a personal vendetta it was trying to cash in on Mike's poor body, each faint jostle sending tremors of pain throughout his chest. He had thought he had been doing a fairly good job of hiding it from everyone, but he apparently wasn't doing to good a job as at some point Foxy began to go off on some story, clearly trying to distract Mike while Mari was a saint by not complaining when Mike nearly bent the puppet's hand out of shape with how tight he suddenly squeezed it at times.
Yet it was nice in another way, being around them all, even if he didn't talk much and wasn't expected to with how tired he was, helped his conflicted mood and the many things in the back of his mind that he was ignoring. And then they arrived, pulling up in front of Mike's home soon enough, as he just felt the way the van settled as it was turned off, his eyes straying to the others before saying simply.
"Well, this is my stop" Goldie just rolled his eyes as he moved a bit to lean over to the window to stare out of in the passenger side which had just been vacated by Jeremy, as he just got out while Fritz moved to head to open up the back.
"You're out of your mind if you think I'm not keeping an eye on you" Mike... frowned at that, before tilting his head to the side, glancing at Marionette who just gave a causal smile that Mike knew better to believe, when suddenly the door to the back of the van was opened up as Fritz moved to get the ramp down while Jeremy moved around the side with a dolly being pushed and a tarp under one of his arms as it clicked in Mike's head as his eyes shot back over to the bear.
"Wait, you mean-" Goldie just interrupted, clearly trying to either clarify or not wanting Mike to be the one to say it.
"Just for a few days, until you can move around on your own again. Marionette needs to be at the Cove during business hours, and I don't have anything else to do" He sounded surprisingly almost defensive about it. Mike's nature and the drugs in his system admittedly made his first instinct to play it off, make some joke about lamenting Mari not being able to be his personal nurse or something, but he definitely wasn't that out of it to say in front of anyone but the puppet, not to mention the almost burning feeling of gratefulness as he gave his brother a smile.
"Thank you Evan, I appreciated it" He just huffed, looking like he was doing his best to not fidget just a tad.
"Don't mention it" Mike just smiled as he watched as Mari vanished into nothingness back into the house while he was rolled down the slope by Fritz so Jeremy could move him, before moving to get his brother rolled in through the garage, which was suddenly opening on it's own, no doubt curtsy of a certain puppet. Before long with a bit of moving about, Mike found himself learning just what it was like to see the world from a much shorter height. It was weird to have to look up a bit to look at Jeremy and gave Mike an idea of just how much time he spent standing versus sitting in the company of his friends.
Something felt... Off though, once he was pushed around, as he looked about for a moment at everyone who had kind of more or less gathered in the living room, Fritz looking around awkwardly for a long moment before heading out once more with the things he had used to bring his brother in, and soon enough returning with Foxy... Right, so something was happening, and Mike had a bad feeling he knew just what it was. He just sighed, but didn't fight it, they had been waiting a week to talk no doubt, he could suck it up and then take a nap afterwards.
Before long they all were just around as Mike just glanced to Mari who just shrugged, looking a bit confused as well about everything, but hadn't made a move to speak up just yet, even as one of his hands moved to rest on Mike's shoulder, Mike just used that as a signal that he should probably break the silence, might as well get this over with.
"So, is this an intervention or..." Fritz sputtered out something first.
"I- No?" Goldie spoke up soon enough though.
"It could be, might work at getting some common sense into your head" Mike just raised an eyebrow as the bear seemed mollified after a second as he said, "No, we're not here to talk about how you're willing to risk your life for no reason, it's about Afton Robotics, Marionette told us what was down there while you were... away" Mike grimaced at that, so it was this conversation. Not one he wanted to have, but he eventually just sighed, as he said simply.
"It's not that complicated, there are living animatronics down there, and they're very clearly insane given what they tried to do and just what the hell they looked like" Marionette chimed in next.
"Something was very wrong with them, the way they... melded together, I can't imagine just what that's like, but from what I saw, they did it to themselves, willingly, and it wasn't the first time they tried to do something like this to someone... I found the last one they tried to do it to, along with the... parts they shed to fit together" Mike's head snapped over to Mari at that admission. The thought that there was someone else who had been... scooped. His hands gripped tightly into the chair's arm rests as he listened to the others speak, Jeremy being the one to go next.
"Right, to escape right? That's what they told you" Mike didn't answer, but listened to Mari confirm it, even as the words bounced back in his head from that night. The pounding fear echoing back into his skull and rattling around without much way of mercy.
'There is nowhere to go, when we look like this'
"I don't know why, but they didn't seem to care to listen to reason, we were tricked there to get Mike to be their next victim to try and get away, they must have noticed him with how often we were there, then they got in touch with me through a dream, and then the rest..." Mike felt his chest tighten in a way that had nothing to do with his injuries, his breaths coming out fainter. Mike could swear he could hear the faint thrumming of machinery in the back of his hearing.
'You're much larger, you'll work much better than the last one'
"But why go through with it if you had already said you'd be willing to try and get them out?" Mike finally spoke up, his voice coming out hoarse and sharper than he meant to.
"I-It doesn't matter" Everyone's eyes came to hold on him, as he just gritted his teeth, feeling the way his too slow heart tried to race but just couldn't. "They made their choice, Ennard isn't getting out anytime soon, they said it themselves, they're trapped down there, so we have nothing to worry about right now" Mike ignored the faint burning shame in knowing that they also weren't a threat because there was hardly enough of them left to be a threat.
It was silent for a long moment, before Evan spoke up from where he had positioned himself against one of the walls, apparently not wanting to sit down.
"Maybe but it's something we'll have to deal with, or are you just going to leave it alone suddenly?" Mike's hands dug sharply into the wheelchair, his eyes closing for a moment to keep from snapping. The sound of a light chime escaping from Mari told the man that the puppet had seemed to realize just how unwell he was handling the conversation, as he spoke up before Mike could, his hand squeezing comfortingly onto his shoulder a bit more as he did so.
"Of course we're going to have to deal with it eventually, but right now there's not enough time and not enough questions that we need to answer. Mike needs to recover, and we need to focus on the Cove right now more than anything" The words seemed to remind everyone just what they were talking about and who in the room was with them as it was being discussed. Mike hated the way he could practically feel the guilt that came off the more expressive of the people in the room, the look Jeremy gave him was so pitying that he nearly wanted to just stand up and walk away, but he couldn't, he was stuck.
It had only been a few hours, but the wheelchair already felt like a damn prison of its own. Mike was not great at dealing with the feeling of being looked down on, in any way shape or form, and this was no exception it seemed. Thankfully it seemed the clock was on his side and soon enough everyone realized they had to get to the Cove soon with the not subtle reminder from Mari. Mike had been picked up early in the morning, but it was quickly getting close to opening anyways, so he just watched with relief as the conversation was forced to end and the crew began to filter out of the house.
He pretended his heart didn't ache just a bit as Mari had to vanish before he could properly get a talk with the puppet in private, or even a proper goodbye. The empty space where his body had been taking up by Mike's side already felt emptier.
Still, it was just him and Evan now, as he looked around for a moment as the two sort of just lapsed into a silence, before Mike decided that he really needed to lay down, sitting in the chair was getting increasingly uncomfortable as he wheeled himself around to the couch. It wouldn't exactly fit him properly, it never did, but given there was no way in hell he could make it up to the stairs to his bed, this was the best he had without tossing Mari's plushy collection into a state of disarray that would have the puppet revolt against him by dinner time.
He could have used one of the other two bedrooms he could get to... but he'd rather just use the couch at that point. Evan just watched as Mike rolled himself over before looking his eyes between the two points as Mike slowly began to rise out of the seat. He could hobble, just not for long as he quickly half stumbled into reaching out to the couch when the loud moving sounds of springs filled Mike's ears as a massive hand sort of awkwardly braced against him to help lower him onto the couch.
He would have been a bit more embarrassed about it if the bending at the waist to try and lay down half way through hadn't begun to burn like hell. So beyond letting out a short hiss, Mike didn't say a word as he let himself practically be lowered onto the couch. Afterwards while the pain was still there, the tension from his chest was relieved enough that he let out a sigh as he slowly more or less scooted himself around to be able to lay on his back, even as his legs hung off the side of the couch.
He ignored the faint chill that he wasn't sure was actually there or not, and just closed his eyes to rest them, he was so tired. The moment he had stopped shifting and had gotten in even in a somewhat comfortable position he had begun to slip into a nap.
As this happened, Goldie only just watched just off to the side of the couch as Mike slowly stilled and slipped into sleep in that awkward and uncomfortable looking scrunched up position. He looked... Unnatural to the bear's eyes, not that Goldie had much experience with knowing what a sleeping person should look like, but he had plenty in looking at a dead body. Michael reminded him of that enough that his eyes quickly moved away as he began to lumber his way out of the living room.
He wasn't sure just what room he was suppose to get what he was looking for from, but eventually deciding that the things in his old room were the things he was probably fine to mess with, given it was where he would be sleeping tonight no doubt, so he just moved in there, looking around at the familiar sight and the familiar feelings it brought up the last time he was in here, before moving to the bed.
It still was about as lightly dusty as it was last time. Goldie didn't care, just lifting it up and giving a slightly to harsh slap to knock the most of it off as he could, before moving back into the living room. His hands didn't lead to much in way of being careful or delicate, they were big and clumsy at the worst of times, but he still did his best to drape the comforter over Michael without too much of a disturbance.
The human didn't even shift, Goldie ignored the way his chest tightened up almost to the point of pain at that. He hadn't... He's never seen Michael like this before, no matter what had happened to the man, he seemed to bounce back by the next day, always. No matter what happened to him, he never slowed down or ever seemed capable of stopping... Something at Afton Robotics had caused his brother to stop.
Something at that damned place had hurt, had killed, his brother. If Marionette hadn't been with him...
Goldie felt the pain of his springlocks winding and tensing to the point he was sure something was about to snap as he forcefully made his body untense before he ended up on the ground next to his brother. But that didn't stop the old familiar anger, the need for some kind of vengeance, from trying to stir itself in his chest.
He ignored it for now, he couldn't do anything on his own, Michael needed him right now, but someone had hurt his big brother, and they would have to pay for that.
Marionette was happy once the day was finally over, sure he loved his job and the Cove, and even if the place itself wasn't... high in rank of places Marionette liked to think about, the things that they had gotten from Afton Robotics had helped seem to breath a new energy into the walls from the kids that visited, but that didn't change the fact that the puppet studied the clock every time he thought he could get away with it, waiting until he could be excused back to his box to leave back home as soon as possible.
He didn't feel nearly as bad about bailing on the others as much as he was pretty sure he should have, instead retreating back into his box before the others had even started to start with closing. He could do his own tomorrow, but for right now he just wanted to be home. So there he was, appearing in the living room, as he looked around for a moment before his head spun around to the couch where Mike was laying, a blanket pulled over him, an empty bowl of what looked like had once been oatmeal laying on the coffee table.
Marionette just let out a faint chime, moving a bit closer, leaning down just enough to reach down and place a hand on the side of Mike's face, as he looked the man over. His breaths were... worryingly faint, but there, Mari just felt his face shift into a smaller but much more genuine smile seeing him here and not in that cold white room that was the hospital. Leaning a bit closer, Marionette just studied the man's face... For a faint moment he had thought he had noticed something, but before he could the sound of heavy footsteps caught his attention as he spun around just in time to realize that Goldie definitely had seen what he was doing.
"O-oh! Hey Goldie, uh, how was everything?" The bear just stared at the puppet for a long enough moment that Marionette slowly began to fidget, just a bit, as he looked awkwardly around, not quite at the animatronic in front of him, for a long second, before saying simply as he moved to walk past.
"He's mostly been sleeping" Marionette just let out a relieved chime before quickly moving to continue the conversation before the bear could think too hard about what the puppet had just been doing.
"His body needs the time to recover, we have the papers the doctor gave us somewhere about what to expect" Marionette should find those, he had read them over during the night when he had snuck into Mike's hospital room just so he'd know, but given Goldie would be helping Mike for the next few days while the man couldn't do certain things by himself, he should probably make sure the bear had a read through of them as well.
"Will those instructions mean anything?" Marionette paused, just for a second, as he had made to move to get the papers at the slightly demanding tone in the bear's voice. He felt the spools of his wires tighten enough that it felt like his wrists were aching, but he spoke back casually as he continued to move.
"I-... I'm not sure, the doctors mentioned a few things, but I'm sure it's just his body adjusting, he should be fine soon enough"
"Oh? Like what?" Marionette didn't want to answer, but this was Mike's brother, he deserved to know and what to look out for...
"Well... Mike's... He's a unique case, I'm certain he'll be fine, but it's not like Jeremy's situation. I'm sure there will be similarities, but Jeremy for all intents and purposes is just a normal human with a slightly abnormal way of experiencing the world, Mike... He's alive because he couldn't move on and there was nowhere else for him to go, I... I don't know what all might happen, he could develop something of an ability like us, or maybe nothing at all beyond… a few strange quirks"
"And what of the doctor? You said they mentioned some things?" Marionette just sighed, he had reached the kitchen where the bag of things like Mike's medicine and the notes of what he needed to do was hung off one of the chairs at the table. He picked it up before returning as he spoke quietly as his gaze moved back to the still unmoving form of the man on the couch.
"Mike... The doctors are missing context to know, but his heart is barely beating at an acceptable level, and his stitches should have already been well into the process of being unneeded. It's like... It's like his body isn't quite as capable of healing itself anymore" Marionette didn't need to mention that what he was saying sounded a lot like a worse version of what Jeremy had to deal with when he got sick, they both remembered it given it had only been a few weeks ago since the man had been horribly ill for a few days.
"But he'll be fine right?" Marionette gave a sharp nod.
"Yes, I know so, his gift... He held onto it, we all have to want to stick around I think to be able to accept a gift... I think being bound to a suit makes the process easier, but that just means Mike held on tighter than anyone else to stay here with us, it's why it took so long for him to wake up. He's not going anywhere" The bear simply stared at the puppet for a long moment before finally nodding.
"Good" Marionette wasn't exactly scared or wary of Goldie, even if the two had never been close, but up until that moment as the bear's eyes moved away, the puppet hadn't realized just how tense he had felt... He had forgotten just how intense Golden Freddy was. Not that he could blame him, if he hadn't been the one to do it, he'd probably be burning with questions, and as it was? He was, he just knew he had no one he could ask for answers.
Mike's home and is dealing with what is probably PTSD from the whole, you know, dying thing. Not to mention things are awkward between the boyfriend and brother, and everything is kind of just... uncomfortable all around it feels like doesn't it? I kind of dislike the vibe of the chapter, but it kind of has to exist, the situation is tense and uncomfortable, and no one really knows just how to handle it, because... How do you handle something like this? I personally wouldn't even know where I'd start, so I just have to hope I do the character's justice in the mean time. But unlike before when such complications happened, everyone is genuinely looking for the better interest of each other, which should certainly help everyone.
I honestly don't really know just what I want to mention here, so unless I think of something later on to add to this end note, I believe I'm going to end it off here. See ya!
