I Don't Own Fnaf


The next morning came, Marionette left, and once more it was Mike and Evan. Mike frankly spent most of the day before asleep, and he was honestly ready to do the same today as well, but instead he found himself watching an expectant bear staring at him, like he was the one that was about to say something.

Mike sort of just waited a bit to see when his brother would break the silence, but nothing really happened, even as he slowly made his way through eating what was just a really big bowl of applesauce, he honestly wasn't even sure when he had gotten this but it had been in the back of the fridge so he wasn't going to complain. The taste got stale pretty quickly, but it was something that he didn't feel like puking up when he looked at it.

Anyways, Evan was still looking at him, so he slowly just looked up and did the main thing he could think of, holding out the bowl while raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think it's going to be going anywhere, but if you want some, you should probably ask" Mike smirked just a bit to himself at the incredibly unimpressed look his brother shot him as the bear replied in an incredibly dry tone.

"I'd rather not deal with another suit failure so I think I'll pass" Mike just shrugged, as he slowly shifted a bit on the couch, he was still trying to get used to sitting around for so long, it felt like he had both too much energy and way too little of it. It was annoying. Still, it seemed that now that the conversation had started, Evan seemed keen on continuing it, as he spoke up again after a moment, "We should talk" Mike blinked a bit before simply nodding as he focused himself back onto his brother.

"Sure, what's up bud?" The bear just shifted about for a second in what looked like awkwardness, before finally saying.

"Are we... How are we?" Mike blinked at the question, not really sure just what was being asked of him, but at the very least being able to tell from the tone that this was something more serious than the applesauce in front of him as he asked carefully.

"What do you mean?" Evan just shifted some more, seemingly trying to gather the words before finally saying.

"I mean, us... We never really talked about everything, not really" Mike froze, just for a second, realizing just what exactly his brother wanted to talk about, and feeling the dread pull up in his throat at the idea of it, of talking about that in this moment. But he shoved it down and spoke up, doing his best to sound at least somewhat normal.

"I mean... Do you want to talk about it? About what... happened" The bear just shrugged, unsure with what to answer to that.

"I don't know. I don't... I don't have words for everything, but I just... I want to forget about it but I can't" Mike just nodded, his throat felt dry, but he was too focused on his brother's words to really be able to do much more than just wait, wondering just how the hammer was going to drop... When instead Evan spoke up carefully with something completely else, "But... But I forgive you"

Mike felt like his gut had been stabbed again as he just could only stare blankly at the bear before finally, almost out of shock, he spoke, his voice thick with a faint tremor to it.

"Are-... I mean... I-" Evan just cut him off, looking off to the side, clearly uncomfortable but forcing himself to say the words anyways, the bear needed to say them, he couldn't- They couldn't keep this up, not now, it shouldn't have been this long as it was, he just... Hadn't had the courage before now to bring himself to say it. Hadn't been sure enough in his own thoughts if he was certain in all honesty.

"Yes... I think I forgave you a while ago to be honest, but..." But he hadn't been ready, hadn't been sure just what he was supposed to be without that last bit of hate. What he was supposed to be without the reason he had stuck around. Had been... scared of just what would come if he let himself truly forgive, but here he was anyway. Michael just stared up at the bear for a long moment, before he seemingly swallowed down nothing as he looked away, his voice coming out wet as he said.

"I-... I-..." Goldie just gave the man a break, as he moved over lightly, placing a hand on his big brother's shoulder, saying softly.

"I know Mikey" The man tensed, but it seemed more from him trying to fight something down.

Neither brother would mention if any tears were shed in that quiet moment, it was only for them to know.


"Mike... We shouldn't" The man didn't seem at all interested in the puppet's insistence, as he just simply held his arms open and waited, as the puppet nervously looked back to where the hall was that led down to Goldie's room, where the bear had just retired for the evening. It had only been a few days since they had all begun to stay together, but Marionette could admit, having to almost sneak around each other had been... awkward. Mike clearly didn't care about trying too hard to stay hidden at this point, and Marionette had to admit, having to sleep on his own had been something he had quickly grown tired of before Mike had even left the hospital, but- "Seriously Mike!"

The man just frowned slightly, and Marionette could already feel his will begin to break as he said softly.

"Please?" And- Ugh! That just wasn't fair as the puppet found himself carefully moving down until he was about as comfortable laying against Mike's side as he could on the clearly too small couch. He had to be extra careful because of Mike's chest, he couldn't lean in and just his head there like he was used to, it felt a bit stiff and definitely awkward with the lack of space. And yet all those thoughts went out the window when he felt a pair of arms reach up and gently pull him just a bit close, holding onto Marionette in such a way he couldn't help but let out a faint thrilling warble sound. He could practically feel Mike's self satisfied smile, as the man spoke up only a little smug.

"It'll be fine, he won't notice anything," Mike didn't say anything more for a long moment, though after another, he more or less whispered out almost to silently for Marionette to hear, "I just want to hold you for a while" The puppet had no defense for that, he felt to warm and bubbly to even try and he just let out another sound before saying softly back.

"I love you" Mike just hummed, before saying easily back.

"Love you too, Net" This was so worth being talked into, as the puppet pushed himself up just a bit, to rest his forehead against the man's as they stayed there, lightly curled up around each other. If only the night could have been as kind to keep them happy in that moment, but of course something had to happen.

...

He was curious, he always was, that's what led to it, he just wanted to know, the older boy probably wouldn't even mind that much, but it was so uncommon to have the opportunity to have the chance to do things like this, that he just had to try it.

The older boy was busy, distracted on one of the games, his face bare to be able to eat the slice of pizza he had in his other hand while he worked the joystick control with his other, a small girl next to him, happily pointing up and chatting about whatever was happening on the screen, as the older boy occasionally said something or nodded along to whatever it was the girl was telling him.

This was the best time to do it, it was go time! Moving as slowly and as quietly as he could, knowing any sudden movement could have him being spotted, he sneaked up towards the nearby table next to the older boy where his goal sat resting.

He got there faster and yet somehow slower than he thought he could stand, as with slightly anxious hands, he reached out for the time, feeling a faint confusion, just for a brief moment, at the sight of his pale skin and chubby fingers, like his brain, just for a second couldn't understand what it was seeing before it simply vanished under the excitement of his reward, picking up the item with slightly shaky hands.

It was massive in his hands, but he still looked it over with a faint wonder, he hadn't really gotten the chance to touch it before, turning over the red familiar yet unfamiliar fox mask, turning it around to where he could put his head in, so he could look through it, he leaned his head in, ready to see through the eyes of a pirate, as he noted the insides, his eyes wandering around, catching on the sight of a small stitching spelling out the letters 'MJA', when, just as he was about to put the mask on.

"Oi!" The mask was simply pulled with ease like the boy's firm grasp was more made out of paper than the vice he thought it would be, as he let out a displeased sound while the older boy just looked down at him with an unimpressed raised eyebrow.

"Really brat?" Whatever he was about to say, whatever it was, whether to beg the older kid to let him take the mask back or something else to vent his annoyance at being caught froze in his throat, as the boy found himself staring up at the other, older kid, his face knocking the wind out of the kid because it wasn't right, it was too you-

Marionette woke up with a start, a faint shocked chime echoing through the living room as he wriggled about just for a second before realizing where he was, situated in Mike's arms, held close to the formerly sleeping man, who was now slowly blinking his eyes open but holding on out of sheer habit of grabbing onto the puppet when he was suddenly awoken. Though with everything he was a bit slower to react as he murmured out quietly.

"You alright?" Marionette just squirmed for another moment, before vanishing from the man's arms, feeling bad about it the second after he had found himself in thei- Mike's bedroom. Floating over quickly past the bed to the wall, he found himself staring at the item there, resting on a hook that the man had put up. The mask, something he had seen Mike wearing more often it felt at times than the man's own face. He could recognize it anywhere it felt like at this point, but he had never looked to close at it, as he reached up, his hands shaking lightly, as he picked it up and turned it around.

"Mari?" He let out a faint chime of surprise, turning around to see Mike already there in the doorway, concerned itching itself over his face as he turned the light to the bedroom on. Marionette felt a faint concerned warble come out at the idea of a panicked mike taking the stairs, but it was muted by the shock he was feeling as he turned to face the man while glancing back down once more at the item in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Instead of getting an answer for a long moment, the man could only watch as Marionette's long fingers moved in and brushed over the now faint stitching of his initials on the inside seam line of the mask, before saying with a faint awe.

"I- I think we know each other" Mike let out a faint huff of laughter at that, the confused amusement breaking the concern just a small bit.

"Uh, yeah? Sorry to drop this on you, but we're dating" The puppet simply shook his head, too serious and shocked in the moment to react how he normally would to the teasing comment.

"N-No, I mean... I think we knew each other, back when I was alive" Mike just stared for a moment before asking simply.

"Are you sure?" Marionette could only find himself nodding, as he finally looked up from the mask, this moment and the memory he had just dreamed overlapping in his mind as he stared up at Mike, who looked so different than the kid he had just remembered. It was somehow so different from seeing pictures of Mike back then to remembering him. But all the same a low chime started in his chest before it bubbled up into something close to excitement as Mike could only watch as a massive smile pulled on Marionette's face.

"We knew each other!" Mike just huffed, a bit too tired to be quite as energetic as the puppet but he found himself smiling anyways, as Marionette continued, "That's! I knew you!" Mike just slowly moved over and Marionette just quickly found himself being hugged as he just quickly hugged back, only to let out a faint chime as he asked faintly, "You don't seem all that excited?" Mike just hummed before saying softly.

"Sorry... Just don't find the idea of you knowing what I was like all that nice" Marionette just let out a huff, but still spoke gently, knowing how... disinterested Mike was about his own past.

"I'm sure I won't be remembering any crimes if that's what you're worried about... I don't think you were even a teenager yet" Marionette was suddenly glad he had taken a look through that picture book. He could now place the man's age somewhat back then because of it. Mike just shrugged a bit in the hug.

"I was a brat back then, so don't hold it against me alright if it turns out I was a bit mean"

"I doubt we knew each other that well, maybe I just saw you around occasionally, I remembered wanting to look at your mask... Maybe you know who I am!" The idea of it had never quite been appealing, even after he had started to actually wonder about the answer, but now that he had some kind of lead, and it was one that, at least, in some way, lead him closer to Mike, it felt a lot easier to think about it. The man seemed to notice, and despite any of his own feelings about it, he spoke up.

"Maybe, a lot of kids were interested in it, so it doesn't narrow it down any" Sadly the man was right, but it was still something, even if nothing came of it for a while, it was something. Before Marionette could think more about it, he felt himself being slightly moved as Mike shifted a bit closer to the bed before the puppet let out a chime of surprise as he was suddenly dropped onto it, as he stared up unimpressed at Mike who had just gave a small smirk before flipping the light off as he moved to get into the bed. "We can talk more about it later, right now, let's just sleep"

Marionette wanted to argue against it... for about three seconds before he realized Mike was already half gone in the bed, and then realized the man must have been barely awake for most of the conversation. He just let out a faint huff at that, but simply moved and shifted under the covers to move up against Mike and said lightly to him.

"Fine, but I expect you to be as excited as I am tomorrow alright?" Mike just let out a faint hum but was asleep within the next few moments, Marionette just felt a smaller, fond smile pull on his face. Admittedly he was tired as well, though there was that faint energy of discovery that kept him up just a bit longer, as he reviewed the new memory with a faint sense of awe as he tried to pull more and more on the hidden details of the moment. Why had he been there? How well had he known Mike? If at all? It was a lot, but he found himself almost... giddy to learn.

Sadly by the next morning, even as they discussed it, nothing could really be gained beyond Mike and Marionette maybe being at the same place occasionally well over a decade ago, and while Mike's memories had never been hindered, that didn't mean he could just recall a random event from a childhood he had spent years doing his best to forget. Still, it was something, and both seemed to do better with some kind of lead of something to do beyond being stuck in the same loop they had been in since their failed excursion to Afton Robotics.


The next day came and then the next one as well. Charlie did her best to not think too hard about it, but soon enough it found her whether she wanted to or not.

She was with Marla, the other girl had invited her out on a shopping trip, and frankly Charlie felt too bad about knowing that she didn't really put much effort in really keeping in touch with her friends to say no. It wasn't that she wanted to ghost them or anything, it was just that she was often busy with other things or simply didn't think about it. It had been a while since she had anyone she really felt the need to hang out with before coming back.

Thankfully no one seemed to put any of that demand on her, John and Jessica especially going out of their ways to make sure she was up to date with everything even when they were under no obligation to do so. She really appreciated them for that. As it was currently, she was enjoying the day, going to one of the nearby malls with nothing really on her mind was something she hadn't done it felt like in lifetimes, Marla wasn't... having quite as good of a time.

"I really am sorry about this" Charlie just waved her friend off as the two watched as Jason, Marla's kid step-brother, with a big backpack on his back, the straps held tightly in his hands, as he moved around the mall, looking every which way and jumping a bit at every other sound that was a bit to loud.

"It's fine, you didn't know you'd get roped into babysitting" Marla just held back a groan, as the two turned to look at Jason, who was a few paces in front of them, staring in a nearby shop window that seemed to be one of those places that you could buy plushy toys, his eyes scanning around intently as Marla just said.

"Yeah, I still feel a bit bad, this was suppose to be a girls day, but then Jessica canceled and my mom said I had to look after him while she and Jeffery went on a date night" Marla let out a pained groan, but Charlie just smiled and shook her head.

"It's all good, Jason's a sweet kid, I don't mind"

"I know, that's probably the worst part, I can't even get annoyed at him properly. Well, not usually, recently though he only has one thing to talk about and it's driving me up the wall!"

"Oh? What's-" Before Charlie could probably ask, it had seemed that Jason had over heard them, judging by the huffing glare he sent the two women, before saying a bit loudly.

"It's not annoying!" Marla gave Charlie a look, like the act had proved some invisible point, before turning back and saying simply.

"You think so now, but when you're older you're going to be so embarrassed about this little phase" Jason huffed even harder before turning back, staring at the store front just long enough for Charlie to wonder if she should ask if he wanted to go in, before the kid said on his own with a pout.

"There's no foxy" While it felt like cold water had been splashed over Charlie's head, Marla just walked forwards with a huff.

"Foxy is a brand Jay, you're not going to just find one out in the wild, that's what that arcade place is for" Jason just continued to pout harder, as he said back, a bit snippily.

"It's called the Cove, and I'd get one there if anyone would let me go!"

"We rented out the animatronics from the place for your birthday, what more do you want? Daily trips? Mom would kill me if I let you be filled up with that much greasy food" Jason just marched off, moving to a different store to look at something while Charlie could only hesitantly look over at Marla as she asked.

"You rented out the animatronics?" Marla blinked, seemingly coming back into reality with who she was with, as she took a second before answering, debating to herself if this was something she should talk about, before just nodded.

"Oh, yeah, for Jason's birthday a few weeks ago, apparently the Cove itself was shut down, but the owner was nice enough to bring them out to do an in person show. It happened in our backyard. I had no idea those animatronics could get so advance so fast. I remember back at Juniors Foxy could only do like two things, this one moved around and was just a lot more real feeling. It was kind of creepy to be honest, but Jason loved it so..." Charlie's instant reaction was to pull the conversation elsewhere, she wasn't much in the mood to talk about something like this with a friend who had no idea of just what was going on in her mind, but something about what Marla had said caught with her.

"How real?" Marla just shrugged.

"I don't know, just... It was kind of uncanny I guess? I mean, I know there's nothing in there but metal and bolts and everything, but there was this... energy I guess to the performance, it felt like watching a real show I guess instead of a bunch of prerecorded lines. Plus the thing moved around a fair bit, it was just weird to see it move around like that, like it could... See what was happening" Marla just shuddered for a moment before letting out a little laugh at herself, "I think I just think the things are creepy, any charm from we were younger kind of went away when I realized those things weren't suppose to be moving" Charlie didn't say anything, to busy frowning to herself.

That wasn't... Right, something about that just itched wrong in the back of her mind, Foxy, or any animatronic shouldn't be able to just wander around in some person's backyard without any issues. The Toy Animatronics had been allowed to wander during the day for a little while, but that's because her dad had spent hours upon hours working on charting out the entire pizzeria's layout so they wouldn't just run into walls. it wasn't so much a free movement as a scripted path that could deviate a bit if something or someone was in their way.

She knew that because she had seen the left over blueprints of her father's works, they were filled in his office. So it just didn't make sense that an much older animatronic could do that in a place without any preparations, turning to Marla she had to ask.

"Did they come out earlier in the week? You know, before the party?" Marla just blinked at the sudden random question before saying simply.

"What? No, it was, like, really last minute, I think like a day or two before the party when my mom scheduled them to come out, apparently that's an option for people if they don't want to rent out a private room, so it has to be some what common if it's come up before right? Why would they need to come out earlier in the week?" Charlie just managed a faint shrug.

"Oh, nothing, just... It's nothing" Marla clearly wasn't sure what that meant, but let the matter drop as Charlie was forced to deal with... Whatever that meant for her understanding of the animatronics. Michael had said they had rebuilt Foxy basically from the ground up right? But that had to mean the technology for such an upgrade had to exist, and if anything her last few months in college had taught her about animatronic sciences, that kind of technology just didn't exist commercially, much less used on an out of date animatronic for a random pizzeria in Utah.

It just didn't make sense, and at the end of the day, she simply had no idea just what to do with that information, so she just filed it away, wondering just what else she would find that didn't make sense.


Goldie probably should have spent some time talking to Michael about this, but he hadn't wanted the man to think to hard about it, not to mention, out of everything, this felt like something he shouldn't get the man's thoughts on, much less, permission. So now that the man was able to move around on his own without Goldie needing to stay around and help him out, he had been moved back to the warehouse.

It felt like he would be overstaying his welcome if he stayed anymore, it was a bit uncomfortable for him to be there still. And, honestly, after the second time he found Michael and Marionette half clinging onto each other on the tiny couch, he was pretty sure they were fine with that option as well with how weird they acted when they realized he was there. He wasn't really... certain of whatever was going on between the two, and frankly as it was, the bear was not at all interested in knowing either if he was being honest.

Given the timing of everything, it was probably the best he was going to get out of it as well, so now he just had to go through with it. It had been something he had been working on after all for a little while now, something that he had apparently gotten fairly good at, he wanted to do this at least to try it, and so he would...

Now he just had to find a way to convince the others to not tell Michael about it until he was sure if he'd even want to make it a recurring thing. Jeremy would be easy, he'd be who he was planning on calling anyways for transportation, Fritz wouldn't be too difficult he imagined, but then there was Marionette. He had no doubt the puppet would mind, but if there was one thing he knew for sure about Michael and Marionette, was the two told each other everything, and he didn't want that right now. Still, if he was lucky it should be fine.

It turned out he greatly had been overthinking it, because after a call to Jeremy, and a confused agreement to bring him over to the cove early the next morning the night before, Goldie now found himself once more within the old diner walls, looking around at the handy work he and the others had put in, while doing his best to not think to hard about just what he was going to be doing. He had a few minutes before Marionette would show up, and he had already talked to Foxy over a phone call, so he didn't bother going to the stage yet, instead moving to find Fritz.

The man was found in the back office, his head snapped up it seemed out of instinct at the sound of unexpected loud clunky footsteps, Goldie's suit was the loudest, there was only so much a person could do to limit that, and he certainly wasn't built for subtlety, given he was literally golden. Still, after he saw who it was, Fritz's shoulders relaxed just a bit, but Goldie could still see the faint lines of tension in his form... He was stressed about something, but that wasn't why he was here so he just ignored it.

"Oh! Uh, hey Goldie, I wasn't expecting you here. We're opening pretty soon you know right?" The bear just shrugged.

"I got roped into something from Foxy" Fritz just blinked slowly before suddenly getting up to his feet looking surprised.

"Wait, you're going to try performing?" The bear just nodded as the man just stared for a moment, his face setting like he was trying really hard to think of what he was supposed to say, because he really was, before eventually he just slowly nodded, "Alright, I mean, you sure? We haven't really talked about it, but I thought this wasn't something you were interested in" The bear just shrugged.

"It wasn't, still probably isn't, Foxy wore me down to at least trying it" Fritz still seemed a bit confused about it, so Goldie managed to force out, "I-... Wanted to try it when Michael wasn't here, I'd rather he not know until if I decide if this is something I want to put time into" The man didn't seem to get it for a second, but once he did, his eyes went a bit wide, before slowly nodding. A hint of concern playing on his face for a moment as he spoke.

"Uh, right, I get it... I think. Listen, I'm not going to say it's a good or bad idea, I trust that you know what you're doing, but just... If you need a break or something, just let me know. I'm sure I can think of some reason to move you into the office until closing if you want away from all the eyes" It was a kind offer, but Goldie was sure he could handle a few eyes. How difficult could it be? So he just nodded once, but didn't say much else. Fritz just took the silence as it was before awkwardly coughing and saying, "Uh, Janet's going to be here soon, I'd recommend getting on the stage. Have you told everyone so far?"

"Marionette doesn't know, but he knew I was thinking about doing this" Fritz just nodding, moving to stand up.

"Right, he'll be here soon too, I'll let him know about the performance change" Goldie just gave the man another nod, not really wanting him to realize just how thankful he was for a free escape from that conversation. Things felt awkward at the moment for the bear when it came to the puppet. To many different thoughts at the moment, from recent gifts and the strange whatever Marionette had going on with Michael that he still was actively doing his best to not think too hard about.

So far so good... Now he just had to get to the stage and not... Think too hard about it.

Moving there, he managed to get behind the purple starry curtain just in time to not be seen from the woman that had just walked in, a tired and lightly frustrated look holding itself in Janet's eyes, not that anyone noticed, as she just moved and headed into the kitchen.

Goldie however found himself nearly having to brace his body as he was practically tackled into a hug by a certain fox who just beamed at him. Thankfully Foxy seemed to have noticed Janet coming in as well. Instead of booming out a laugh and talking his ear off, the fox just beamed at him as he was quickly, and practically strong armed, into a position on the stage. They would be opening soon and then he'd just... Hope he didn't make a fool of himself Goldie guessed.

It would be fine.

That didn't stop the almost annoying feeling of anxiousness suddenly pull in his chest, it was kind of dumb given he hadn't thought twice about all of this the entire time he was planning this whole thing, but apparently being on the stage meant something as he felt his springs tense up throughout his body for a long moment as he just did his best to ignore them as he waited, trying to get the uncharacteristic nerves worked out of his system before anything happened.

Time felt like it was passing almost too quickly, the sounds of chatter entering the Cove like an anchor slamming into a still body of water, or rather like a lead stone dropping into Goldie's stomach, as he just felt himself tense up almost painfully as the sounds grew louder and louder. It had been a while since he had really looked into what all happened at the Cove, it apparently meant he had forgotten just how popular the place was, especially within the last final throes of Summer Break.

Maybe he should have waited a bit longer until the brats were back in school, when the Cove would have been emptier. Goldie felt his hands slowly tense up into fists at the sound of a faint jingle playing through the Cove, he knew what that meant, Foxy had been very detailed in every aspect of what went into his routines. The fox had it down to the minute schedule-wise, something that seemed out of place for the high energy animatronic if one didn't know just how much he dedicated himself to performing.

That sound meant the curtain would open within the next minute, it was to let the kids know so they could go to the stage for the first show of the day. A treat for those who showed up first thing in Cove's opening hour, then it would be closed for a little while to let the noon rush build up for another show, where then Foxy would go out to interact with the kids a bit more directly.

He just had to last the first part, it would only last a few minutes, then Foxy would take over, the curtain would come back down, and Goldie could say he tried and then never leave the warehouse again. The idea of it never sounded quite as tempted as it did in the moments leading up to the curtain rising on him.

And then he saw them, children, watching in confusion as the curtains were pulled back to reveal the two on stage. Goldie didn't have time to panic, because he felt like his body had locked up on him without a chance of his own input being registered by the suit. That in itself was terrifying, as he couldn't help but see the way all they're eyes locked onto the bear, a faint murmur going through the few kids, it couldn't be more than a dozen at most, but Goldie couldn't think of trying to count.

His eyes were still locked on the way they stared up at him, a faint confusion, some curiosity, and somehow... Awe. A few pointed, talking not so quietly to each other about the 'cool' looking bear, wondering audibly what he was going to do. Staring up at him with nothing but expectant wonder.

Evan couldn't help but wonder if he had ever looked at Fredbear like that, he couldn't remember. So lost in thought he nearly missed Foxy blasting ahead, giving a rowdy introduction, doing the line that they had done in front of a set of chairs so many times that the bear found himself speaking before he realized it, the springs in his chest loosening from an frightening tension as his voice came out a bit duller with a faint tick to it, an accent he hadn't known he could do coming from the suit in spite of himself, as the voice of Golden Fredbear joined the fox's on the stage.

It was terrifying, it was exhausting, it was liberating.


Mike probably shouldn't have been walking, but he had been feeling antsy for days now with what had just been just either sitting or laying down, and even if he didn't feel like he had quite enough energy to be confident in what he was doing he was willing to try it anyways.

He honestly just didn't want to feel even more like a part of the couch than he already was, frankly he was getting sick of the couch. Apparently there was a hard limit to how much time a person could waste just boredly scrolling through tv channels, and Mike was pretty sure he had found it days ago, even sketching and drawing, something he could do for hours without noticing, was becoming boring, even with the pain meds meaning he couldn't even feel the cramps in his hands when he did it for way too long.

So he had set down the sketch book that had been empty when he had started it at the start of the week and now was half way filled, and made to do something. Which was really just him slowly doing what was basically just a pace around the house at a snail's crawl. Thankfully he felt a fair bit better, his leg didn't hurt nearly as bad so the walking wasn't really a problem but twisting at his waist still hurt way more than he was sure was normal at this point.

Then again, he was only about a week of being home stuck, and two from his time in surgery, he was basically only half way through the point where he was supposed to even do things like light activity. Mari was going to be fussy if he found out about this, but Mike didn't really care at that moment as he wandered around with nothing but nerves of built up energy fueling him as he walked around a home he already knew like the back of his hand.

Meaning there was nothing to do and it was driving him up the wall.

This eventually led him into the bathroom on the ground floor, for no other reason that it was one of the rooms he hadn't aimlessly wandered around in yet, not that there was exactly much to do in the bathroom. The sink had his toothbrush next to it, given he couldn't use the bathroom connected to his bedroom that was upstairs at the moment, Mari had been nice enough to bring his things down here.

Mike was beginning to think he was turning into the puppet as he absently did the only thing he could think of and moved to organize them a bit more nicely instead of just wherever he had placed them down once he was done. Wondering about the faint nagging feeling in the back of his mind just long enough to realize he was missing a few things that were fairly obviously weren't here. His shaving cream and razor being the main one, that made sense why Mari hadn't thought to bring it, it was hardly a high priority, and Mike doubted the puppet ever had to deal with stubble to think to grab it.

Thinking of, Mike's eyes strayed to the mirror, more than expecting to find a mess of the stuff on his face. It had always grown out patchy and even past him from a few years ago found it bad enough that he had never let it properly grow out. A few weeks of growth probably looked like a mess, so he might as well see the damage, maybe if it was bad enough he could justify it to himself to try a trip up stairs to shave. It would at least be something to do.

At least that was the idea of a plan as he glanced up to look himself over only to pause in slight confusion melting into shock as he got the first real proper look at himself since he had been home. Mike had a habit of ignoring mirrors, he had never liked what he saw in them, facial hair or not. That had to be the only reason he hadn't noticed before now that his face was without a trace of even the start of stubble.

Leaning in a bit, he felt his hands, slightly shaky for a reason he couldn't understand in the moment, reach up and lightly pat at his cheeks, they were bare, nothing had grown in when it had been at this point at least two weeks since he had the chance to so much as hold a razor. Leaning in a bit closer, he just stared at himself in the mirror, noticing over things... He was a naturally paler man, but he had gotten a lot of sun in his day to day life enough to have a faint tan, was two weeks really enough time to make his skin look as ashen as it did now?

Maybe it was the light, but that didn't stop Mike from nearly yelling out in panic as he blinked to himself only to open his eyes to a horrifying sight splattered in purple over his face as he stumbled back and twisted away from the sight only to properly yell out this time in pain as he felt his chest scream in protest as he had to grab tight to the counter to keep himself from doubling over in pain, which would only make it worse.

Taking a long moment to try and compose himself, and hating the way that his heart didn't even seem to stir at the pain or panic racing through his form, his eyes strayed over back to the mirror... Where a man with perhaps unhealthily, but without splashes of unnatural color adorning, skin looked back at him. Mike just took a deep breath before gritting his teeth before moving away. Banishing the visage of himself from his mind as he tried to rationalize the other part of his panic.

It wasn't a big deal, probably nothing, just... Just a side effect, nothing he couldn't handle, heck it saved Mike on having to buy stuff for shaving right? Right. It was fine. The fact he apparently couldn't grow a beard of all things was not going to be what made him have a freaking panic attack. Frankly, Mike's pride just could not handle that, so he forced those thoughts down and away, and moved to the kitchen, maybe he could busy his hands, and mind, for a while by making something.

A soup would be nice, and he hadn't had the chance to make anything in a while, so with that he got to work and did his best to not stare too closely at his hands as he did so.

Maybe Mike should look into getting gloves as well whenever he went out to hunt for a new jacket.


Fritz felt himself grimace at the look Janet was giving him, he felt horrible but the words couldn't help but spill out anyways.

"I- I told you, it's nothing, just an accident" Janet didn't believe him, it was obvious. She just huffed, the sound of weeks of frustration building in her voice as she spoke even as it was clear she was trying to stay calm.

"Right, an accident that had you out of bed at three in the morning and that you won't actually tell me about? After this place got turned over because of Mike's stuff? Stop lying to me! I can handle it if Mike's in trouble or something, but you not telling me is just..." Her voice broke for a moment, but she quickly powered through, "It hurts! And I need to know if my boss is going to die randomly or if you're in danger or something!"

Fritz flinched hard at that last comment, it hit a bit too close to home with everything that had happened, but that didn't stop the rest from hurting just as bad. Before he could think of just how to respond she kept going.

I just... I get I'm late to the club or whatever, but it feels like I'm the only one here who has no idea what's going on! Suddenly we're closed for three weeks, getting to know why was like pulling teeth out of you, I'm not allowed to know where we got the new machines, I'm not allowed to help with the reconstruction. Then Mike gets hurt so bad he spends a week in a coma and once more I'm just supposed to what? Sit on my hands and just not think too hard about it when you and everyone else basically vanish for a few days without telling my why? I'm not some damsel you need to protect if that's what you're thinking!" She punctuated that with a glare at Fritz that was sharp enough that had him shrinking back.

"I-..." He tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind, because what was there to say? If it had been him he would have been demanding answers... Heck, if it was him, and all of this had happened during the time he moved in with someone who wasn't telling him anything... He'd probably have left well before now. That thought stuck with the man like a caustic acid that burned on the way down from the realization and fear that came from the idea of Janet just deciding that dealing with all these non-answers wasn't worth it.

"I want to tell you," Fritz was almost startled by how almost desperate his own voice came out, but there it was, as he kept talking before he could think of just what or how to say it, "It's just... Really complicated?" Janet just stared at him, the anger fading just a bit with concern.

"Is... Are you safe? I mean..." Fritz flinched a bit, having no idea just how to explain that, Janet clearly took that the wrong way as she looked around, like somehow the 'threat' she thought was now definitely real, was going to just walk around any corner. Fritz wasn't sure if he'd just give up, laugh, or break down into hysterics, if an animatronic actually did show up right now. Instead, he just did what he always did, panicked and then overcorrected himself.

"Yes! I'm totally safe and fine! Listen, I'll explain everything alright? Just... Uh, give me a bit of time to talk to everyone so they know?" Janet just gave him a look, clearly concerned being the main thing on her mind, before finally just nodding.

"Right... Just... I can handle whatever it is, just... You promise it's nothing bad?" Fritz did his best to not think about the many, many, laws that he's either willingly broken or turned a blind eye to over the six or so years of his life, grimaced, before saying.

"It's not... We're not in danger or anything, just... It's a long story, one Mike and Jeremy should be here for" She just slowly nodded, but said after a second.

"Right... I-I trust you, it's just..." Fritz nodded.

"I know, I- I really get it, it's just... A lot, I've wanted to tell you for a while but... I've been a bit scared to be honest, about how you'd take it all" She just huffed.

"Well, as long as this place isn't, like, a front for the Utah Mob, then I think I can handle it... It's not, is it?" That finally got a crack of a smile on his face at the idea of that, as he said.

"No, nothing like that, our problems don't come with bad accents and guns" That seemed to be the biggest relief for her as Fritz just internally wondered just how the hell he was going to be able to keep this from blowing up in his face. Both on the front of Mike and the animatronics who probably weren't going to appreciate this being dropped on them, and Janet who would probably and justifiably run for the hills if this was approached the wrong way.

Fritz had a headache already.


Ever have a plan for how you want to handle something and it's good and detailed and nice and dramatic, but then you start writing it out and realize, wait a moment, that's fucking stupid, why would that happen? And then that leads into what is the writing world is known as a plot cluster fuck? That's my current situation with Janet, because she's not stupid and has a working set of eyes, and I can't just ignore that just because it helps my narrative from being a bit clustered. Besides, this is the arc where everything is happening all the time. So it just means I'm going to have to be a bit more careful about all this, but that's fine, thankfully we're in a section currently where the characters are the driving force, and the main character himself isn't up to doing much to start more stuff up right now, just dealing with the newest flavor of trauma and the probably PTSD he has, even if it seems everyone else is up to a ton of personal stuff.

Like Evan, this was a big chapter for him and I kind of wish I put a bit more time into the stage scene, the only reason I didn't is because I'm horrible at writing performances out and it would have taken from the chapter and moment if I had tried I feel like. Still we'll get to a moment with him soon about his thoughts afterwards, but it seems he might just be joining the cast, that's something isn't it? And the forgiveness... I hope I did it justice, it was a quick and simple scene, but I genuinely think it didn't have to be anything more, nor should it have been. This has been something a long time coming, fifty chapters. It's not perfect just yet, but we're finally in a spot where they both can truly begin to move on, and that's amazing.

Not to mention Marionette, who just had a massive reveal this chapter as well in the missing links to his past. So much stuff is happening right now that it's kind of insane isn't it? I mean, apparently the love birds already knew each other, and had since they were at kids, at least some what. I wonder what that entails? No idea, but here's a fun fact, that dream in this chapter was written months ago, literal months ago. It was the dream Marionette was suppose to have and the realization he was suppose to get at the end of chapter thirty-five. You know, the one that ended up being Mari realizing his feelings for Mike? Yeah, imagine if I did this in the opposite order, that'd be wild. I scrapped that idea though even after I finished writing out the entire scene because I wanted the two to get together before it was revealed any shared history they might have had, because I wanted it to be clear they are together because of the present, not anything that happened in the past. That's very important, and it means a lot in terms of Marionette's own personal story I feel like.

Speaking of the past, just a bit, Charlie was here for a moment, another little hint dropped down in her side of things. A little bit of foreshadowing from a while ago paying off to show that that random house visit actually had a purpose outside of just being something to write. Everything's connected! Probably! But yeah, she's still in the background, slowly building more and more pieces together from the outside, as an interesting contrast to Janet who's demanding answers from the inside.

Everyone in the main cast has their own stories going on, their own lives, even with how interconnected everyone is, that doesn't stop them from being the stars of their own narrative. It's not the Mike show. And it really can't be at the moment, Mike's out of commission just for a while longer, but we aren't going to be seeing as much from him at the moment, at least as the focus, for a little while. Honestly, I think I stuck a bit to time into the first encounter at AR, it's taken up nearly five chapters from Mike leaving in the night to coming back home, but it's to late, and by that I mean, I'm to lazy to go back now, so time to get myself to the grind stone. Next few chapters are going to be big ones probably, cause it's only going to get more complicated from here! Yay... Anyways, See ya!