I Don't Own Fnaf


Mari was practically buzzing with energy, it was the last of the five days of events that he and the others had planned out for the Cove, December twenty-second, and it was the biggest turn out yet!

The festivities had been going on for a while now, and already there had been whole swarms of children coming into his little corner asking about the little gingerbread house competition. He had quickly learned early on to steal Jeremy over to the Corner to explain the rules and stuff to them all on the first day, but for the first time ever really, he was tempted to just tell the kids himself, he wouldn't of course, even if there was a faint itch in the back of his mind that almost wanted to, he was only up on speaking to those he was fully comfortable and trusting with, he loved the kid's and their energy, but... He was hardly ready for that many eyes or questions.

So he instead danced and drifted about and around the tables, trying his best to not look to invested, he was suppose to only be a machine after all, but still making sure to take a good look at each and every one of them to let the kids know he was happy with them all, letting out short chimes of approval. It was incredible to see the smiles on their faces, even if he had to admit, he was keeping a close eye on the more excitable ones, there had been a few... incidents already with the tubing of frostings not being put up or having been run around with.

As much as Mari was fine with accidentally getting a bit messy in the line of work, he had to admit he wasn't a fan of frosting mixing with his fabric, the wipes they had for his and the other animatronics fabric were good, but not that good, so it always took a while to clean and took him off the floor for a while, while Mike fussed at him and helped him get cleaned up... Admittedly he hadn't minded that part as much, but still.

The whole week had been incredibly nice, the constant flow of active and eager children, even more than they were used to admittedly had been a drain on everyone's energy, Fritz was constantly running around to make sure no one was breaking anything, Jeremy more or less passed out when he had sat down after closing at one of the tables for a 'short break' from cleaning up, Janet looked like she had gone through an oven herself with how many orders she had processed through the kitchen, and Mari knew first hand just how many hours of sleep Mike was getting in nightly or rather how few.

Even Foxy, with his seemingly infinite energy was very clearly exhausted a bit more and more after every day, and Goldie himself had to take a full day break yesterday, the kids had been quite disappointed, but no one could actually blame the bear. He wasn't built for that much attention or constant need to be energetic and active, but at the end of the day, Mari was certain everyone was just as happy as he was with how everything went.

The Cove at some points were nearly bursting with kids, he had to make Mike put in a special rush order on more merch half way through, and they barely managed to get them in, in time for it to appear to the outside world as if they just had enough stock. It was a minor miracle that nothing had gone wrong beyond a few mishaps that just came with working in a place filled with rowdy kids, but beyond all of that, it had simply just been amazing!

Still, the day continued on, he prized the winner of the most recent competition with an extra large santa foxy while the rest of the kids got normal ones, the runner ups getting little winter marionettes that made his chest squeeze with how amazed he still was with seeing kids with little versions of him around. He never had any merchandise back at Freddys, no one thought the puppet was worth it he supposed, he was a glorified ticket exchange, nothing like an actual attraction back then.

...Nope! Not thinking about that! Instead he let out a short chime of delight as another kid moved over to the counter as he quickly slid over on his track to get her the toys she wanted in exchange for her tickets, Mari going as far to play a few notes of Christmas music from his chest, something he actually didn't really do much, playing music himself, not for any real reason, it was just not something he felt the need to do but he felt festive. The little girl beamed and rushed off happily calling out to her parents that the puppet sang to her.

Mari made a note to maybe do that a bit more often, as he watched her rush off before focusing on the next kid that came up, a bundle of tickets in his hands, as he stared up with wide excited eyes. Mari just let out a happy chime and quickly moved around to grab what the boy was pointing at. He recognized the little kid, Jason, his mind informed him. Mari was very good at faces after all, even if it had been a few months from that particular and strange birthday party.

This was one of Charlie's friend's brother though, he hadn't known then, but Charlie had made a point of telling him all about her own friends, Mari had loved it, even if he did feel a bit sad as well, hearing names that sounded just familiar enough to know he should have known them already, but she never held it against him, which he had greatly appreciated. They had once been his own friends as well, in a way, it would be nice to meet them again, but he wasn't overly interested in the prospect if he was being honest, he could barely stomach the idea of maybe using his voice at the Cove, much less being introduced to so many new people who would probably have high expectations of him.

Or rather, expectations of someone he wasn't.

But in the meantime he could at least entertain one of their little brothers, apparently he already has, as he plucked the toy that had been requested from the shelves as he quickly floated back over, his free hand sliding over to pluck a candy cane from a small basket that he had on the counter just far enough way that the kids couldn't grab it, as he moved back in front of Jason, holding out the toy and the candy cane, as the little boy let out an excited little sound, happily snatching the items, looking up at the puppet with wide eyes.

"T-thank you mister Marionette!" Mari felt if he had a heart it would have just exploded in his chest as he managed to keep himself from letting out a series of delighted sounds, and instead just reached out and carefully patted the boy's head, as he just giggled before rushing off, meeting up with an older woman, a young adult that his mind supplied was probably Marla, he did his best to not stare too closely as he watched as she talked to the kid, walking off as they did, as his hidden eyes traced the path they took leading to the stage.

He wondered if Goldie would recognize Marla, he had no idea just how much the bear remembered these days, Goldie didn't make a point in talking about it, so there was no way of telling.

Instead of thinking about it, he quickly moved over back to the tables to continue to watch the creation of... mostly artistic houses of gingerbread, though there was a pile of stuff that had once been the house pieces that now was more in the visage of a mountain... Oh! The frosting, one of the colored ones, a bright almost neon orange, was supposed to be lava, it was a volcano! That was actually pretty creative. The candy decorations were being used as little rocks and plants.

It wasn't exactly a house, but given that all the others were more or less falling apart without it being intentional as this one... Well Mari was a bit more inclined to direct the little first place plastic coin to the kid once the time was up along with his prize. He loved them all of course, it was just... He had seen a lot of gingerbread houses the last few days and honestly they were all beginning to look the same to him.

He was already pretty sure they were going to have to shove a box fan or two in here to be able to get the smell of the sheer amount of sweetness and sugar out of the room. He enjoyed it personally, it was almost a fixture of the kitchen at home, but he was realizing it might be because he didn't have to deal with it twenty-four seven, both here and at home.

But that was thoughts for later, as for right now, he quickly continued to move around, giving out the participation prizes and the ones for second and third, the kids all seemed excited, even if some were disappointed in not winning one of the bigger gifts, and that made Mari himself feel better, sometimes there was a kid or two that got really upset, determined that they had made the best house ever in the history of gingerbread making and would throw a fit. It made him feel awful to cause it, especially when he couldn't really do anything but wait until either a parent came in or Mike or Jeremy, the two that hung around closest to the prize corner, noticed and moved to help calm the kid down whenever it happened quickly enough, thankfully though not often enough to be an actual issue.

He liked it much more when all the kids were just happy and content, doting on them maybe a bit more than he should as he gave little hair ruffles or light hugs when the kids wanted his attention but he needed to move on, as he passed out the gifts before returning back to the counter just in time for Jeremy to come in and lead the kids out, closing the curtain that had recently been hung up over the door frame which had a little sign on it with a picture of a prize box with a dozing marionette caricature leaning up against it, to show the area was closed for a minute.

Mari had really liked the addition, he was the only one before now that didn't really get a break during the day, even Foxy had time where he could just go behind his curtain while in between shows, but Mari and the Prize Corner had to be open at all times before now. Sure he could escape to his box, but he had felt too bad about making one of the others do his job of exchanging tickets so he hadn't made a habit of doing that. But now all he had to do was move the curtain to cover the door and he could have a break. He didn't want to abuse it, but right now it was needed because it wasn't fair to make Jeremy do all the work with cleaning up in the Prize Corner when it was his domain.

So that's what he did, as the two moved around cleaning everything up and getting ready for the last group of the day before it would all be done, something Mari was kind of happy for as well, mostly relieved, it had been a lot of work, gratifying sure, but tiring in almost equal measure. He was sure Jeremy understood that. The man hadn't been getting enough sleep from what Mari had been able to see. Mari made sure to move a bit quicker just to get a bit more done so the man had less to do. Jeremy didn't seem to notice, the puppet wasn't sure that was a good thing, but he also wasn't sure what else to do.

It probably had something to do with Bonnie, Mike had told him about how the two were fairing with each other, but as it stood, Mari wasn't sure he had the right to press, even if he really both wanted to and didn't want to at the same time. He wanted to help, but the idea of helping felt... heavy, in a way that he wasn't sure he was willing to place on himself as selfish as he knew it was of him, it had been a long time since no one relied on him, and with all this stuff with Bonnie coming back, he had to admit, it was nice that someone else was willing to take the role instead.

It also made him feel awful, so he just ignored thinking about it as much as he could. It didn't work out the best or at all sometimes, but it was enough to get him through with minimal pain, so it was good enough. As always it took a bit more effort than before to ignore the burning in his chest that reminded him ignoring and shoving his problems on other people is what hurt Bonnie in the first place.

But that was enough of that! No time to think about that sort of depressing stuff when he had things to help set up once more, one last little competition and then the closing act that Foxy had been talking about for a while now, pride in his voice every time he talked about it meaning that it was sure to be something special, of that Mari was sure, and then after it would be a bit of cleaning and then they would be done with anything to do with the Cove for a full week. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with himself to be honest, but at the same time he couldn't wait to find out.

He couldn't remember the last time he had a vacation, or a Christmas, so he was very much looking forwards to it all!


Mike yawned a bit to himself, as he stood around in the warehouse, he didn't mean to, but he was just... tired. Not quite in a 'bad day' way, but not really a normal tiredness either, it was fine, these kind of mild existence days happened often enough that he could easily work through it, it just also happened to suck a bit, thankfully he wasn't doing anything that required him to be acting more excited or energetic than he actually was capable of at the moment.

It was probably some response from his body after a week of delving a bit too deeply into the Christmas spirit after being about as lackluster when it came to the holidays as one could be without being a full on grinch about it all in the years prior. He just hadn't cared, even when he resigned himself to be around the few people that he wouldn't really call himself friends with in some mock mimicry of celebrating the holidays with a few to many dangerous things around, and a kind of white powder that definitely wasn't snow that he didn't really care enough to bother with himself, he hadn't really cared about the holidays.

Then again, that was par for the course, he had been numb to just about everything short of being stabbed or drugged, which looking back on it made his life seem way more interesting than it actually was during his 'criminally inclined years'.

"You know I can handle this is you're tired" He blinked back into focus as Mike remembered where he was, as he glanced over to his brother, who was moving over a large cardboard box that was filled with some of the many decorations that they had taken down from the Cove and had loaded up in the van to be dropped off at the warehouse, hence why he was here in the first place, Foxy was off somewhere putting up one of the other boxes, and Mike had a box of his own in his hands.

He just shook is head to his brother, saying simply, as he moved to walk with the bear to the table that they were dropping the boxes off on so Foxy could move them to the area that Jeremy had listed off as the space that they were going to be using to store all the holiday stuff they had.

"I'm alright, just been a long day, want to get all this over with so we can go home and actually enjoy Christmas Eve" The bear just nodded slowly, he and Foxy would be spending the night at Mike's with him and Mari so they were already there together for Christmas morning, it had been his idea but Mike was pretty sure Foxy had been the one to talk his brother into actually accepting the deal. He was still pretty weird about being in the house itself, not that Mike could really blame him for that. Thinking of, he couldn't help but ask as they continued to move to get the next set of boxes, with the sound of a charging Foxy in the background coming to grab the boxes that they had just laid out, "You sure you're alright with spending the night? It's been a while"

"I'll be fine, it'll be... nice" Mike smirked a bit at the bit too long of a pause, pointing it out with a bit of sarcasm.

"Well, as long as you sound so certain about it" The bear just shook his head, surprisingly quiet for the moment, not immediately snipping back as was their almost ritual nowadays when it came to conversation which came from not really knowing what to talk about, but both being sarcastic people by nature.

"I don't mind much, just... It's harder to not remember there" Mike suddenly found himself frowning, glancing over at his brother with a bit of concern, even as he asked in a mostly casual voice.

"Anything that you're trying to avoid in particular?"

"Elizabeth" The single name came out softly and yet it still felt like a punch in the gut as Mike found himself suddenly too understanding to what the bear meant.

That... She hadn't been an easy topic of conversation, and yet for the fact that it never seemed to come up, that somehow made it worse. With how much time Charlie and Evan now spent at his place, talking with him and Mari about their shared childhoods, the more and more it was obvious everyone danced around the one person that was missing from the group.

It hurt, it always did, to remember that she wasn't there, that she wasn't around. More a dull ache that burned like a weight sitting too hard on his chest when he passed by her old room, that he didn't have the heart to really clean up and instead more or less had just blocked off, unable to face or acknowledge it most days. And yet the talks they all had, speaking around the missing link hurt just as bad, acting like she wasn't a part of all their histories, like she wasn't his little sister that he had practically raised by himself until he couldn't anymore.

"I-... I get it, do you want to talk about it?" The bear was silent for a long moment, minutes passing by in silence that Mike didn't try to breach, as they moved another set of boxes, before Evan finally spoke, a faint tone of something that Mike hadn't heard before in the teenager's tone, grief.

"It's hard, remembering her and knowing that's it, that's all I'll ever get, memories from someone who doesn't feel like me. I'm so different now that the idea that she knew me, that I actually knew her... It doesn't feel like it's enough, or that it's real with how separate the memories feel from who I am now" Mike could only feel a feeling of painful familiarity as the words washed over him, because... Because he felt like that as well, maybe not exactly, but that burning from knowing the only thing you had left were memories that were tainted with time. Had felt like that for years, over Evan and his death, only those feelings were so drowned in guilt it was hard to realize some days.

"It doesn't get easier, I'm not going to lie to you, it hurts every time, and sometimes it just knocks you down to the point it feels hard to breath, but you'll get through it, and you'll get new memories, not of her, not... Not of the people you've lost, but you're still here, and you get to carry those memories with you, and that's... It's not perfect. But it makes every day a bit less hard as well" Mike felt like he wasn't explaining it well, but that's how he saw it, how he had learned to see it over months of learning to actually care about himself and his own existence and the memories he carried with him. It didn't get easier, but that didn't mean it got worse, even if some days it sure as hell felt like it.

"I see... Is... Is this what it felt like for you the last few years?" Mike let out a huff at that.

"No, not really, I had some bad days, like, really bad days when all I could do was just lay somewhere thinking about you and Lizzy, and just... hurt. But most of the time I just moved through the motions, numb to it all if I had to put a word to it" It wasn't at all easy to just say it out loud, not matter how casually he spoke, each word on the inside felt like pulling a tooth, but he did it anyways, said it anyways, because Evan deserved to know. But he couldn't help but ask when the bear didn't say anything back immediately, "What about you? During those years?"

The bear was quiet for a long minute, they had taken to standing around by the van as the faint sounds of movement could be heard elsewhere in the warehouse from Foxy putting up the boxes, more than likely trying for a shelf that was out of reach and to stubborn to get a latter judging by the faint crash and the call that he was okay that came from a minute ago, but finally Evan spoke. Hesitant at first, the words coming out almost timid before suddenly flowing out like he couldn't keep them in anymore

"...Numb as well I suppose, that or- or scared, especially at first. It was like... being half-awake, only aware enough to feel the scraps of emotion enough to push them in a direction to try and at least do something when I had no idea what was happening or where I was, or even who I was. At least at first, just barely aware, over time I got better at it, rested and recovered and then used that energy to try and look out in the world. I saw Juniors, saw the others and Marionette, back when it was just the six of us, with them not even knowing I was there, watching them, and eventually trying to help. I stopped being scared at some point, I couldn't tell you when... Maybe when Spring Bonnie came around and I realized I wasn't alone anymore, maybe when I helped kill my first guard and I realized I wasn't powerless anymore. I was just angry after that though, for a long... long time"

Mike felt like his throat had dried out, as he opened his mouth as his voice broke just a bit as he tried to not have his words crack before just giving up as a half paused sound was the only thing that managed to escape him as he closed his mouth once more, instead just standing there in silence, the guilt he had just been thinking about pressing itself down like an anchor on his chest, as he slowly took a deep breath, gulping down his nerves, and managed to say.

"I- I know you know this, but I am so sorry Evan. For all of it" The bear let out a humorless huffing sound that came out more like a faint rumble, as he said back softly, his voice just barely shaking with emotion.

"Yeah, I know Mikey... I already forgave you" Mike hated how emotional he was, he never liked just how much his emotions affected him, he spent years learning to seem unaffected by the things the world hit him with, but even he couldn't stop the faint long shaking breath in at that. He had heard the words before, but they still hit him like a hammered nail right into his heart.

"I- I'm not sure how you could" He hadn't meant to say it, but he still, even now, couldn't truly figure out how the bear could do that. Evan had always been such a sweet kid, had been too forgiving, back then at least, and Mike had hated that he took that from the boy, but now he couldn't imagine just how. Mike was unforgivable, at least it certainly felt like that in the moment, even as the bear said with an almost humor to his voice that fell to the seriousness of his tone.

"Well I'm not going to say it was easy, but I'm glad we managed it anyways" Mike just managed a jerky nod.

"Y-yeah, I am to, Evan" He hated how glad he was that his voice didn't shake nearly as much as he felt his chest was with emotion, as he managed to let out a faint cough, before nodding suddenly to himself as he said with a bit more energy than was needed. "In, uh, other news, I think I'm going to go check up on Foxy to make sure he hasn't somehow managed to bury himself in party supplies" The bear didn't say anything, just let him walk off.

He was pretty sure they were both grateful for the moment to be able to collect themselves.


Jeremy knew this wasn't going to go well, maybe he should have asked Mike, no matter how embarrassing it would have been, if he could just go over and celebrate Christmas with him and his family, Fritz was out of state visiting his own family so he wasn't much of an option, and he didn't know Janet's family well enough to even think of inviting himself over... And that was around where his social life ended, which was just sad the more he thought about it.

He should get out more, but that wasn't really in the cards either, and he hadn't had the courage to ask after Mike, not when the man had already been kind enough to invite him to his Thanksgiving celebration, and the fact that he hadn't this time. Maybe it was an open invite, Jeremy had never been comfortable with taking those, maybe he thought Jeremy would be the one to ask this time, or maybe it had simply slipped his mind with all the other many things the man had been caught up doing in the holiday rush, but in the end, he was here, and he wasn't sure he was allowed to regret his inaction.

Maybe it was for the best, maybe he felt really guilty for wanting to not be here, maybe a whole lot of things.

Maybes weren't really helping him now though, and he shouldn't be regretting this, but he just... couldn't see this going well, and even if he sort of wanted to just simply not have to deal with this, it wasn't fair to Bonnie either to just leave the rabbit alone for another important holiday, he had felt almost unbearably guilty the last time he had done so, no matter how certain Bonnie had seemed and felt about not wanting either Jeremy to stay or for them both to go to Mike's.

The rabbit would probably feel the same way this time around as well, but... But here he was always, not asking because he didn't want the answer, the same way he hadn't asked Mike because he didn't want to risk being told 'No, in fact, he couldn't come over', rejection of any kind stung like hell and it was a type of ache that Jeremy was all to familiar with, so he simply just moved around it when he could, didn't let the opportunity for it crop up if he could help it, and occasionally it blew up in his face like now.

Not talking about it, not acknowledging everything like he should, and now here he was, camping out in his bedroom, having sat on the bed by himself doing nothing for the last half an hour since he had woken up terrified and unable to leave his room, because it was Christmas morning and he had no idea if Bonnie was awake or not, and if he was, what Jeremy was suppose to do, how he was supposed to act, or say, or think.

He felt vaguely pathetic, he felt even more so when he started thinking about other things, like when, or rather if, his family was going to call, it was always a gamble with them when he spent holidays alone, they'd either remember him to late and he'd get a dozen calls in the evening, and he'd have to act like he didn't mind, that he had a good day, that they were wrong about him. Or they wouldn't call at all and he didn't have to bother pretending he wasn't as alone as he really was, and didn't have to directly confront the fact he'd still rather be alone than deal with his family, and the guilt that came from having those thoughts about people who genuinely cared for him.

Right! That was enough of that! He was moping around too much as it was! It was Christmas, he should be excited and filled with joy and not dreading going out into his own apartment's living room. Jeremy was going to go out there, and get this over with and have a holly jolly time...

Any second now...

Come on...

Ugh, Jeremy let himself drop from his sitting position onto his back with a faint groan that was not exactly mature for a man in his mid twenties.

It was the build up to it all, the pressure of getting up and going out, getting the day started was the issue when this wasn't like any other day, there wasn't a routine and schedule that he had set up and carefully followed to be able to keep track of himself and time. Time had been funny at first back when he was recovering from his horrific brain injury, it slipped away a bit too easily, and he had to make conscious efforts to not just sit in one place for hours at a time without noticing.

He was much better now, to the point he almost wished he could just fade away like that with the world rushing by, where schedules and time keeping was habit rather than necessity, but that wasn't something he ever figured out or knew if he should want back after he got a grip back on reality. Well, no, he knew he shouldn't want that, shouldn't want anything at all in that first year after the Bite, but sometimes it was a tempting idea, to just... slip away for a while when he'd much rather not have to address the world that seemed to just go on fine without him anyways.

But he was better, and as much as he was wallowing in self pity, that wasn't going to change anything, just make him more nervous, something he figured out a long time ago, not that it always worked well for him. It was the downtime that got to him, when there wasn't something to do, the only good thing about the chaos that was his and everyone else's lives was there was always something else to think about that wasn't quite as personal as his own problems and issues.

This time was no different, he was being childish, waiting up in his room like this, being scared of a conversation with an actual child, a child that might not even be up yet, and even if he wasn't or was, it didn't really matter. Bonnie hadn't had a Christmas in at least six years, sure this wasn't going to be the most grand thing ever, but Jeremy could at least, and should at least, try to make the day special, the small little gift bag that was sitting on his dresser was proof he had wanted to at least try for that.

So, he should at least try, he could do that much, getting on with it was always the hardest part, but Jeremy wasn't a quitter, he just had to get started...

With one last grunt of effort to get himself moving, he rolled himself off the bed and moved to grab the bag and then to the door before he could think any more about it, opening it up and moving down the hall. It might not go perfectly, but it would still go, and that meant enough.

In the end, it didn't go horribly, it was awkward, Bonnie didn't seem to know what to do half the time, but he appreciated the gift, and they managed to sort of talk, it was the kind of talking that came from nothing happening, but it was almost comfortable, and it was nice. At least Jeremy was pretty sure it was. Bonnie appreciated the new game Jeremy had gotten for the handheld system he had gotten him at least, even if he spent most of the day ignoring Jeremy in favor of playing it.


Scott took a long deep breath in before hitting the button to send him down. He was nervous, not really for the same reason he normally was of course, this was a very different situation, and while he was pretty sure no matter how badly he messed this up, the animatronic he was heading to see wouldn't, in fact, hurt him... Pretty sure at least. He really wished he could be certain, but he wasn't sure that level of trust existed in him anymore.

Honestly, he wasn't sure he trusted Eggs at all, wasn't sure he could put any measure of trust into anyone, but... but he wanted to. Those months locked away, after that November, where every sound made him jump, where answering the door and going out to the shops had been the same as feeling as if every set of eyes were burning holes through him, where nothing and no one, even himself could be so much as held at arm's length, because even that might be to close. It had been... Miserable.

He was still miserable, had been for years, but that... It was changed in a way. A part of him, a loud part admittedly, could recognize there was a good chance that all of this was just for show, that they were playing him like they played Michael, lulling him into letting them out, and the second they were past those elevator doors, he would be disposed off and the three that made up the wires known as Eggs would be gone in the wind, lost until the others eventually stumbled upon Scott's decaying body.

But another part, a small creeping, whispering part of his brain that never was able to truly be snuffed out, muttered idealistic thoughts. Of what it would be like to not be scared of anything metal in a particular shape, or cartoon animals they looked a bit too close to the ones that had gone through Freddy's doors, of what it would be like to redeem himself for the things he's done wrong, the people he hurt through his inaction and fear, all at the cost of a small bit of trust, and more bravery than he should have had left in him.

It wasn't really the guilt that kept him coming back anymore, no matter how nice of an idea of not being the villain in any more stories was, he knew he'd never be something that could be considered the hero. He wasn't sure it was because of Eggs either, they were too energetic, too rough with too many sharp and twisting edges with their drastic and constricting personalities, they didn't work well, the two of them, the type of people they were didn't mix on a fundamental level.

But he wanted to try anyway, in spite of that, in spite of it all, he wanted to at least try to trust them, to keep coming back with the idea that they wouldn't hurt him, even if the thought was never not on his mind. It took him a long time to figure out just what it was, that feeling, it had been so long since he had felt it, his early twenties it must have been, before... Before.

It was hope, what a dangerous emotion, somehow more powerful than the guilt and fear, more insidious than the paranoia, more demanding than the pain or nerves. He wasn't sure when he started to feel it, but the idea of losing it was scary enough that it was the reason he was here, in spite of the loud parts of his mind, never silent, telling him of all the ways this could go wrong. About how not having that flicker of hope had been the only reason he survived the last nightmare of a decade that was his life.

And yet, he was still all those things, the fear, the nerves, the paranoia. He was pretty sure they were stuck to him, like a cement glue, bound to his body and mind. Thankfully they weren't twisted and sharp as they were instinctively whenever he saw the marionette or golden bear, where no matter how much he knew they were different now, couldn't forget the months to years of torment their mere presence caused. With them it was personal, the fear was personal and festered and grew into something that couldn't just be removed with time, and he wasn't willing to figure out what steps were required instead.

No, with Eggs, it was... the baseline worry of being around an animatronic, but this one had never truly hurt him, hadn't hunted him down like nothing more than prey, hadn't seemed even slightly interested in it really beyond a few close calls, and while they were easily the most terrifying animatronic he had ever seen, that to was fine, he could deal with it. They had nothing on the amount of mangled bodies he had seen, had almost been.

But as well the fear of... messing up, that's what he felt now, mostly, the large bag in his hand felt silly now, it was dumb and ridiculous and he should have left it in the car when he realized just how bad of an idea it was in hindsight, but his grip just managed to tighten itself, and he had to remember the last time he had brought something to them, they had enjoyed it right? Sure, he never saw any of those toys or the like again, so for all he knew they shoved the things in a corner of a vent and forgot about it, but... But he liked to think it was appreciated.

Before he could either think of more things that were a bit to existential to be thinking about on Christmas or more reasons that he was worried about what he was doing, the familiar sound of thudding came from above as he tensed, on reflex, and manually unwound himself to disconnect the thoughts of animatronics in vents as he always did. He wasn't sure what it meant that he was getting faster and faster at managing to do so. He decided to take it as a good sign, he needed a positive right now to keep his nerve up.

"U- Um, Hey?" he called out to the vents above him, and waited a moment as the thudding stopped for a moment before continuing just a bit faster and heading closer, before-

"Helloooo there!" Scott wasn't sure just when he stopped being directly scared of that beaten up and damaged Freddy head, he still really preferred the other mask, the clown one, it at least didn't have any similarities to bears, but with the state of the animatronic's wires, he was pretty sure they couldn't manage to get the mask to fit anymore without the bear head. Either way, he managed to make something close to a smile sort of stumble itself way onto his face, as he spoke up again, watching as the wires shifted and slithered down from the top vents.

"S-So, I don't know if you know or not, but it's Christmas today" The wires jolted about a bit, Scott was pretty sure that meant excitement, but trying to read an animatronic and all their strange nonverbal ticks felt impossible to the man, so he just continued on when they didn't speak up, "And- Well, I-... Well, it's a lot like last time I guess, so... Uh, here" He held out the bag, idly wondering if he should have made the effort to wrap it up or get an actual holiday gift bag instead of the dark brown canvas one he just used for everything.

It was to late now, and while Scott flinched not at all subtly, away from Eggs as they jolted forwards way too quickly, even with how sluggish the overmixed amount of wires made them seem, they were fast, faster than Scott liked to consider, as like a snapping snake, they were suddenly in front of the man, peering down at him as he managed to gulp down the faint whine of instinctive terror and to not tremble a to terribly obvious amount, as they peered down at him with interest.

He wasn't scared about their close proximity though, it was just how fast they got to him, the space that they used to take to keep in between them mostly faded over the last few weeks, starting at Thanksgiving, when Scott had tried his best but in the end only managed to take out a few completely disconnected wires from the pile of parts that was Eggs. After that, he wasn't really sure he could be actually genuinely put off with being close, as long as there weren't too many sudden movements, so he took a moment to collect himself, and instead said, as he slowly lifted the bag up.

"If you, uh, want to look in it? I, well, I mean, do you have... arms? Or is it more like a- Well, I mean to say, can you...?" The animatronic leaned back a bit, as Eggs whole form shifted a bit, as thick wires pulled themselves out from somewhere and wrapped and coiled themselves around each other into almost arms, though it seemed hands and fingers weren't quite something they could manage, as the stubs of metal wires reached out and carefully took the bag by the two handles, pulling them apart as they stared inside.

"W-what is all this?" They leaned in even closer, as Scott awkwardly just reached up and scratched the back of his neck as he explained.

"Well, it's, uh, decorations? I mean, I wanted to bring some more stuff, like, you know, actual gifts and stuff, but I- Well, I wasn't sure what all three of you would like, but with how.. Uh, bland this place is? I figured you might like some more colorful things around, you know, until we get you sorted out enough to get out of here to go back home. O-Oh! And these things-" Scott reached in, careful to not prod the wires any, as he picked up one of a whole set of colorful Christmas tree ornaments.

"These are made of metal actually, for, like, I think cats or something in case they get knocked down? Anyways, they aren't glass so they won't break easily, and some tinsel and stuff, I figured we could hang some of this stuff up... Where it is you spend most of your time, assuming it's not a vent... I uh, not sure I can get in there if that's where you want to put this stuff so..." He trailed off mostly because he was running out of things to ramble about, but as well because at some point Eggs had stopped starting at the bag and was instead staring at him, as he tried to not fidget under the strange double gaze that came from the freddy head being over the clown mask that he could see at this angle.

"Uh, y-yes?" Was he talking too much? He had a tendency to ramble, but it hadn't really come out often when he was here, until somewhat recently, maybe it was annoying them? But no, instead the animatronic just lightly, carefully almost, took the bag and held it a bit closer to themself, before saying simply.

"N-n-nothing, you have a nice voice" Scott almost choked on nothing, and before he could figure out just what that meant, he watched with faint interest and mild horror and worry as the animatronic turned the bag inside out... and simply dumped the pile of loose decorations onto themself. Just before he could ask why they had felt the need to do that, he was stuck instead watching in surprising fascination as the wires suddenly jumped out and moved about underneath the pile.

It was sloppy, sluggish, some wires moving faster than others, some seemingly fighting over the same items, some not moving at all beyond just flicking about like they weren't meant to be moving, but all active and in motion. As he watched the decorations slowly... not quite attaching themselves, but being pushed into place and more or less stuck into where the wires wanted them to be.

Some of the more colorful tinsel had been somehow coiled around lengths of the wires on the animatronic's left side, making the normally rusty silver color more a wire wall of sparkly colors even in the poor lighting of the bunker. while in another section, or maybe two? There was still an active almost silent argument between the ornaments, moving back and forth over large swaths of Egg's entirety, moving back and forth over and over until one side seemingly decided at random that whichever one in the moment they were fighting for wasn't worth it.

Ending up with the two side being mostly split down the middle in terms of those decorations, and being personalized, if such a word was accurate for this situation, broken up by the last of the things that Scott had brought, little colorful lights, which were interweaved and wrapped up so tightly into their normal wires Scott could already tell he was going to have a headache once he and Fritz managed to get that gear thing to tighten Eggs back into a single shape.

The lights weren't all multi-colored, but the ones that were seemed to spread out over their entire form, while the direct colored lights, a white, red, and green, were in their own areas. The green cloyed and bunched up a bit to much in the center, mass, spreading out like an almost web to the other two sides, where on the left found the white carefully wrapped around and moved in and out of the tinsel making it even more colorful, while the red was simply more or less draped over everything on the right, without to much rhythmed or reason that Scott could hope to figure out, then again, he wasn't sure what internal debate was going on in the first place between the three that made the decision to have what where.

It wasn't a fast process, but Scott couldn't find it in himself to be anxious or bored or much of anything for it to end or be over with, instead just watching as minutes trailed on by as the animatronic moved to decorate themself. It probably took closer to an hour before they were satisfied, at some point Scott having moved to sit down, his body aching for standing so long, mostly his knees. After his time being shoved into that spare suit at the end of last year, he had a chronic sort of pain in most of his joints, being bent into positions they weren't meant for, for way too long, his knees and ankles had gotten the worst of it.

It made being physically active harder, not that he had really cared. His own health and his desire to think about it for more than passing moments wasn't high on his list of priorities.

Anyway, after a long moment of nothing happening, Eggs seemingly content with their current combination, turned their focus back onto Scott, who faintly, in the back of his mind, realized sitting down meant he wouldn't be able to run if something happened, the thought faded almost just as quickly as it came up, as the animatronic happily said.

"H-How do we look!" They looked like a mess if he was being strictly honest, like someone had thrown a few hundred feet of metal gardening hoses into a pile of Christmas supplies before giving it a good shake. But those words hadn't even been thought to be considered seriously as Scott could hear the pride in their voice as they asked. He found himself answering before he could help himself.

"You look happy" The animatronic stilled and Scott found himself acting the same, as he sputtered before quickly trying to correct himself, "A-Ah! I mean, nice! You look nice! I mean, not that you don't look happy of course, it's nice that you seem to be having fun, but I don't want to assume, or- So, uh, yeah, nice, or, err… you look wonderful Eggs?" He hated how awkward he was, as the animatronic peered at him for a moment before suddenly a loud filtering and shuttering laugh came from them as Scott only jumped a little bit at the sound.

"Y-Y-You're hilarious! C-C-Course we're happy!" Scott only screamed a little bit when the wires moved forwards, thrashing a bit but something in the back of his mind made his body still soon after as the wires moved and wrapped around him in a way that he was sure he was about to be crushed to death. Only, they didn't, they just stayed there, unmoving, around him, as he realized after a long moment... he was being hugged.

Scott did his best to not tremble too much from every single emotion he was sure was possible being rolled through him, both good and bad, as he choked down a faint noise he had no idea how it would have sounded, before managing to say cautiously.

"I- um... I'm glad" Eggs just let out that booming laugh again, with how he was trapped in the wires, it felt like it was coming from everywhere at the same time in a way that really messed with his head, but he couldn't deny that faint sense of pride in himself as Eggs said quickly, softer than before.

"M-Merry Christmas Scotty!"


I've had to think for a long while about the main theme of this story and just what it actually is. I mean is it redemption? That's a solid throughline after all, everyone becoming someone better than they used to be while coming together to make something better of their circumstances.

Or is it family? Building one through the most difficult and strange of situations until at the end of the way, you have people who you trust more than anything and will do anything for because of how many life changing and challenging things you've gone through with them?

Perhaps something a bit more out there, forgiveness? The whole cast of characters have done some pretty horrible things to each other and others through the years, all perhaps justified in their actions and thoughts, but not making it better at the end of the day, so maybe simply learning to forgive those that have hurt you to become close is the theme?

It all works, but... But the one that I came to a true conclusion on as to the theme of this story is simpler and honestly almost cliche... It's hope.

Hope for something better than what you and the people around you have right now. Hope that if you just try more than you had before than things can change and become better. I think this chapter shows that pretty well, from Mari to Jeremy to Scott, three people with three very different perspectives who are all at almost similar but incredibly different points in their lives. I don't think I really have the words for it, to explain it all in the detail that I want to, but I'm surprisingly proud of this chapter, like, I like all the chapters I've done for this story, but this, weirdly, might be one of my favorites for no other reason than just the vibes I felt when writing it. I'm not going to bore everyone with the many thoughts in my head about it, so I'll end the notes off here, but I just... wanted to mention that. Anyways, See ya!