I Don't Own Fnaf
Marionette was nearly bouncing off the walls with excitement, he could feel his internal gears whirling with energy that they often didn't have as a nearly uncontrollable constant tune of small chimes rang from his chest, but he just couldn't help it! Today was the day! The pizzeria was opening! It was finally time and Marionette would barely hold himself together with a mix of nerves and eagerness.
"Your stripes are going to shake off before show time if you keep this up Net" The dry and tired voice of Mike had Marionette spinning around to beam a smile up at the man who was looking down at him from the banister at the top of the stairs, clearly having just woken up and stumbling out off his room on the second floor. Marionette didn't let the man's comment drag him down in the slightest, instead chiming back with ease.
"I think I'll be more than fine mister Schmidt, and if not, I think I know someone who'll take up the slack for me" Mike rolled his eyes, but the tiredness seemed to fade, the banter helping him wake up faster as he called back down while now leaning against the railing.
"If you think I'm fitting in that box just so you can get a lunch break then you got another thing coming" Marionette let out a sharp gasp of faux surprise.
"Oh? How cruel of you, not letting your workers have breaks is a crime you know, you're quite the task master of a boss" Mike had a smirk now as he said just as readily.
"We all have to put in our late hours, if the only breaks I'll be getting are the times when I'm signing your paychecks, then you don't get any either" While they could have easily kept going, banter being one of the ways the two talked, easily slipping into joking bits and other such things, Marionette couldn't help but instead just let out a delighted chime at the idea of working at all. It had been so long and he had dearly missed it.
"I think I can handle that, I honestly can't wait!" Mike's smirk fell more into something softer, a real smile, before saying down to the puppet.
"You really are looking forward to today aren't you?" Marionette just let the still lightly chiming tune from his chest be the answer to that as Mike finally said, "Well, don't get your hopes too high, it's our first day, I doubt we'll be swamped the second the doors open up" Marionette waved off the man's habitual pessimistic attitude and concerns, more than used to it at this point.
"It'll be fine Mike, we've already gotten plenty of calls about when we'd be opening up right?" Mike nodded, "See! We'll have people come in, and we already have had a few people calling in asking about reserving parties! After that then word will spread and everything will handle itself after that, before you know it we'll be bringing in full houses every day! Not to mention we're opening at the best possible time, right before summer starts" Mike gave a mock of a grimace at handling that many kids, but Marionette could see a familiar lit of energy appearing in his now fully awake eyes.
"Yeah... Well let's hope nothing goes wrong or anyone recognizes anything that'll make them run for the hills, I don't think we can survive the bad PR right about now... Thinking of, one moment" With that Mike pulled himself up and moved somewhere up stairs where Marionette couldn't see, while Marionette was left instead wondering just what that could be referring to.
Probably past employees at Freddy's if the puppet had to guess. According to Mike, the last Freddy's had only gone under around November of last year, meaning it had only been a few months, and while the last spot averaged a frankly disturbingly low amount of people coming in, there was still a chance that people remembered it and compared it to Pirate's Cove.
Marionette wasn't too worried about that though, Foxy and he were more than willing to make sure that no one that came in would leave without some kind of special experience, the main thing that they would have to worry about would be old Fazbear employee's. Sure the 'evil' one was dead now, something that still made Marionette's get a special kind of glee out of thinking about it, but the rest were still around.
Day time workers weren't that bad, they didn't know the real secrets behind the curtains that the night shift would have known, but they could still cause rumors, but Marionette doubted it. If there was one thing that the people at Freddy's were good at, it was hiding themselves from what was happening around them. Even if those people heard about Foxy's, if there was one thing Marionette could count on, it would be their apathy that would stop any problems from occurring.
So, yeah, Marionette wasn't all that concerned about something like that as Mike had apparently been, or at least, that's what Marionette thought it was about, as he watched the man in question return, holding something familiar in his hands as he walked down the stairs, moving past the puppet in the living room, to head to the kitchen for some breakfast. Marionette simply called after him.
"You're bringing the mask?" Mike nodded over his shoulder while placing said Foxy mask onto the counter before moving over to the coffee maker to get his dose of morning energy in for the day.
"Yep, can't risk being recognized, even if I'm going to be spending most of the time in the kitchen" Surprisingly, though maybe not, Mike was the only one with any experience out of the three men who knew how to wait and bus tables, but it had been a simple thing to teach the two. But what wasn't as simple was showing them how to quickly and effectively make a pizza fresh in under fifteen minutes while under pressure of multiple orders.
That was usually something someone figured out in a kitchen that already had a number of other cooks that knew what they were doing to pick up the slack, but thankfully Mike also had experience in working behind the line with fast food work, and more than that, actually knew how to cook, so he was going to be doing most of the cooking, hopefully it would mostly be pizzas, those were easy and quick to make, but there was a few other side items and other such things that he had to be prepared to make as well.
"Why not? Scared someone's going to 'run for the hills' as you said?" It was supposed to come out teasing, but Mike took it seriously, a frown coating his face for a moment before it near seamlessly fading back to his normal, more blank look as he fiddled with the coffee maker. Marionette hadn't missed it as he said back with a dry casualness that didn't quite fit.
"Something like that" Frowning now, feeling like his good morning was at risk, the puppet decided to tackle the problem head on, while still trying to sound at least somewhat casual.
"I don't think you look that bad, you probably don't have anything to worry about" Mike huffed at that, but it was more out of bitterness than anything else, he seemed to collect himself for a moment before finally stating the issue at hand.
"I wish it was because I was ugly. I'm kid killer Mari, and I'm kind of an easy person to recognize new name or not, so I'd rather just play it safe and have my face covered, so no one questions why the guy who killed his nine year old little brother owns a restaurant aimed for kids fifteen and younger" Marionette frowned at that, floating closer in time to watch as Mike's hands clenched onto the counter for a long moment as he glared at the pot of coffee that was slowly making the brew.
"I don't think you have to worry about that Mike" Marionette didn't want to sound callous about it, because it was clear this was something that often weighed on Mike's mind, but he knew just how easily killers could blend into society and never be noticed. If the Purple Guy had managed to get away with it for years without a single eye holding on to him, then Mike, who had committed the act when he was a child, nearly a decade ago, shouldn't find any issues. It felt wrong to think of it like that, the idea that people could just move on with their lives and not blinking twice about the people around them, but in Marionette's experience it was often the case, and something he was almost thankful for in this case for Mike himself.
The puppet knew exactly just how remorseful and broken up inside Mike still was about what he had done, and that alone was infinitely more than most others. Mike of course didn't see it that way, instead just scoffed, his fingers dragging into the countertop.
"I don't know how you all just move around it so easily, like it's nothing" Marionette simply frowned, he could recognize the signs of what was happening, had seen them enough times spread out from his time living with Mike.
"We don't think it's nothing, we all simply expect you to be better than how you used to be, dumb mistakes included" And he had never once failed in those expectations, and occasionally Mike could even think that for himself, but...
"Yeah, sure. I'm still bringing the mask"
"If you want to then I'm not going to stop you. It'll probably help give the image that at least one of you three want to be there" That didn't get any kind of smile or positive reaction that the puppet had been hoping for, confirming his suspicions.
Today was a bad day.
Mike had them on occasion, where he seemed fine one moment, only to fall into some sort of slump in the next, half the time he bounced out of it by the next day, or perhaps it was better to day he realized what he was doing and hid it until he actually was back into his normal rhythm, but Marionette always noticed. It wasn't always clear just what a bad day would entail, sometimes he just wouldn't speak much, the constant jokes becoming nothing but silence, or he'd call nights much earlier than normal or only get up halfway through the day, sometimes he forgot to eat, other times he seemed to double the amount of work he was already putting in and looked like a mess by the end of it.
While a small part of Marionette really wished Mike could have been in a better mood for the first opening day, he also knew there was no point in doing anything but trying to make sure his friend was alright. Those marks on Mike's left arm always came up in his mind when he realized that Mike was having a bad day, it made him worry, but he didn't clue Mike in on it, instead doing his best to keep it from being too bad.
Thankfully it would be a busy kind of day, so hopefully that was the kind of mood Mike was in, but for the time being Marionette moved around the kitchen, collecting a coffee mug to handle over to the still mostly silent Mike, who was just staring at the machine as it continued to work to produce the energy liquid he would be using to keep himself on his feet for the rest of the day.
Soon enough the two were talking again, somewhat normally, though Marionette still noticed that Mike's normally quick responses were just a hair slower than normal, still before long they were in the car and driving to the restaurant, which was thankfully short given how close the house was to the pizzeria.
It was still pretty early in the morning, everyone doing some last minute checks as Mike and Marionette both arrived inside. Jeremy was fussing with the tables and making sure everything was organized while Fritz was doing one last check on the sound systems, playing out the first few seconds of a number of music tracks that the group all had decided on. Marionette had been a big part of that actually, given it seemed, just like with his own music box tune being able to put him to sleep, a number of other musical tunes could activate different parts of his programming, so making sure to avoid those had been a part of it.
Mike had thought it was funny at the time, seeing Marionette being unable to help himself in doing a dance at the sound of London Bridges, but in the end caved to not having it blasting at all hours. Marionette hadn't been pleased at the time needless to say, it was a good memory though, as he watched as the men moved to get everything in working order while he floated off to the prize corner to get himself set up.
One of his favorite features of Pirate's Cove was the track and control cross that Fritz had built and Mike had helped set up. Marionette naturally couldn't just float around and act like it was natural, so they had to find his old cross so he could connect his wires to it so he could act like he wasn't as haunted as he actually was. But unlike the one at his old pizzeria, this one was mounted to a tack that he could use to bring himself around the pizzeria.
Of course it wasn't omnidirectional or anything, he couldn't go everywhere, but he could leave the prize corner and could move around the main tables, head a bit into the party rooms, and move along the arcade corner, which was an incredible amount of freedom compared to what he was used to, being confined to his box. A box that he still had, a copy of the one that he had at home, but one that still worked well enough.
The main trick was moving from his box, where he was suppose to stay in usually until someone came in to exchange tickets, were he would then pop up in greeting, to the track itself, which was mounted on the ceiling, would be a bit tricky, but Marionette was sure he could manage it without anyone noticing. He had to do so back at his last pizzeria as well and no one had noticed after his... awakening about how more active the Prize Corner Marionette was. Or if they did, then they passed it off as just a trick of the mind working around the 'creepy' puppet.
For the time being, he just wanted to get himself comfortable, he would attach himself to the track later on, but for right now, Marionette just looked around at the prize corner with an air of satisfaction. It had a glass counter that was filled with the more 'rare' prizes, while on the walls there was a number of shelves that had been mounted that held tons of merchandise and items that they had been able to recover from the warehouse. All of which soon would probably be considered limited edition given once they found a supplier these designs probably would go out the window.
There was a number of foxy plushies of various sizes and even a few in different colors, silver and gold, both of the latter of two had been the ones that were in the glass counter as one of the more rare ones, even if they looked the exact same as the other foxy plushies. While in a nearby corner, to be able to use the machines in the first place, there was a token exchange machine where the kids would come in, insert either a few dollars or coins which would be exchanged into game tokens that the arcade machines used to run.
That had been Jeremy's idea, to show the kids what all they could win while they were getting the tokens to play the games in the first place, it as well gave Marionette the ability to be able to hand out tokens without the cost to any kids he thought could use them, probably as a bribe to make them want to come back, because everyone, even kids, like free things. But Marionette was much more happy with the idea of being able to hand out spare tokens than any secondary reason. He loved being able to give gifts of nearly any kind.
Expect the gift of giving life, those... Those were never times to be happy about, but he wouldn't have to do that anymore! So with that Marionette moved around, fussing much like Jeremy with the already perfectly placed tables, around with his own section and merch before finally deeming it fit to go.
Checking the time on the wall, he saw there was only about another ten minutes before they would be open for the day. With one last bit of beginning to bloom nervous excitement, he chose to not interrupt the last second nerve stealing of the others, and instead chose to move directly into the kitchen.
Mike didn't even bat an eye as Marionette flickered into existence in front of him, to busy instead double checking the fridge that was filled with premade dough that he had rolled and let rise last night, along with the rest of the ingredients he would be needed, having already gotten the stove preheated and ready to go for the day. Marionette wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not that the mask wasn't already being worn by the tall man, instead the Foxy mask was clipped to his side, ready to put on when needed, but not worn.
Though, that was when Marionette noticed something else about the man, it was fairly noticeable actually, and now that he saw it Marionette was kind of shocked he was able to overlook it in the slightest, even if he had been looking to study Mike's face to see if it was covered or not. That didn't change the fact that Marionette was now looking at a lot of purple.
Mike glanced up after a second, before smirking, just a bit smug at the slightly stunned reaction at the puppet, the faint tiredness around his eyes that was usually there on bad days fading a bit as he said.
"Surprise?" Marionette decided that the faint ticking coming from his chest was enough of an answer as he half asked in shock and faint exasperation, knowing Mike did it to get a reaction out of him, Mike liked pushing buttons, just usually it was through a mix of teasing and sarcastic humor, though this whole thing could have been one big joke as far as Marionette was concerned. It certainly explained why the man had only worn a simple white shirt, Marionette figured it was just because they hadn't sorted out a work outfit for the staff yet and Mike hadn't wanted to overheat in the kitchen.
"Where'd you get that thing?" The man only shrugged.
"Found it at the warehouse, figured it'd be better if we had someone to play the role of security in case it was needed, my other uniforms have the business' names on it but this I could modify, so I threw it on when I got here" To prove his point, Mike tapped over his right shoulder where on the dark purple Freddy's security uniform, instead of the sight of Freddy Fazbear on a patch, it was an image of Foxy. Marionette's eyes just stayed on the man for a moment, staring at all the purple... before just letting out a huffing chime.
"Well, you look dashing, here's hoping Foxy won't chase you around when he sees you though" Mike just smirked.
"Of course he wouldn't, I showed him a few days ago to make sure he was ok with it. It wouldn't do to surprise a dangerous animatronic with something like this" Marionette knew he was being messed with, but he still let himself fall into the bait, it was much better than how it had been this morning and on the ride over, as he moved a bit closer as he felt a faint warmth of something fill his chest, something he decided was competitiveness.
"Are you implying something mister night guard? You know, our kinds have been enemies for years now" Mike did his best to keep serious though a near snort of a laugh did nearly escape as he leaned in a bit, over the island counter in the middle of the kitchen which was where the two stoves had been put in, and was where across of which Marionette was, and said with a faintly amused but definitely teasing tone.
"Is that a challenge? I already got my mask with me and I'm sure I can find a flashlight around here somewhere" Marionette leaned in as well, getting closer as the two stared at each other for a long moment, as Marionette was more than willing to let the faint tunes of his music play, when-
"Hey Mike we're about to flip the- Oh... Uh. Am I missing something?" Mike leaned back first, a simple though fairly subdued grin on his face as he said towards Fritz who had just stumbled in on their little... Whatever this was.
"Nah, just tugging on Mari's strings, we about to open?" Fritz just stared ahead for another long moment, a faint look of something crossing his mind and then onto his face, but whatever it was, he decided to keep it to himself, something the older man had been working on to not put his foot in his mouth as constantly as he used to, instead just shrugging and saying to the two.
"Yeah, you got less than five minutes, I already see a few people outside with their kids. I think they're here for the novelty of being first in line or something, but it does mean you'll be cooking early" Fritz himself sounded fairly composed, not quite to the seemingly natural casualness that Mike had achieved and constantly stayed around, but definitely not as frantic as Jeremy had been, though there was still a clear small undercurrent of nerves in his voice and actions, as he gave an unnecessary nod and second look back before letting himself out to man the doors when they opened with a tad more speed than was necessary.
Mike had already leaned back, already moving to get some of the dough out and start tossing it to be formed into a pizza shape so he could get right into once the first order or two came in.
Marionette however was frozen, his entire body felt warm for some reason he couldn't understand, a faint jittery feeling had filled him the second that Fritz had walked in. Something the puppet was quick to decide was just the nerves finally hitting him at the news that there were in fact people ready to come in and see what all it was that Pirate's Cove had to offer. The puppet did his best to get himself under control, trying to focus on something else for the brief moments he had before he had to go back to the prize corner for his own first impressions.
He chose Mike to be that focus, being the most colorful thing at the moment, but that didn't seem to help, watching the man with an expert level of skill easily tossing the pizza dough in the air into a quick disk before planting it onto the clean counter top just made the warmth and jittering worse until he could feel his own music box letting out a faint ticking sound that was noticeable to the other man in the room. Mike only quirked an eyebrow and said with the same easy teasing tone as he had not even a minute ago before they were interrupted.
"You trying to spook me? Sorry to say, I don't think we have time to go a round of hide and seek right now Mari" The ticking got louder for a moment before Marionette forcefully hit his own chest to quell it as he just let out a forced huff and said with as much smug energy as he could.
"You wish, no, I wouldn't feel right messing with the poor soul who only just got his hand out of a cast" Mike just rolled his eyes.
"How big of you" Marionette was ready to agree, but Mike's eyes had moved off of the puppet, staring off at the wall, in the direction where the front doors were, saying after a second with a bit more obvious nerves in his tone, "You should head back to your corner, I here Fritz talking"
Marionette was quick to agree, he really needed a moment to get a hold of himself, all the energy from this morning coming back and seemingly presenting itself in a much stranger and harder to identify way that he was certain was just his nerves playing tricks on him, so he was certain that a minute or two too himself in his comforting box would help out before he got into the swing of entertaining and doing what he was made for.
Though, before he went, just for a second, he stole one more look at Mike in that dark purple uniform, and an almost peaceful smile on his face as he moved around the kitchen, and decided the quick visit was more than worth it, even if it made the puppet's emotions seem to do a weird twist about, it was better than seeing Mike lost in his own head for the start of such a big day.
With that and a bit of concentration Marionette found himself in his box, feeling the comforting programming of his resting spot fill him out and help sooth out his nerves. Sadly he didn't get nearly as much time he had hoped to get himself in order, but thankfully he didn't need those moments, as he felt his programming coil up like a spring, along with his body, as he heard the sound of movement of small footsteps move into the Prize Corner, a number of appreciative sounds of interest as they moved a bit closer, when he finally couldn't take it anymore.
Playing to the bit, the sound of the winding down of a music box began to play from Marionette, to draw the children closer, as he heard the faint movement and sounds of interested chatter now move around him, before...
With a flourish of movement the top of the box was retracted as Marionette sprung out, holding the position just for a second, listening to the mostly surprised sounds around him before leaning forwards, his hands holding to the edge of his box as he leaned down to look over the children in front of him. A few looked surprised, one or two a bit worried, but the fact that no one was running around or screaming kept them from making a scene just yet either.
It was for that same reason when the first child, a young boy with a blue baseball cap on for some team Marionette knew nothing about, moved closer, the rest did too, as the boy looked up at him with big bright eyes, before asking quietly.
"Uh, hello?" Marionette gave a wave while tilting his head to the side to give the impression of a greeting, and just like that the child let out a surprised and delighted sound and soon followed the rest as the moved around and chatted to each other about how cool it all was, a few moving to look over the glass counter at the merch and items hanging around and on the shelves while a few were already ahead of the curve moving to the token exchange machine, already trying to feed it money to get playing already.
Marionette couldn't help but feel nothing short but joyous as he watched the children run about, a few walking up to him to ask him things, to which he would just point out the answers. Jeremy had been nice enough to make him a cheat sheet so he could get around talking easily by gesturing to things like the large price tags to answer questions about the ticket cost, or at one of the many signs and posters around to give the impression of an answer while not acting too free willed.
A few stuck around, if only for a while, but were quickly drawn out to the more interesting, and by that loud, show from the main stage as Foxy went on with a bang, recounting a number of pirate tales that were covered in jokes a bit that had the children paying attention in the occasional giggle fit, though there was a lot more interest in the sudden novelty for the time being in the talking fox act more than the jokes themselves, though hopefully it was the latter that would keep the kids and adults alike in coming back while the former was certainly what drew them in in the first place.
He knew just how much work Foxy had put into his performance, the fox really wanted to put his best foot forward, and judging by the reception that he could hear, it seemed like it was paying off.
The atmosphere continued like that nearly throughout the entire day, of course after the initial rush of a few families wanting to cash in on being first in line there had been a clear slowing, but the mid afternoon rush had more than made up for that. It nearly shocked the entire staff at the boom they had the second that school had let off, more than a few families came into the pizzeria, if only for that first day experience or not, by the end of the day, well into the evening, there wasn't a time where there wasn't any least one to two families at one of the tables.
And it was more than a hint of pride from the entire staff that not a single person had left without a smile on their face and at least one piece of prize corner merch, usually in the form of a plushy, being taken with them.
Needless to say, everyone was tired but thrilled in equal measure. Fritz and Jeremy were talking about their days, half of the stories happening to overlap given the two were together for half of them, but neither caring, Foxy practically having to walk off all his extra energy, pacing back and forth on his stage while basking in all the eyes and ears that had been on him that day. Marionette was in much the same state, still an excess of nerves and energy from the day that would no doubt fade into proper tiredness once he was home, but for right now he was simply basking in the feeling as he moved around and marked off from the inventory list Jeremy had made for him to keep track of what was given out.
Letting out a delighted chime every time the realization once more popped up that this was his work, it wasn't like last time where all he did was count tickets and bring down whatever prize a child wanted to exchange them for, this entire counter was his, he managed the inventory, he would count the coin exchange up at the end of the week and refill it himself, he was in charge of handling the tickets and handing out prizes. He wasn't just an attraction and a way to get out of paying a real worker for the prize corner, he was a real worker, he was an employee and this was his prize corner, and every time he remembered that he couldn't help but let out a chime of happiness once more at how incredible today had gone.
It was to the point that once he finished his closing activities that he, for a moment, genuinely wanted to go out and talk to the two men still bussing and cleaning up the tables, to talk about his own experiences to the day to add to their conversation, but the feeling fell soon after. While he was slowly, and he did mean slowly, warming up more and more to the two, to the point he'd even say that they were probably close enough to friends to be counted as such, he couldn't quite find it in himself to break the silence. Even if it was slowly getting easier and easier to approach the idea.
He didn't need to talk to them anyways, given he had another human he was more than willing to talk the ear off of.
Still, he chose to not simply flicker into the kitchen to try and get another scare out of Mike, a small part of it knowing it wouldn't actually scare the other man, and instead moved out normally, taking a moment to let his wires come back into his body while leaving the cross behind as he moved out, giving a friendly wave to the two men who gave him similar gestures back as they continued to talk, both sides knowing today wasn't the day they'd actually have a proper conversation as the puppet moved to the kitchen.
Opening it up, Marionette was blasted with the condensed smell of pizza as the puppet looked around, finding Mike who was currently cleaning up and doing the dishes for the few things that needed them, given the Cove was using paper plates to save on any accidents of running children, and the expenses, but the former sounded better when Fritz had brought up the safety issue as a reason to give out.
Letting out a happy chime to let the man play the roles of owner, cook, and security guard's attention, Marionette was already speaking as he floated over to Mike's side, the man's back having been to him because of the position of the dishwasher and sink in the kitchen.
"Mike! Today was wonderful wasn't it! We had so many people come in! I told you we'd be doing more than fine" The puppet gave the tall man a nudge in the side at that, clearly jesting and referring back to the morning, only to pause for a moment as Mike hadn't answered him, instead still staring ahead at the wall, a dish in his hands while he stared blankly ahead, the nudge having seemingly knock the man out of his thoughts, giving a faint flinch before blinking back to stare at Marionette before saying.
"Oh, hey. Busy day huh?" Marionette was instantly concerned, frowning for a moment before quickly hiding it under his default smile as he said back.
"Yep! We had a ton of folks come in, and I bet they'll be back with friends next time" That got a small smile out of the man, as he turned to stare back at the sink for a moment before saying.
"Yeah, it went really well huh? I'm... I'm really glad" Marionette let out a curious hum before gently prodding.
"Really? You don't sound super enthused" Mike seemed a bit surprised at that, or at least on being called out about it, but quickly managed to get a proper smile on his face, even if it felt a bit strained, and said.
"I am, it's just all the stress melting off of me, the relief is beating back the excitement" It sounded likely, and that probably really was what was happening, though Marionette had a feeling something was being shielded from him, he didn't like it, even as Mike continued on, "Plus all the pizza fumes are making my head spin a bit so that's probably not helping"
"Maybe, you should crack a window" That got a smirk out of Mike, seeming now that he wasn't just alone in the kitchen by himself all day, to return back to a more normal state as he said.
"Probably should have, but enough about my pizza induced state of being, what about you? Have a good first day?" While the puppet knew exactly what Mike was doing, he couldn't help but explode into chatter, happily talking about the day itself, about the kids he helped out, about the few he tossed a few extra tokens to when he noticed they had been just a bit to short on tickets for a few of the plushies and many more smaller things that he couldn't help but gush about.
Before he knew it was happening, Mike had finished up the clean up and was just leaning against the counter looking at Marionette with a new look on his face. Once he did notice Marionette felt himself sputter over whatever it was he was saying, and instead asked.
"What's with the look?" The man simply blinked before shrugging, unsure what exactly the puppet was talking about, but deciding to be honest.
"Nothing, I'm just happy you had a good day" That puppet just huffed, waving him off, not quite believing the man but deciding to not press, knowing it was probably just some new teasing thing that he wasn't willing to fall on the bait of.
"Well, enough about me, you ready to head home after making sure everyone is done with closing?" Mike seemed a bit confused about the change in conversation, more like one sided yapping now that Marionette was a bit more conscious about it, but answered after a second of thinking about something.
"If you want you can go ahead, I think I'm going to go by the warehouse and talk to Goldie for a bit, let him know how the first day has gone after I make sure Jere and Fritz don't need any help out there" Marionette nodded quickly enough, it made sense, easily agreeing though saying after a moment.
"I expect you home soon still, I don't want to have to come drag you back, or worse yet, find out you took overtime at you're... lesser job" Marionette made sure to sound just a bit snobby about that last part, getting a proper laugh out of Mike finally for the first time today, but nodded easily.
"Don't worry, I don't think I'll be able to live if I try to keep up the hours I was working before. I'll probably have to quit in the next few weeks, maybe around the end of the month once I make sure this job is stable" Marionette simply nodded.
"You better, you need more sleep" Now Mike just rolled his eyes.
"You don't get to say that Net, I know exactly how much sleep you dodge, I'm the one who winds your box"
"Well get ready to do it then, I think after today I'll need to rest to keep going if it's always going to be this busy" Mike seemed to be a bit startled about the sudden change, probably knowing Marionette well enough that this wasn't some random decision, before finally nodding.
"I'll be home then" Marionette let out a chime before vanishing from the kitchen to head back home himself.
And once he was home, back in the living room he spent a large portion of his time in, it hit him about just what he was doing, and with it the warmth returned. The idea that Marionette had worked, had a job and profession, a place to call his own, and a home to return to at the end of the day. It felt... it was a warmth that was almost shocking with how pleasant it felt, it wasn't overwhelming, not in the raw emotions of it, but in another more simple way, in the almost groundbreaking reality of it was to him.
Marionette had accepted his life was different than others, for a long time after his death he was nothing more than a mix of a protector, the one who helped the others come back, to fix them, as well as a hunter, being one of the most deadly, requiring only a single slip from the supposed 'Purple Guy', to be able to catch him, only to realize later and always with regret that it hadn't actually been the man who had killed him and so many others that he had then had to protect, blinded by purple just like the rest.
And then it all went wrong, Mangle had gotten... fed up, acted out, and they were taken away, the toys and him trapped and slowly broken down and separated, played with like the toys their line was named after. Until he was moved somewhere else, into that damn crate where he spent... too long. He had nearly given up on the idea of being a normal person, being anything but a trapped act, even if he escaped, back then Marionette never really thought much about being able to have something of a bright future, no matter how little he chose to regret what he had become and to not hide in or from the past, that didn't mean he hadn't been realistic.
He hadn't held out much hope...
And then Mike came along and broke everything he thought to pieces, and now he couldn't remember a time he felt more human, more alive, and it felt good, it felt better than good really, but the idea of trying to put words to it seemed almost impossible as the puppet simply took the time to bask in the feelings, before slowly coming back to himself, as he looked around the living room before making the decision to help once more the man who had given everything back to the puppet.
Mike would probably be a bit, perhaps just enough time to make a fresh batch of cupcakes. The man was no doubt still hiding just what all was going on in his occasionally dumb head, and nothing helped take the edge off of something like that than sweets in Marionette's experience.
With that, Marionette floated towards the kitchen, a small but content and happy smile on his face as he got to work, but more than that, simply just happy to be home.
Being suddenly better just because your life improves doesn't work like that, when you're depressed there isn't some magic pause button or fix, you're still going to have bad days, have bad moments, and that's ok, as long as you can get through them and make sure your life continued to improve so those days become even more further and far between. Mike is depressed, has been for years, and that's okay, especially when he now has people around him to worry and make sure he isn't alone with his thoughts.
Ok, now that we're doing with the psychology and life morals, Foxy's Pirate Cove Pizzeria is now open! I didn't really want to spend too long working towards that, no reason to when it would just mean slogging through the chapters up until that point stuffing character interactions all in a very short time period to accomplish all the same work as a few paragraphs of exposition could accomplish. And even then, we spent a few chapters working towards it anyways, so it's hardly like I'm speeding through this. The Pizzeria itself is more of a setting that these characters can now be revolved around and interact in more than it is some pivotal plot point.