I Don't Own Fnaf

"Mike... Honey, are you trying to feed an army?" Mike did his best to not flush... It wasn't hard, he learned not too long ago that even if it felt like his face was heating up, it stayed mostly the same color, but that didn't change the faint hint of embarrassment at the question nor the warmness that came from the name. Mari had been trying out pet names recently, Mike wasn't really sure why beyond just the puppet wanting to, even if he had nearly tripped and brained himself the first time Mari had called him 'dear'.

Instead he just moved to focus on the other thing that was mentioned, as he stared at the number of ingredients in front of him...

"Too much?"

"Maybe just a bit" Mike just hummed... Staring at the stuff in front of him for a long moment, before asking hesitantly.

"Well... I mean... Leftovers are a Thanksgiving thing right? They can just take a bunch of what remains home" Mari just shrugged, moving around carefully to his own area where a large mixing bowl was stationed. The puppet's goal being to make a cake and a pie or two of his own for dessert.

"I don't know, I can't really remember any Thanksgivings"

"Right... Hmm... Honestly, it's been a long time since I've done Thanksgiving either to be honest... I think my last one was with you actually, at least with the Emily family I mean" That seemed to perk the animatronic up as he said almost eagerly.

"Really?"

"Yep"

"Could you tell me about it?" Mike just hummed, thinking back... It was a pretty long time ago, but suddenly the words were being said, and they just kept rolling and rolling out of him as he started to speak.

"I mean, I was pretty young... Ten maybe? So you would have been... six? Maybe five, but around then. Da- William, uh, never was much for Thanksgiving, just not really an Afton thing given we're British, my mom loved it though, she grew up with a large family in the states, doing big things for it every year. She managed to-... Well, anyways, after she was gone, William never bothered, but your family liked to do stuff, never make it a big deal or anything, but a meal and a day out of it. That day... William was busy, and I didn't want to cook, so I smuggled my siblings over and your parents were nice enough to not kick us out.

It was pretty nice all things considered, Henry over cooked the turkey, I remember that cause it was so bland. He was so proud of it though, even if we all had to smother it with gravy to force it down. I remember Charlie going on and on about how she wanted cranberries because it was the 'adult' food on the table, only to half spit it up when she actually tried it and was just left with a whole plate of it, too stubborn to say she didn't like it.

Evan and Elizabeth weren't really old enough to do much beyond just eat and talk, I think... I'm not sure they really understood the reason why there was so much food or the whole celebration thing... The Emily's ar- were the type of family to do that around the table and say what we're grateful for. I don't remember what I said or most of what was said really, but Lizzy made this... comment, something about being grateful we had ice cream at home and... I don't think I laughed harder for years at the look on the adults faces... It was nice, really nice. It was before I started to hit puberty and got nasty, so it might even be one of the last real good spots I can remember from my childhood.

Dad was... not happy after that, with me sneaking Evan and Elizabeth out, we had a... Talk after, so I never went or brought over my siblings again for the holiday the following years, even though I was told we had an open invitation. I think Henry was a bit grateful, he didn't sign up for his family time to be taken up by watching a bunch of extra kids"

Mike winced a bit to himself, without really meaning to as he thought about the end of that memory, the words had just flowed out on their own. Still, it was nice in a way to talk about it, he wondered if Charlie or Evan would remember it if he brought it up? That was a long time ago now though, exactly fourteen years to be accurate and she had been so young, Evan even younger and without as strong a memory... Still, it didn't matter too much he supposed. His thoughts were interrupted as a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, as he just leaned back a bit into the puppet's grasp. He didn't need the comfort, but it was still nice.

"I-... Kind of forgot your British" That was not at all what Mike had been expecting to be told as he felt a faint snort half choked itself out of his mouth before he broke into a small little snicker as Mari let out a slightly huffy chime, "Well! It's not like it's my fault! You don't even have an accent!" Leaning back a bit more before turning from the grasp to be able to look at the puppet, he said teasingly, a sudden moderate British accent filling his words in a way that felt both natural and strange, he was so used to repressing it that speaking 'normally' felt more weird than not.

"I've made a point of trying to not keep too many eyes on me, you know. Or would you prefer if I sounded like this all the time in the middle of Utah?" He expected a bit of shock maybe, or perhaps a bit of teasing back... What he was not expecting was the flustered look on the puppet's face with a match trilling sound to boot. As he just stared at the puppet for a long moment, before saying, leaning in a bit closer as he focused on properly enunciating his words, "Oh? Am I to infer that you'd rather prefer it if I spoke with a more refined tone then?"

"I- I- Well. I mean-" Whatever flustered mess of words Mari was going to try to get out was interrupted sadly by the sound of the doorbell ringing, as Mike shot the puppet a slightly smug look, filing that information in the back of his mind for later, as he said, his voice slipping back into an easy American accent.

"Saved by the bell Stripes" The puppet tried to swat at him, but Mike just lazily spun out of the way as he moved over to the door to let whoever was first in line inside. Surprised that anyone was here though to be honest, it was pretty early still. Yet, the door was opened all the same to reveal...

"Hey Jere" The man gave a slightly awkward smile, his head unconsciously turning back to the outside, staring off at the driveway that only held his car in it, as he said awkwardly.

"Hey, I- I'm early?" Mike just shrugged.

"No more than you are late or on time. Didn't really schedule this by the minute or anything"

"Suppose not"

"Come on in, I was just teasing Mari on how he forgot I'm British" The man gave a slightly surprised look, which told Mike all he needed to on if Jeremy himself had remembered that fact, though instead of the puppet's flustered reaction, Jeremy just hummed before saying, as the two made their way inside.

"Can you even celebrate Thanksgiving?"

"With enough gravy anything's possible"

"Well, I mean, that sounds pretty American to me"

"So do I, it's a gift" That got a startled laugh from the man as the two moved to the kitchen, where Mari was happy to welcome Jeremy, giving him a wave before moving to take over the oven to get the cake started as Mike moved over to finish up the prep.

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I got it, though I could use the extra company, Mari over there has been making me do all the talking"

"I have not!"

"Making me go on and on about Thanksgiving stuff, questioning my cooking choices, mocking my accent" He had been saying it pretty dramatically, that last part dipping into the accent in question, just to keep the air light, as Mari was huffing while Jeremy looked mostly just amused, as he smirked to himself, where no one could see with how he was standing, before wiping the expression on his face, making it stoic, as he glanced back to make them both look over at him, mostly so he could have the best view for this... As he said unprompted, "My boyfriend is so mean"

Mike greatly enjoyed the reaction, the sound Mari made was probably not pleasing to most others with how loud it was, but it was music to his ears, while Jeremy just sort of made a goldfish impression. Normally, he wouldn't do something like that with company present, but Jeremy was the only person who was fully aware about what was going on between him and Mari, and as such... Well, to be honest, Mike was in a bit of a sappy mood, and he felt like he didn't get to flirt with Mari enough in front of others, as he clarified casually.

"But I suppose it's alright, he's cute enough to get away with it" Mari made a high pitched strangled noise, like a piano wire being choked to death while Jeremy just looked vaguely unsure what was happening, but clearly knowing he was being used and visibly trying to figure out if he minded or not.

"M-Mike! Jeremy's right there!" It was hilarious to hear the sheerness of the scandalized tone to the puppet's voice as a he managed to hold the grin off his face just long enough to turn to look at Jeremy, saying dead serious.

"I love my boyfriend, any problems with that?" Jeremy just blinked slowly, before just shaking his head, as Mike nodded, satisfied, as he turned to look at Mari, "I don't see the issue then" Mari looked practically primed to explode, his whole body trembling just a tad, as Mike managed to keep himself from looking too smug.

"C-Can we talk about anything else please?" Mike let the puppet have that, he didn't want to actually hurt the animatronic or anything, but he just... didn't have much in ways of opportunities where the three of them just had a moment alone, and this frankly was something he had wanted and wondered about doing for a while now. He hadn't ever really been in anything considered a 'secret' relationship before, but then again, he'd never really been in a serious one either, so he just... Wanted to know how it felt to talk about his boyfriend to someone, plus the boyfriend part was a first as well, and frankly Mike liked saying the word aloud more than he expected to.

He had never been particularly enticed by terms of endearment or titles, they just felt... meaningless to him in a way that he was sure could only really come from the awful mix of a childhood fearing and loathing authority figures and his teenager years either being a parental figure or in jail, before having his entire adult life up to a year ago being a career criminal. But... He liked that one, it felt... Nice. He made the mental note to try and use it more when he got the chance.

"Uh... Well, I mean, not to change the mood too much, but I could tell you about how Bonnie's been settling in?" Jeremy seemed nervous about that, unsure if he should bring it up, but frankly Mike himself had long since adjusted to the rabbit, mostly in the 'out of sight, out of mind' kind of way admittedly, but as well as the fact he went through way more traumatizing things in his life that the Shadow Bonnie Incident was honestly more just a blip of awful more than anything noteworthy.

But that didn't mean that was the case for Mari, as Mike felt his eyes shift to the puppet, who went from slightly shaking with embarrassed praise to being still considerably quick. Before finally asking.

"Is he... I mean, has he been doing well?" He sounded uncertain and Mike hated it, but there wasn't anything he could do about it, not really, Bonnie hadn't ever really come up in conversation, but it was clear that the topic weighed on the puppet's mind almost as much as just about everything else they had to think about did. He wished Mari would talk to him about it, if only to get his worries off his chest, but that wasn't for today to try. He still focused his hearing on Jeremy's answer, just so he could know as well.

"I mean... I think he's doing well? He's been over for a week now, but we haven't really talked? I've tried, but he seems pretty happy with just ignoring me. I asked if he wanted to come with me, but, ah... He kind of just gave me a look until I went away," Mari was getting more and more actively concerned, and it seemed Jeremy realized this as he quickly spoke up again, "But I think he's doing better! I mean, at least he isn't at the warehouse... even if he's made a habit of playing the tv a bit too loudly"

Mike was pretty certain there was more to it than that, Jeremy seemed... Not stressed, but concerned, and now that he was looking a bit closer, he could spot faint bags under the other man's eyes. Jeremy wasn't really the type that looked exhausted naturally, he wore worn down well enough that he never really looked much more than at most well worked after a day of work. So for there to be any kind of sign of it? Mike felt himself frown a bit, as he asked in a tone going for casual.

"You been sleeping well?" Jeremy tensed a bit, an uncertain look coming over his face for a short moment before nodding quickly, Jeremy wasn't... the greatest liar, at least not on the spot, as Mike just focused on him for another moment, before making the decision both that Jeremy would be getting slightly more leftovers than Mike had originally planned, as well as a talk about anything wrong as well... Tomorrow.

Because Mike wasn't really sure what being a good host really meant, given he had practically negative experience in it, but he was pretty sure badgering at the man about it on a day where they were supposed to be enjoying wasn't exactly what Jeremy had signed up for nor what Mike wanted when he had invited him over.

Honestly, Mike wasn't really sure why he had gotten himself so worked up over the holiday... Well, actually, he knew exactly why, but it was frankly embarrassing to think about the actual reason and overwhelmingly sappy in how sentimental it was. Thinking of...

"You brought the van with you, do you mind picking up the duo from the warehouse in a bit?" He watched faintly surprised with himself as he watched the two turn their attention to him, as he realized vaguely he had gotten lost in the mix of his own thoughts and moving around the kitchen, his hands not having been idle for a while now. That was also a bit embarrassing, he was normally much more aware of himself and his surroundings, especially when people were talking.

Thankfully neither pointed out he was interrupting... Whatever it was the two had been talking about, as instead Jeremy just nodded.

"Right, I can get them now if you want? Or in a bit" Mike thought about that before just shrugging, pointing over with a temporarily free hand over to the phone that was on its hook on the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Give them a call and see what they say, it's the second button" Jeremy just moved over, hitting the speed dial before having to ask curiosity in his tone.

"What's the first?" Mike paused, unsure how to answer exactly while Mari chimed in.

"Mike's phone, just in case I need to call him, I have a way" The puppet didn't seem to realize how sappy that sounded until Jeremy gave the two a small look with an even smaller smile on his face. Thankfully it seemed the call connected fairly quickly as he was quickly dragged into a conversation with whoever had been the one to pick the line up first. Probably Foxy, the animatronic, liked to dash at things when he had even the smallest of reasons to.

It wasn't long after that the man both had left and returned in equal measure. Mike had Mari had just kept themselves busy in the kitchen, making small idle chatter more than anything, but it was still pretty nice. Before Mike went to open up the garage to let the animatronics in without them being seen as much as possible.

He just gave a smile to the two animatronics and Jeremy, as they moved through the kitchen to the livingroom which had enough space for them all to stand around without being crowded. The two shared a look, Mike wanted to give a proper welcome of some kind, but he was busy sorting through everything that he still needed to get prepared and started, while Mari's own items had already been in the oven for a while now, so the puppet just gave him a nod as he floated out into the living room.

Mike just let them, focusing on his own efforts, only to hear the sound of footsteps fall back into the kitchen, they were to light to be anyone but-

"Something up Jeremy?" The man behind him just coughed a bit in what Mike figured was surprise, but said quickly.

"Ah, not really, just... Mari was talking about some stuff with Goldie and Foxy and it sounded personal" Mike nodded, the puppet had said he wanted to talk to the others about some stuff about remembering, they hadn't had much time before now for that, so he assumed that was the conversation that was happening in the other room, which made sense, as he said back.

"If he minded then he wouldn't have said anything with you in there"

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't still give them a bit of privacy"

"Anything you want to talk about then?" Jeremy just seemed to shrug, glancing back out to the room for a long moment, before suddenly saying.

"Thank you" Mike paused his stirring of the pot in front of him just for a moment, before asking back curiously.

"What am I being thanked for?" Jeremy just shrugged, moving a bit further from the door to say as he moved to lean against a nearby counter closer to Mike.

"Doing this, I can't imagine that this was your first instinct" Mike just shrugged, but Jeremy continued, "But you still invited us all over, so thanks"

"No problem, I know I'm not really the biggest on big hangouts, but... I guess I just wanted to do this. It's like Halloween, nice to do something normal I suppose after everything. Just this time we don't have to deal with a ton of kids running us to an exhausted grave" That got a laugh from the man, as Mike just hummed to himself, as he glanced at the other for a short moment, before asking carefully.

"If you don't mind me asking... Did you not have any family that would have wanted you over?" Jeremy winced a bit, instantly making Mike regret asking the question a bit, but he didn't take it back, it was on Jeremy if he wanted to answer or not, even if he kicked himself over how he had worded it.

"I-... Well, I have plenty of family that wanted me to come over, my mom was nearly insistent over it, but..." He trailed off for a moment, a small frown on his face, his eyes darting about like he was debating something, as Mike just waited patiently as he could while turning back to the stove after it was clear he needed a moment to get the words in order and Mike staring at him probably wasn't helping. But after a minute he continued on.

"It's not that I don't get along with them or anything, it's just... I'm the youngest of a few kids and I think they never really got over me being an adult? And after I got hurt at Freddy's, it just got worse. I can't really blame them, especially my parents, I mean, what do you do when you're kid just suddenly has brain damage from working at a pizzeria of all thing? And I never really think they understood I got alright after. And I just... I don't want to deal with worried eyes and ears that refuse to listen properly when I talk to them all if I did the few hour drive to go meet up with them"

Mike... wasn't sure what to say to that, mostly because of how foreign of a concept it was, a family that would care about his health... Well, that was a bit mean, Evan had been by his side for weeks after his most recent hospitalization, something he hadn't really gotten his head around at the time with how... Out of it and freshly messed up he was.

But in this case, it was more just because Mike never had been in a situation like Jeremy's, sure he had gotten hurt plenty of times in his childhood, a few had even been somewhat serious, breaking his arm had been a highlight of it really, but his dad hadn't ever really cared, and he was the eldest, and therefore wasn't allowed to be the one who got support, he was much too busy making sure his siblings got something to eat and learning to cook and do things like laundry with one hand for a time.

So, as it stood... He just couldn't visualize what it would be like to have a whole large family, from the sounds of it, worried to hell and back for him... He tried still, the most he got was just a large room filled with different colored bears giving him the same unimpressed look he always got from Evan when he said a particularly lame joke. It made him almost huff at the sheer ridiculousness of it, even as he spoke up.

"Well, you're always welcome over here" he wasn't sure why that's what his brain settled on, maybe he really was in much of an emotional mood, at least it wasn't a negative emotional one. Mike would have probably hated himself if he got all depressed and mopey today on everyone. It had been a while since his last real depressive spiral though... Well, a month or so at least, which was honestly about as long as it's ever been... Weird.

Mike was a bit too busy in that thought and working on the food to notice the small surprised look Jeremy shot the man, or the light smile that played on his face a moment after.

Fritz was fidgeting, a tie in his hands that he had next to no idea what to do with. He wasn't used to wearing anything formal, but apparently Janet's family were a bit more traditional when it came to things like thanksgiving, and Fritz was way to worried about how this would go to even think about not pulling on an old dress shirt and slacks that were a bit too small on him nowadays. He hadn't worn this type of outfit since the last time he had gone to church.

He had stopped after he had started to work at Freddy's, most might have found a religious comfort in times of supernatural horror, Fritz found it very much the opposite in terms of being able to keep what faith he still had that his parents had tried their best to instill in him throughout his childhood. He was mostly just grateful now though that he hadn't thrown any of the more formal outfits out, even if he was now working almost relentlessly with his hands to try and iron out the tie in his grip without an actual iron anywhere in the apartment.

"I'm not sure you're going to be able to strangle the tie into cooperating" Fritz jumped a little bit at the sudden voice as he turned around, his mouth opening up to try and say something only to find his voice dying in his throat as he turned to see Janet, standing in the doorway of his bedroom, looking...

"Y-You look beautiful" She blushed, just a bit, looking down at herself and the outfit that was adorning her body that Fritz himself couldn't help but also stare at in wonder.

Janet was the type of woman who liked to wear what was comfortable than fashionable in most cases, the fact that she and Fritz were about the same height meant she was more than comfortable with just stealing his sweaters because his were more wide in the shoulders and his legs weren't as long, so they sort of just draped over her. While her normal day to day look was definitely simple casual wear, now it was...

It was still simple, but Janet wasn't the girly girl type, she worked out, was good with her hands, and could be pretty intense with not giving a damn about what someone thought, frankly put Fritz was pretty sure if it came down to it she could take down someone bigger than her without breaking a sweat. That was admittedly the image he fell for; that self-assuredness and confidence, the fact she was funny and kind and just incredible were things that kept him adoring her every single day.

But now, he was staring at his girlfriend in an outfit that he hadn't thought she even owned, it was a beautiful yet simple yellow sundress with black silhouetted flowers blooming up and down the dress in a twisting sort of design that managed to capture his eyes and didn't seem to be inclined in returning them. Her bright blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail where normally it was framing her face, and somehow it just made her bright green eyes stand out even more than normal and showed off her face in a way that he found himself staring at that next.

"You think so?" He was startled out of his staring as Janet just did a little joking twirl about as he just nodded a bit dumbly before forcefully getting a handle on himself. He was going on thirty soon enough, he should not be acting like a teenager at the sight of a cute girl.

"Of course, you look amazing. Makes me feel like I'm going to be the least presentable person there" Janet let out a little laugh even as she moved into the doorway, looking him over, with an over exaggerated scrutinizing look. Fritz knew she was playing around, but he still couldn't help but fidget under her gaze for apparently too long as her eyes softened after a moment, saying simply.

"You look great" he just gave a jerky kind of nod, as he continued to fidget with the tie in his hands that he was becoming more and more convinced wasn't the right one to put on. Half because it was still so wrinkly, half because he was suddenly certain it didn't match his outfit, and... admittedly half because he had wrung the thing out so much it looked more or less destroyed from his messing with it... Oops.

Janet reached out, lightly prying the tie from his grip as he did his best to not look too awkward as she got him a small grin as he just moved over to look through his drawers to try and find another one. He definitely owned more than one tie right? He had to... It was somewhere...

"What are you so nervous about?" He let out a small laugh at that.

"What do you think? I'm meeting the family, isn't this supposed to be a big deal without it being a big holiday?" Janet just leaned against a wall, raising an eyebrow as she said.

"You've met my parents before"

"Yes, but that was in passing, where you I might add were making sure your mother wasn't in the same room as me for more than five minutes at a time much less alone with me" Janet snorted at that.

"Not because she hates you or anything, she's just too curious for her own good and I didn't want you to be answering questions while I was struggling to carry boxes out to the car... My dad on the other hand, you probably shouldn't try joking too much with- Joking! I'm kidding!" Fritz was glad she clarified so quickly, because while he hardly considered himself to be a joker, the idea of even half slipping a quip out suddenly felt like a death sentence.

"R-right, just... What about your sister? Anything I should do? Don't do?" Janet just shrugged.

"Not really? She's more settled than me, she'll probably be curious about you but that's about it... Oh! She's probably bringing her husband though, just a warning, man's a bit strict, but he's harmless really"

"Right, I- Uh... I can handle that I guess" Fritz had been too busy worrying he hadn't noticed under a new tie, a pastel blue one, was being wrapped around his neck, and tied by Janet, but once he did he could feel his face burning as she just gave him a smile.

"You'll do great. Don't worry so much about it, besides, it's just breakfast and some talking, and if you really need a break, you can literally run to Mike's house for safety, he's just down the road" Fritz slowly nodded, focusing on his breath for a moment, as he felt himself mostly settle down as he said a bit embarrassed.

"Right, no, you're completely right... Sorry, I'm just nervous, I really want this to go well, and I haven't really done a 'meet the parents' thing in a... Well, it's been a bit" If by a bit he meant nearly eight years, he had barely been in his twenties then.

"You'll do fine, come on, let's get going otherwise we're going to be late and then you're really going to have a reason to be worried" Fritz sputtered at that, while Janet just laughed as he was lead out as he managed to keep himself from being too scared. He had dealt with scarier things than his girlfriend's family.

He had this in the bag.

Totally...

Charlie was... not quite nervous... No that was a lie, she felt incredibly nervous, but focusing on that wasn't doing her any good even if she wasn't really sure just what she was supposed to focus on instead. Maybe meeting her brother again? Meeting his friends? Nope, that just made her more nervous, she had always been the more outgoing twin, but that wasn't saying much given her competition was a selectively mute brother.

She had never done well in this kind of stuff, socializing, she wished Jessica or John was with her, but she couldn't really ask either of them for very obvious reasons, besides, they had their own family time to be enjoying, which is what she was trying to get herself to do... If she could just build up the courage of knocking. But for some reason the sight of the large van already parked out front of Michael's house made something close to dread seep into her bones and made it hard to raise her hand to the front door.

Finally it was the fact she had brought ice cream, something she was now thoroughly uncertain about but knew she should bring something, that made the choice for her. She could handle the awkwardness of standing out there if no one knew she was doing that, but even late in the year as it was, the ice cream was going to be a bit too melted soon to excuse as traffic, and she'd feel pretty bad if anyone wanted it and it just wasn't there.

It was such a dumb reason, ice cream of all things, but she knocked on the door all the same, and not even ten seconds later the door was pulled open by a man she didn't fully recognize, even as she took in his appearance to try and make an educated guess.

On the shorter side for a guy, so about her height, wearing comfortable but somewhat smart clothing which was interrupted by the bucket hat he had on his head covering the top of a slightly dirty colored blonde hair that ran down a bit past his ears. The fact that he was barely tan enough to not be paper white was what made her guess as she said with more confidence than she had.

"H-Hey, Jeremy right?" The man just nodded, a smile on his face as he pulled the door open only just wide enough for her to squeeze through as she awkwardly brushed past him as he said.

"Yeah, you must be Charlie. Come on in" She figured out why the door had been held close as she managed to move past and into the opening to the living room as she paused in a mild panic as three sets of inhuman eyes all turned to focus on her.

She felt herself gulp, suddenly aware of just how large the animatronics were, the fox was even taller than Michael if only by an inch or so, while the bear would take probably three of her standing shoulder to shoulder to make up the width. It was... intimidating, strangely, even as her mind tried to tell her that these were just people, just like her, hell that bear was someone she thought of once as basically a cousin. Still did? Getting adjusted to not having to use past tense was a surprisingly hard thing to manage.

She still couldn't quite manage to say something before the excited sound of musical chimes broke her from her thoughts as she managed to not flinch or react negatively as the third figure, Sam in all his puppeted glory, floated over towards her just a bit too fast. She was adjusting fairly quickly to his body if she had to say so herself, but the speed and strangeness of his ability to just float around still caught her off guard more often than not.

"Charlie! You made it!" Charlie opened her mouth but was cut off as a pair of long arms were wrapping themselves around her as she felt herself tense up from the unexpected hug, before lightly moving, feeling a bit awkward and a bit happy in a weird mix of emotions, her arms around the puppet, trying to find a place that they found themselves naturally settling, but there wasn't really one, Sam's body was so thin her arms could nearly cross at the elbows to the point she was almost hugging herself, it was weird, but her mind as much as it struggled with all this haunted stuff, still recognized it as her hugging her brother and she couldn't find it in herself to mind the strangeness and uncertainty with her own limbs, and the faint uncomfortableness of limbs that were to long and hands that weren't quite right.

"U-Uh, yeah, of course I did Sa- I mean Mari" She still didn't get the name, frankly she kind of hated the name, it wasn't her brother's name, but she could feel the way he tensed at the almost slip, and chimed softly when she had corrected herself, as she felt him drift back in a way that wasn't the same as when someone took a step back, she let him, as she looked around, suddenly aware the fox was much closer, a hook for a hand shooting up in the air as the animatronic loudly spoke up.

"Yar! Pleased to meetcha! I be the marvelous Captain Foxy!" Charlie just stared wide eyed, was... the act just to make her unsure what was happening or...? Thankfully the bear just lumbered forwards, his body creaking in a way that she was sure she'd never be able to be sneaked up on like the fox had, as he spoke, a painfully familiar voice, aged to his late teens came from the bear.

"Hey Charlie," He reached a large arm out and basically bumped the fox's side, as he said "Ignore Foxy, he's excitable around new people" The fox... pouted? But his face didn't move so it was weird that she thought he was pouting from the way he was holding himself, by the way his whole body more or less slouched forwards... What...? She felt herself just focus on the bear instead as she asked carefully.

"Hey Evan" The faint sound of creaking seemed to echo muffled from the bear's suit, and she couldn't help but wonder what they were doing to make the animatronic sound like that just by standing.

"I prefer Goldie" Oh... It was... Another one of these things, she just nodded, she had been told about that, and from what she had heard it seemed that Foxy went by his own stage name as well, which was... Strange, but she just managed to nod like all this was completely normal and that she was completely adjusted to this after only two weeks of trying to figure out how to reconnect with her now puppet of a brother.

Honestly she was pretty sure she had made it much harder on herself by waiting as long as she had before going to Mike to get answers, it was weeks of paranoia and the idea of something was wrong building up and over until she just couldn't take it anymore and was half convinced she should give up hope on the puppet being who she thought it was. Just proving she hadn't been crazy had been the first goal, and then figuring it out later had been the only real plan she had after weeks of thought... Not her brightest idea to be honest, given it left her incredibly caught off guard when everything that happened after with how long she had to prepare herself.

"R-right, sorry" The bear just shrugged, and it was just... strange, as she felt herself move a bit to be more aligned with the wall, as now that she was here and the door was once more shut, the animatronics just all went back to talking, discussing something that went right over her head because she wasn't focusing on that. Instead she just... stared, mostly at Sam, who was talking casually, that chiming sound echoing out from him occasionally enough that she realized with a very late realization that it was his way of laughing.

Jeremy just slipped back into the conversation as easily as breathing, and there he was, talking to machines that towered over him so completely that it was almost comical in a way to watch, as she just felt like her voice had dried out in her throat, as she just stared, before awkwardly shifting and moving around the group that seemed to have simply forgotten she was here, and instead made her way into the kitchen to see if that's where Michael was.

It was, as she found the man moving things around organizing a whole plethora of food about to be reachable, as she just caught herself staring again at just the sheer amount of it. She had the feeling Michael didn't really understand portion sizes. Did the animatronics need to eat? That was the only way she could think of justifying the amount of food in front of her.

"Uh... Hey?" Michael didn't really jump but he did tense for what looked to be only about a half a second, as his head twisted around to see her as she watched as a small smile pulled on his face, as he turned to face her.

"Hey, didn't hear you come in"

"Yeah, Jeremy let me in" Michael just nodded, moving over a bit as she moved further into the kitchen as well, holding out the bag of probably a bit to melted ice cream which Michael took and quickly tossed into the freezer, while she took the moment to busy herself with looking around a bit more, seeing the table already had a few things set on it as she had to ask, "Are you... Like, trying to feed an army?" Michael just stared at her for a long moment as he turned away from the fridge, before suddenly huffing as he said.

"Your brother said the same thing" She blinked, a bit surprised at that, feeling the faint strange glee at knowing that, as Michael continued, "Glad to see the twin connect is stronger than literal death. Where is Mari by the way? I figured he'd be showing you off to the others" She just shrugged.

"Uh, well, he just went back to talking with them, so... I just wandered over here" Michael frowned for a moment, before just nodding, as he moved over towards the door as Charlie, unsure what to do, just followed awkwardly back into the living room, and suddenly Michael had somehow wormed his way into the easy conversation as well, and Charlie suddenly felt incredibly awkward.

It wasn't... It just didn't feel like she was even in the room. She hadn't... Charlie wasn't sure when the last easy conversation she had was, even with her friends, like Jessica and John, there was always this undercurrent of weight to it, Jessica was always so worried about her, and her and John... the uncertainty of whatever they were always seemed to hang over them, at least Charlie thought so, enough that it made it harder than it should have been to talk.

But here? It was... It was like looking in on something she had been missing for a long time now, but unlike normally when she saw friends or other families about, she was here, in the same room, like she was expected to be able to just jump in when she barely knew everyone. These were her brother's friends, Michael's friends, she... Wasn't sure where she fit into that though. She was suddenly almost certain she just couldn't.

Maybe she shouldn't have-

"Isn't that right Char?" She nearly jumped at the sound of a nickname she hadn't heard in years as her head whipped up to look at Michael who was giving her a friendly smile, as she just blinked, having no idea what the hell he had been talking about, she honestly hadn't been listening in at all. He didn't seem to notice, as he turned back to the others, saying casually, "I mean, I know I wasn't there for long, but Hurricane High just sounds like a bad time in general without knowing it's a school"

Michael... was talking about high school? She blinked a few more times before nervously adding in.

"I mean, it wasn't that bad, there were a few courses that were at least interesting" Michael just shrugged, looking vaguely interested enough that made Charlie want to point out just why it wasn't too bad, sure she hadn't been there long before moving to a nearby city with her father, but high school here hadn't been awful or anything, just... a tad lonely.

"Yeah? I guess so, any that stood out? Being honest, the only one I remember was history as a freshman, that old lady gave me nightmares" Charlie couldn't help but laugh a bit at that, because that sounded right, as she quickly added on.

"I mean, I don't think she was that bad, but she was really good at staring at you until you shut up and sat down" Michael just nodded, and just as the silence seemed to move on a bit to long, Charlie found herself continuing to talk when it seemed nothing else was being said, shifting from high school of all things, to college, talking about other courses that were actually interesting and that she got to devote her time to.

Before long the others were asking question, curious and she just found herself answering, laughing occasionally at some quip Michael made or dry comment Evan tossed in, mixed with the genuine intrigue from her brother and Jeremy and the energetic if slightly unsure what was happening voice of the fox, she hadn't realized until the topic had switched to other things, Jeremy talking about his own college experience, Michael mentioning working in a college cafe for a few weeks, Sam mentioning a time when people tried to get him to work in the kitchen instead of the Prize corner, before shifting to talks about just random local restaurants she and her friends had been to when Michael mentioning he never really ate out anywhere and didn't really know places in Hurricane anymore.

She didn't even realize just how long everyone had been talking, how long she had been talking before there was a knock on the door that seemed to break the almost trace of conversation she had fallen into without even realizing as she blinked in surprise at herself, as Michael moved over to the door, checking it first before pulling it open, talking to whoever was on the other side while she just felt herself stand there in faint shock, before turning her attention to the only natural giant in the room with faint wonder.

Had... Had Michael done that on purpose?

She didn't have time for an answer as she watched as from the door came a man she recognized as Fritz, and a woman she didn't recognize at all, both dressed up better than the rest of the room combined, something Michael seemed to be currently teasing the pair about as they moved in, conversation floating about as it seemed everyone was moving into the kitchen again, to get to the part everyone was here for, the eating.

She kind of just stayed there for a moment, only realizing as the other people had left that the puppet was still there, floating around, as she turned to focus her attention him, she couldn't help but notice the way his hands were lightly messing and flexing against themselves in a strange kind of fidgeting that she was sure would cause broken bones for anyone else.

"S-So... What do you think?" Charlie just blinked, unsure of what she was being asked for a long moment, before suddenly it dawned on her as she glanced in the direction of where all the noise had moved to, into the kitchen, as she asked just to clarify.

"About them?" Sam just nodded quickly, the movement short but sharp, nervous she guessed, though she really wasn't used to reading puppet body language, he was just so... expressive in his movements it wasn't really that hard, just... needed to adjust her view to properly understand it Charlie guessed. She instead of thinking about that, just continued to look back at the door way, trying to get her thoughts in order herself, before saying softly and simply, "I'm proud of you"

The puppet let out a slow, almost sluggish sound that ramped up at the end that she didn't understand really, but took it as a questioning sound as she continued to speak.

"It's just... I'm really happy that you have so many people now Sa- Mari" She cursed herself silently over the slip up as she watched as the puppet tensed, for a fraction of a second, before he said lightly.

"I... I wish I could remember more, it's coming back slowly, just... fragments of things at a time, but I am remembering them... I-...I'm sorry, I want to say you can call me Sam, but it's just..." He trailed off, and Charlie was ready to say it was fine after a long moment, but the puppet seemed to gather his words just in time to stop her, "I just... I like being me, I love where I am, and I got it all not from being The Marionette or being Sam, it was from being just Mari... And I- I'm not sure I'm ready to take back that name especially when it doesn't feel like my own... Not yet at least, and I don't think I'm ever going to leave Mari behind either, the name... Mike gave it to me you know?"

Charlie could only nod, she didn't get it, not really, but she was beginning to figure out that maybe it wasn't for her to get. If her brother wanted to be Mari, then she'd just have to get that through her head... Though she couldn't help but find herself focusing on that end part, at the fondness in the puppet's tone as well as what the words meant. Michael was the one who gave her brother the name? Not really surprising, the man had a habit of giving nicknames to just about everything he could, even back then...

"He's always been looking out for us huh? Even without knowing it" Sa-... Mari, let out a little chime sound at that, more a trilling noise that was surprisingly pleasant on the ear, as he said with that same fondness.

"I suppose so, I'm not surprised though, he's an incredible person... He's-" The puppet suddenly let out a short sharp sound that was much less nice on her ears, as he stilled for a moment, an awkward actual laugh coming from him as he said quickly, "Ah, unimportant, let's head in shall we? I'm sure you're hungry" Charlie was pretty sure she was messing something, but she just ended up nodding, following after her quickly moving brother to get a plate and do her best to at least dent the amount of food that was laid out.

And did her best to not stare too much at the sheer size of Jeremy's plate, having only expected Michael to be eating his own body weight in food.

Scott wasn't sure this was a great idea... but well, that was what he thought every time he came here, at this point he was kidding himself and wasting time to think he was going to not go through with it. Even if the nerves were still there, they weren't quite as bad. Though if he was being honest, he hadn't thought he'd come here today, he had been... invited out, as strange as it was, by Michael and the others, they were apparently doing something for the holiday, but... But it just made him all the more aware that there were animatronics out there that probably didn't even know what day it was.

Much less think of anything they could be grateful for, and that thought guilted him here now, standing in front of the shed, a slightly shaky hand, but nothing quite as bad as he was used to, it was more from strain of what the hand was holding. He had no idea he had even owned a picnic basket before now, and frankly he wasn't sure he wanted to remember just where he had gotten it from given the side of the thing had a chica face on it that he had managed to scratch out from the woven faux wooden material it was made of.

He wasn't really sure why he had gone through with this, but it wasn't like anyone wanted him to be around him today, and while the animatronic below probably didn't even know what day it was, he still went through with the effort that he always did on holidays, where he pretended that his life wasn't in shambles and that he could actually celebrate something without feeling like a fraud who didn't deserve it.

He was over thinking, instead of bothering with more of that, knowing he'd be able to keep going for way longer than he wanted, he moved into the building and found himself in the elevator with an amount of ease that made him somehow uneasy. It shouldn't be simple to just be in here right? He was still nervous, but he wasn't... really afraid anymore, and he was pretty sure that wasn't actually a good thing. Fear had kept him alive for years and the idea it was missing suddenly made him feel queasy.

The elevator dinged before long and he was suddenly standing in the opening of the lift, as he just looked around somewhat nervously before heading further in, the walk was almost normal to him now, even if it reminded him way to much of just how it was like to walk to the back security office at the numerous freddys he had worked at and for.

"Helloooo!" Scott jumped, half spinning around, a hand clutching up to his chest at the echoing bounding sound of that high pitched and nasally voice that was quickly broken into a mixed wave of crackling laughter as he just tried to get his heart rate under control as his head naturally tilted up to see them on the ceiling, as he just gulped, before saying carefully as he always did when he was here.

"H-hello, uh... Eggs" Eggs, he had thought it was a joke, when the animatronic had said they wanted to be called that, and it was, because when he asked why they just cackled and made some pun about eggs in a basket, he really didn't get it, but he was also too terrified to really question them about it either, and after a talk with Fritz, he had let himself call them that the last time he was here, and they had gone silent for a while before... Well, the running afterwards was apparently suppose to be playful, Scott had greatly disagreed, not that he could manage to voice that.

Why was he here willingly again?

"H-H-Hey Scotty!" The glitching crackle seemed to get worse over the name and Scott hated it, it felt mocking even when he knew it probably wasn't, it was just how the animatronic spoke, not that he had any idea why that's the voice the three seemed set on using when he knew the other two they had at their disposal, from the scant few times he heard them, were much less... chaotic. Well, one was much too loud and the other a bit too soft, but the point stood and this wasn't a goldilocks situation.

Then again, he also wasn't really ever sure just who was talking to him, he was pretty sure they... kind of all did? Like, at the same time in some weird hive mind thing he had read from some books before, but occasionally the animatronic seemed to... splitter when there was an... disagreement, and then he was left to figure out who was controlling the wires while the other two bickered either very quietly in the back, or loud enough to make Scott's ears ring with the way sound bounced off the walls.

It was hard given none of them liked to specify themselves, he knew they used the freddy voice, but he had no idea which one was using said voice, so he had no idea which personality was fitting to which third of wires made up the molten masked animatronic.

One was... loud, which was about as best as Scott could put it, just loud in just about every sense of the word, both in volume and just in personality, dramatic maybe a more suited word he supposed though after another moment of thought. That one was also loud in the form of being incredibly opinionated, not in a bad or good way really, just... Stubborn and quite prone to making their point the loudest point. Scott was pretty sure that's the one that cause most of the splintering within the 'egg basket' as it was.

The second was the one that was most like the outward personality of the animatronic when they weren't arguing amongst themselves. They were... chaotic, in a jokester kind of way, not particularly serious at all and pretty all around kind of... Messy in that childlike way that the young didn't always understand that their actions had consequences. If there was one that he could almost be confident about, he'd say that one was Freddy, and the one that the other two turned to or used as, like, a personality shield of some sort?

The third was the moderator it seemed, quiet and much more... curious, they hadn't come out much as the dominate personality in the trio of combined wires, but when they had, they had a lot of questions, Scott did his best to answer them, but most of which he just floundered on. He had no idea if he had managed to make a particularly good impression on that one since they hadn't returned since to the 'surface', which was honestly a shame. That one reminded him a bit to much of the puppet, thinking instead of acting in a predictable way, but at the same time, that one hadn't moved much when they were in control and as such made him infinitely less unnerved by having to watch dozens of long ill-maintained wires flailing around in an approximation of slithering movement.

While all that was fine to know... Well, frankly knowing it all just made Scott more and more unfortunately aware that they really, really needed help given he was sure they were about as fallen apart on the inside as they're wires made them out to be on the outside, which in turn made him progressively more and more guilty about dragging his feet about this, it sadly didn't really help his fears, just... Made him flinch a bit less and not immediately start running away as the wires slowly slinked down from the ceiling.

He had no idea just why they liked to be up high so much, why they liked to be in the vents either, he really wished they didn't actually, he hated vents, especially ones that could fit animatronics in them, it made him way too aware of just how many openings for things to drop down on him there were in just about every room that was in this underground facility.

"Whatcha got there?" Scott did his best to not fidget too much, but the animatronic was a bit too close to him, leaning in heavily, like a raised tide wave of wires peering down at him, more more accurately the basket. He couldn't really blame them, last time he came here, honestly the last few times he had come here, he had brought things with him, toys, coloring books, things to fidget and mess with to try and make this place a bit more bearable. He had no idea just how much that worked or succeeded, but it seemed Eggs was expecting something from him for it now, as he just let out an awkward sound before saying.

"A-ah, It's, um... My lunch? It's, well... It's Thanksgiving today, and just... I didn't have anyone to share the day with really so... It's not much, just a turkey sandwich and a side of mashed potatoes I picked up from the store on the way over, just... Wanted to have something I guess for the day" He felt awkward, trying to explain it, feeling his face heating up a bit at the understanding that he was blabbering about something that must seem pretty ridiculous to the animatronic.

He hadn't even really realized he was looking down, at the basket, until the faint shifting of wires that were still much to close made him realize he had taken his eyes off them. He flinched back a bit when he had looked back up and saw just how much closer that molten mask was to him. He still didn't know why they had taken to wear it, the face plate was so big that he could still see the clown mask hidden behind it, so they still had it. But that needless to say didn't make the much to close rusted orange freddy head with the hollow clown face behind it at all the more comforting to stare at.

His feet wanted to carry him backwards, but for some reason he wasn't quite inclined enough to move away, just shifted, feeling decidedly unnerved and uncomfortable, but the fear wasn't quite rising up to meet the occasion that would have and had sent him running for his life before now, it was still there, just... not as loud as he was used to.

"Um... Did you... Want anything?" The head just slowly twisted in a mockery of a tilt of curiosity, before saying, in a tone that was much softer than he was used to from the animatronic.

"You... Wanted to spend a holiday here?" Scott just managed to shrug.

"I- I mean... You have to as well right? So I figured... We might as well both have company?" The animatronic just slowly leaned in closer and closer, and Scott was actively beginning to tremble as it got closer and closer, only to suddenly still in an almost blinding panic as he felt the top of the mask just... tap lighting onto his shoulder, as his head slowly twitched in the direction of the mask, staring at it in confusion and mild terror at being directly touched by the thing, waiting... on something to happen, only it didn't, as he managed to get his shaking under control long enough to ask, "A-Are you alright?"

"F-F-Fine" The voice separated for a moment, more like a chanted word than a single word, as he felt the way the audio seemed to almost shake and extend itself from somewhere in the mess of wires. Scott... Scott knew logically the Funtimes weren't only wires, they had parts and machines, voice boxes, eyes, he could see that last one hanging off and dangling half connected from the wire pile... He couldn't imagine what that was like, being so... fluid. He couldn't imagine it was... nice.

"H-Hey eggs? Why are you... Are you... Happy like this? Being all tangled up?" Now it was the animatronic that tensed up, the sudden question having come from somewhere that Scott had idea of, but he felt himself steady himself a bit, waiting on the answer, very unsure of just what the answer was going to be or just why he had asked in the first place. He had thought about it for a while sure, but hat didn't mean anything right? Why had he decided now was the time to ask?

He knew why, he just didn't want to think about it right now, about how the wires would need a proper shell and probably less spread out wires to be able to be properly settled when they were moved. But he had always known how this would end hadn't he? Knew that right from the start he would be unable to say no in the end, that all of this was just pretenses to buy himself time... He couldn't help but notice with faint unease that it wasn't nearly as scary a prospect it had been when he first said he would think about it.

"I-It's not all so bad!" The voice was to loud, with how close they were, it was booming and it made him jump a bit, not that it did much, the weight on his shoulder that still hadn't moved made it so jumping didn't do much but make him aware that he was probably going to have a bruise there in the following days. He felt himself asking anyways.

"That doesn't mean it's good either right?... Do you... Do you know how to... sort yourself out?" The mask suddenly felt more like it was pressing into his shoulder than it was lightly touching it while holding it's own weight, Scott's legs felt weak all of a sudden as his body was suddenly weighed down on in a way that was almost claustrophobic. He should have been running a long time ago... He wished he could still question just why he was here, but he knew why, and the silence was enough, as he asked carefully, "Would you like to see if I could... Try and sort your wires out? I- I mean not not really a technician or anything, but I've recorded a lot of instruction guides for handling animatronics, and I think I might have done a few for the funtimes, so I might know the basics at least and-"

"Yes" It was a simple word, no echoing of other tones, just... an answer, as Scott gulped before just nodding, he felt slightly woozy, his feet almost giving out when the animatronic leaned back and away. Before slowly shifting and writhing back a bit in a way that should have been scary, but he had watched this kind of strange movement so many times now, it was just... more of the same, normal in a way that it shouldn't be, as he gulped, uncertain of just what was happening or what he just basically walked himself into, but he slowly moved to follow after the wires anyways.

He had a feeling he wouldn't be eating for a while yet.

Welcome to the longest chapter in this story. Listen, I don't know how it happened either, it just kind of started going and then it kept going, and now here we are, and oh boy was this ever the one to give my hands even worse joint problems. I typed all of this chapter over a single weekend, which isn't too incredibly crazy by my standards, but it is really crazy when you realize a storm went through my area recently and dropped a tree on my drive way. I don't work a ton with my hands, but I can still do stuff, and it turns out running a chainsaw for two hours and hauling hundreds of pounds of lumber about makes one's hands both really sore and covered in blisters, who would have guessed? Anyways, I'm in a lot of pain, but that's fine, I did it to myself because I loved writing every moment of this chapter, so no real complaints from me beyond the obligated 'woe is me' part.

For the chapter itself, I'm really happy with it, I think it would take to long to really go into all of it, but honestly I just really enjoyed writing out the character interactions and dynamics, I honestly wanted to add a lot more in, but I didn't want a hundred POVs shifting around all over the place and this is a very large cast of characters here, just with talking roles in this chapter there are twelve active characters, which is a lot. Heck six in the same scene when there isn't really anything important dialogue wise happening is a ton of lines to write and personalities to keep track of. So I decided instead of nail it down to four points of view that got the best scope of everything instead of writing close to twenty thousand words just for one chapter.

Mike, because he's the protagonist, we can't really leave him out. Fritz because he's the third longest running character in this story and the one with his own side thing going on with Janet, Charlie because she's the new kid on the block currently and therefore very interesting to write her point of view with meeting the crew and trying to continue to adjust to her new reality, and Scott because of course we can't just forget him and the trio of animatronics that make up Ennard... Or Eggs as they are apparently known currently as. I thought the 'Eggs in a Basket' in place of Eggs Benedict line was particularly clever on my part, not going to lie.

A few things have happened off screen as it were, I'm... not a massive fan about that, but in the last ten chapters my average chapter length has increased by about thirty percent or so, and even then that's not really enough to get everything I wanted properly in, so I just have to do with describing it with segmented scenes and hoping it works as well as I want them to to keep on my own little story outline. Next chapter, or the one after that, is going to be the final for Act three of this story, wild huh? I haven't done the math yet, but if I'm guessing right, it'll be the around the year point from the first uploaded chapter of this story... I think this might make it both the longest story I've written in terms of words and potential in terms of time. Maybe not there just yet, but it'll get there I'm sure... Wild huh? Three acts in a years time, hundreds of thousands of words... I think my sentimentalness is the reason why I've been focusing on more happy toned chapters recently, not that I can't say the cast don't deserve it for everything I put them through, but it is interesting to think about... Anyways, this one has been a really long rambling one huh? See ya!