I Don't Own Fnaf
He was floating, that... wasn't strange, he floated often, the puppet often floated around, his legs didn't really have the feet needed to be able to walk properly after all. But it was different this time, something about it off in a way that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was... just... something.
Looking around, wherever he was, it was dark, darkness in all directions, he couldn't even see the floor. Maybe that was it? Usually he knew what he was floating off of, not this time. It was strange, but not something that buzzed as worrying, it was just weird. So he continued to float, moving around in the darkness. What else was there to do?
Eventually however, the nothing shifted, bleeding away into something. It was hard to tell at first, the darkness shifted into a more faint blots of grey, and then over time, and yet before he knew it, the grey lightened, and suddenly he was floating above a checkered floor that something in the back of his slightly muddled brain knew was something to be concerned about.
But it didn't really register at the same time either, and as such found the puppet found himself continuing on, down the stretch of hall that was slowly becoming more and more familiar, but just out of place enough to be unable to recall just where the thought of knowing had come from.
So he continued down a hall that appeared around him the longer he went, which seemed to stretch on for infinity, never running out of space.
Smaller things appeared on the walls as he went, images of things he couldn't quite make out the details of as he passed by them.
He thought more than once about stopping, about turning to look at what was on the papers, on the posters, of the patterns that appeared on the grey walls, but he didn't. He never stopped, just continued on in a way he had no idea if he had been traveling for hours or only seconds, it was impossible to tell, so he just kept going.
Until... Until he reached the end of the hallways, where it broke away into a small space, not really a room, there were no doors, just a singular desk at the end of it. A computer monitor to the side, a mask of a bear resting to the left, trash covering it. He could make those details out, as he floated to a stop in front of the desk, glancing up to see the chair resting behind it, empty.
A feeling, starting hollow and empty, but soon ballooning and filling with dread stirred and mixing in his chest until it was the only thing he could feel. Overwhelming and crushing, as his head slowly tilted, unconscious but unable to stop, as the sound of echoing and haunting notes of Pop Goes the Weasel rang out and bounced off the infinitely stretched halls of the place he had just come from.
The musical notes, haunting and familiar, made the feeling in his body twist and burn, a pain of something he didn't know the name of racing through him as he felt his own mind revolt over the idea of turning around. His body didn't get the message, the feeling of the music already hitting it, the way his arms, which had been laying limp at his sides, twitched and ached with want for movement. His chest, past the burning of emotions, ticked and spun with gears moving to try and move.
He could feel the way the coils in his shoulders unlocked, and could feel the way a heart he didn't have skipped a beat at the feeling, as he could only feel the energy burn in his body as he turned around to stare down the hall he had just come from.
His body no longer under his control, but every action feeling too much like his own to truly believe it, he floated back into the hall, his eyes doing their best to not see, but being unable to not know what he moved past.
The details of the walls now in sharp focus, the only thing to focus on and he was given no choice but to do so.
The grey now stained with purple, bright and very nearly glowing. The color splattered all over, and at the center of each of them, a person, their bodies all twisted and bent and destroyed, their faces covered in masks of bears, foxes, chickens, and bunnies, covering who they were, identities unknown, but their deaths clear. More than a few of the bodies, clad in dull dark security outfits, their hands desperately reaching up, grasping at their throats.
Those were the ones that the puppet couldn't find himself being able to look away from, out of all of them, they were the ones his body almost slowed down at, not quite stopping but forcing him to see those ones the longest. The sound of the music around him getting louder and louder, pounding and thunderous the closer he got to the end of the hallway.
But just like before, it seemed to go on forever, every moment where he couldn't help but think there was no way there could be more, there always was. Every time he thought it must have been impossible for there to have been so many, the more appeared, more and more the bodies no longer twisted and broken, but instead frozen in the throes of gasping chokes and thrashing attempts to pull something invisible off their necks.
Their bodies were no longer able to be made out, all of them spatted and covered in that awful violent purple color, coating them from head to toe. The masks of animals were gone, but in their place was the soulless sight of white porcelain, with a large saccharine smile. The purple covering their eyes made it so from the eye slits on the masks dripped out the purple, leading to the faint sound of dripping liquid hitting the ground, painting the floor below the sight of the victims.
His victims.
The sound of dripping purple also came from him, he knew it was, could feel the way the thick globs of the paint like liquid was rolling down his mask, falling in thick splatters on the ground beneath him as he moved forwards ever more. His guilt, his horror and revulsion of the bodies all around him never enough to keep there from being more to come.
Finally though there was an end, there had to be an end, though at this point the puppet wasn't sure he deserved there to be one, not for him, not after the hallways, not after not even noticing the many souls all stained around him when he traveled through it the first time, not now when he wasn't sure if there was enough guilt to feel, not enough shame to truly burn him, and not when he knew what was coming.
But the hallway did end, and at the end of it showed four figures, standing quietly in front of a large white and purple prize box.
His box.
His eyes didn't focus on that though, instead staring at the four men in front of him.
One laying on the ground, his skull cracked open, purple running through the seeping edges of skin.
Two trapped, pressed into the corners of the hall's end, eyes wide, trembling, staring up at him with such a palpable fear, masks not attached but pressed with trembling hands to their own faces, like it would offer them some protection, some mercy, it made something in him snap and break, because he knew it never would, not with him.
And then the last... A tall man, standing even taller than the puppet, looking down at him, his eyes wide yet glassy, purple staining his face and messy hair, his skin slowly flaking and breaking away to reveal a decayed grey underneath. A massive machine-like implement impaled through his chest, which slowly had a pouring thick purple substance pool down onto his stomach and the ground below him.
It didn't stop the puppet from moving closer, it never did, as he reached out, slowly, before finally stopping, just in front of the man, wishing to reach out, but his body not letting him, the screams of notes music still playing from the gift box behind the man drowning out whatever quiet words he tried to say to the puppet, who was desperate to know what he was saying.
And yet he could only watch as the man could only reach out, with a stained hand, his face almost just twisting into something comforting, when the music suddenly stopped... And from behind him, from the box laying silently now on the ground, emerged another puppet.
He could only watch as the man in front of him gave him a silent, soft, pleading look, but he could do nothing, even as his mind and soul screamed to move, as he watched as the other puppet floated up just as he did now, and could still only watch as from it's shoulder uncoiling long, razored and barbed strings.
It was just as those strings shot up, just nearly about to make contact with the man's throat, that the puppet felt they could finally do something, jerking forwards and-
Awake with a startled harsh and pained sound so loud the body to his left half jerked in startled consciousness.
Mari didn't even notice however, instead his entire body was thrumming and twitching with to much of everything, half choked sobs and violent sharp notes of something that couldn't even be called music ringing and shrilling out into the air like some kind of scream of sounds so inhuman that it managed to startle himself as well, which did nothing to help the blind panic.
Feeling his limbs not quite being able to move without resistance, he thrashed and jerked, screaming louder, and half pushing himself off the bed and felt his upper body thud to the carpeted ground below him in a harsh drop, his legs caught up in the blankets of the bed making him half hang out of the bed, as the clamoring sound of panic filled his ears while he was to busy thrashing, his head turning every which was, trying to find one of the bodies, wondering where they had gone, unable to tell what was happening or just where he was until-
"Mari! Doll, are you okay?" The blankets had been tossed off, letting his legs escape as he fully flopped onto the ground, while the sound of a voice snapped him out of his thoughts, because there hadn't ever been a voice, no one had ever spoken, it was just the music and his actions.
It still felt like everything was crashing and breaking, his chest releasing more and more harsh quick notes that made it feel like a heart racing in his chest, but it wasn't a heart, because he wasn't a person. He was never a person, only ever a monster that lurked in the dark, that took and took and took and-
Another sharp, startled, sound released from him, this time not because of himself, but because of the other person sharing the space they were in, as two strong hands found his shoulders and pulled him up, not with a harsh yank but softly, gentle. Like he was fragile, like he had ever done anything to deserve being treated with such carefulness. It made him want to thrash, and so he did.
He couldn't have anyone near him, what if his string came out? What if the music started to play? What if he started playing it and couldn't stop?
But the hands just kept holding on, even as he felt one of his long arms elbow into something hard enough to get a grunted 'Oophm!' sound from the man holding onto him. A soft sound coming from the other, soft, but not music, it was... words, though whatever it was Mari wasn't in a state to be able to hear what it was being said. But the tone, the softness, the way the hands never once stopped holding on, not harshly, just barely on the edge of firm, slowly made him stop thrashing, and slower still, stop trembling.
Eventually the sound faded as well, until he was just there, half laying against Mike, feeling the way he was held half into the man's lap, listening to the man murmur about nothing to him, just making soft comforting sounds that the puppet was almost embarrassed to admit worked only too well to calm him down, as he slowly moved, just a bit, to get slightly more comfortable for them both, and to be able to wrap his arms around the man's waist, even at the odd angle, it was worth it, as Mike paused for a moment, before slowly moving his hands to be less gently holding and more hugging.
Mari didn't say anything and neither did Mike, not for a long minute, and Mari was grateful for that, this wasn't the first time this had happened, not for either of them, and at some point they made a silent deal, though no real words had been spoken. The one who had the nightmare would be the one who talked about it first, otherwise... Otherwise it would just be something like this, until the other had calmed down enough to either go back to bed or if it wasn't too early, get up for the day.
He always felt ashamed when it was him who made such a big commotion, he didn't always take up the silent offer Mike held out to just listen if the puppet didn't really want to discuss it, only just talk to the man about it. He didn't like it when he burdened the man with his messed up thoughts and dreams, but this one... This was one of the ones that... Hurt.
So, after a point where he finally felt almost confident in being able to speak without sounding like a mess, he spoke up, quietly.
"It was the hallway again..." He could feel the way Mike stiffened up, just the slightest amount, at the news. Unsure if it was the suddenness of his voice or the dream, he wasn't sure. The hallway wasn't a new nightmare, it was one of the more... consistent ones for the first few weeks, so Mike knew what happened in it just as much as Mari did. He just waited for a moment to hear the man's soft, warm and concerned voice once more break the silence of the room.
"Oh Net... It's alright, I'm alright, because of you" He always said that after Mari had a dream about the man's death, it always made the knot of pain in the puppet's chest unfurl just the tiniest bit, "Do you want to talk about it?" That question always came next, and the puppet only ever took it about half the time, he didn't really know what he was going to say until his voice was already speaking words for him.
"What's there to talk about? I'm... awful" He was, but he mostly just felt pitiful, and not even Mike's hold couldn't quite chase that feeling away, even as the man spoke up just as quickly.
"That's not true at all"
"Why not? I- I hurt so-" He was squeezed a bit as Mike cut him off, not quickly, but a bit firmly.
"Nope, no talk like that" The puppet... didn't pout, he refused to think of pouting when the topic was so serious, but he was a bit miffed that Mike seemed to be trying to just push it off. Even if the conversation wasn't a new one... the idea Mike wasn't even bothering to have it raked at something in the puppet.
"But I did! We can't just- Just ignore it! I- I mean... It's just-" He could tell Mike was frowning, and he saw it soon after as he pulled himself away, before he could realize he really didn't want to have done that, he already had and as such needed to make his point even clearer, as he managed to get himself sitting, his legs criss crossed as he sat not to far away, but with a small distance between him and Mike. Mike himself just watched, concern etching on his features, even as he waited for the puppet to be able to finish whatever thought he was trying to get across, like Mari himself knew what he was trying to say.
After a long moment, when it was apparently to clear that the puppet had nothing to back up his grand claim, after announcing loudly that they needed to talk about it, before promptly falling silent like a child, Mike spoke up, hesitantly at first, like he was expecting Mari to try and rant at him again with words that made no sense, before gaining his ground as he spoke.
"I'm not... I'm not saying it didn't happen, or that it wasn't wrong or... You know, bad. But that also wasn't your fault, or at least... Not really or fully. We've already had enough conversations, Mari, about my own stuff, about the things I've done, the people I hurt... You said a while ago you didn't care about any of that, you just cared if I left that in the past. That I was a better person now, and... And I like to at least think I am, in spite of... what happened with, Him"
Mike trailed off then, expecting something probably, Mari wasn't blind to it, couldn't ignore the ache in his chest at the reminder of his father, of how that night had ended, of how Mike had learned of what he could do. The two hadn't talked about it, it was still taboo, one of the few topics that they did not bring up. Mari did his best to not think about it, because he still didn't know how he felt about it. He knew the man didn't have a choice, hadn't even known there was a choice, it just happened. And his father had done nothing to earn mercy, not in that moment, but... But it was still something too hard to think about as well to try and sort out how he truly felt about it.
He was surprised Mike broached it at all, in this moment, but after a second, when it was clear Mari still wasn't sure what to say, and Mike had given him a worried look, wondering if he had been struck with silence, as had been embarrassingly common for him to get like after a nightmare, the man continued.
"I don't... I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say... Just... I was a bad person, I did bad things, and I never had a reason for it. I'm not saying some reason makes it all better, but I don't think I'll ever really deserve to be forgiven for it. But you don't... You don't see me as someone to be forgiven or redeemed, you just see me, and... I really appreciate you for that. And no matter what happened, what you went through and thought you had to do, I'll never see you for that. Only what I've seen myself, seeing you for the incredible and kind hearted man you are that I fell in love with"
Those last words settled heavy on the puppet's chest, as he thought and rolled the words around in his head, at the faint warmth pulsing in his chest at them, not the burning of shame, but the pleasant heat of acceptance. He wasn't really sure he deserved it, but after the exhausting time he had, he couldn't find it in him to refute the feeling either, instead dipping heavily into it, and moving over, awkwardly scooting a bit until he was sitting side by side with Mike, who just leaned over laying his head on the side of Mari's.
It wasn't the first time Mike had said that to him, maybe not exactly the same way with the same exact words, there was never something that made it feel like a script. Mike said it with such conviction and certainty and adoration every time that Mari had no choice but to believe it every time. It was what he needed to hear, no matter how many times he needed to hear it like it was the first time, Mike always did it. And it always made things better.
He didn't feel... great, but he did feel better.
Even if the spools of wire in his shoulders seemed to ache with something he couldn't quite explain with just how aware he couldn't help but be of them in the moment.
It was probably nothing, everything hadn't felt proper after the night of the fire, his body had been... in a rough sort of way, after everything the bear trap had done to it, and how he had pushed both himself and it well past its limits as soon as he had escaped from the trap. Fritz had spent a whole day with him put under by a music box he barely managed to agree to, to be able to repair all the mess of frayed and damned parts in him.
Mike had been there as well, both to be there for him and to make sure nothing went wrong. He wasn't sure how he felt about Mike knowing what his endoskeleton looked like, beyond a bit embarrassed. At the time he had mostly just grasped at straws, choosing to be glad the man didn't have to see him without his face, his mask being the one part of him that seemed to be able to fix itself in spite of any damage it took, as the most fragile part of his body.
The thoughts weren't helping anything though, so he pushed them away, and instead leaned a bit back into Mike who didn't say anything, though after a long moment his head tilted a bit, looking out the window to were the sun was beginning to make an appearance, with it's light slowly beginning to push into the room.
It was morning, meaning there was no more sleep to be had, though the two wouldn't still move for a little while anyways, they weren't in a rush.
Fritz was in a bit of a rush, he had wasted a lot of the night before unable to sleep, having instead been much to busy pouring over the printed out lines of code for three different types of animatronics, trying to make any sense of them in a way that would let his brain have a rest, and, frankly, failing at managing it until it was nearly past one in the morning and he could barely manage to keep his eyes open long enough to slump more comfortably in the chair he was sitting in to pass out properly.
And as such he was suffering for it now he was half rushing through his morning routine, speed walking around the apartment with a stiff neck and uncomfortable ache in his lower back while his roommate and girlfriend both watched with a running commentary going between the two of them.
"A-A-And he forgets to grab the toast! No! No, he's suddenly s-spinning around to go for another round of b-b-burnt bread"
"Will he remember to put something on it or will he ruined the roof of his mouth. Oh, the bold approach, just biting into it and rushing off to the bathroom to run a comb at least twice through his hair"
"I-It is a tried and true method of course, one is just sad, two is effort, but maybe he'll find the time to go for three, professional... Hrk- HAHAHA!"
"Hey! No laughing, it breaks the emersion!"
"Ha! I- I can't help it! I'm a giggly fox, what can I say! Ha-ha-ha~!"
Fritz did his best to be annoyed, but Janet had broken into a short, much quieter, giggle fit herself, he couldn't find it in him to be all that annoyed, even as he huffed as he... maybe made sure to run the comb through his hair an extra time or two, before rushing out and half tripping over himself and the left out box of tools that was resting in the hallway, managing to nearly choke on the half remaining slice of almost burnt bread that he had been trying to eat with as much dignity as he could manage in the moment... Which wasn't much.
Still, he managed to snag the piece of food out of his mouth and say as he choke down what was still in there, as he rummaged around in a desperate sort of hope to find his name tag before either had the sense to point it out for him, as he glanced over to look at the two.
Janet, sitting as she always did on the couch, relaxed and easy, with her bright green eyes gleaming with mischief she was causing him through her heckling, her soft blond hair, which had recently been cut short from being well past her shoulders to now being what was apparently something called a pixie cut. Apparently it was popular at the moment, Fritz didn't really know anything about that, but it did looked cute on her soft eyes, warm expression, and sharper jaw line.
She was already in uniform, leaning up against the other that was also causing him a headache, to be best able to look up at him as he rushed around, like said other person wasn't half the reason he had been up so late as well.
Lolbit, the other one, was still laughing, the two thought it was some kind of program fault, well, Fritz did, where the white and orange colored animatronic fox would get hit with a kind of audio loop where they couldn't help but keep doing something once they started. It was the reason they stuttered over starting words occasionally, but the words being more complicated knocked them out of the spiral before they could get trapped in it, laughter apparently was a lot easier to find themself in a full blown laughing fit that went until they snapped out or it or something gave him a bump, which, at the moment had just been delivered via elbow to the side by Janet.
The fox themself was lounging as well, though much more carefully than Janet, not that they made a show of it, instead going for seeming as casual as possible, but as normal for a foxy model, Lolbit wasn't on the small side, and being covered in metal plates, they were potentially even heavier than Foxy himself, even though this one was just a bit shorter, by about an inch to the one that Fritz had spent more time with.
The white and orange tail that was awkwardly sticking out to the side probably didn't help that either, Lolbit to Fritz's knowledge was the only animatronic with an actual tail, which to him just felt like a balancing nightmare. He wasn't focused on that however, as he shot a look to the animatronic as well, who just stared back unabashedly back with those empty sockets where eyes should be, instead just pin pricks of white lights from the camera sockets. Fritz still didn't get why they didn't want an actual set of eyes.
"I'm sorry, if I knew someone wouldn't wake me up this morning, I would have set an extra alarm" His tone must have been more annoyed than he really was, because Janet seemed to get a look on her face, before saying back without much care.
"I figured you needed the sleep, besides, we'll be fine, Jeremy's on van duty and Mike will handle the kitchen if we are actually behind" Fritz just moved off, calling over his shoulder at the two as he head back into the kitchen, remembering suddenly tossing the badge onto the to of the microwave when he had stumbled in Sunday night and have darted to get something to eat once he was back home.
"Jeremy's almost always on van duty, and it's hardly like Mike needs more reasons to get into a kitchen, he's the only person our age that I know who actually likes cooking" Grabbing it and shoving it onto his uniform, he grinned down at the thing for a moment before turning around, going over his mental check list one last time.
"What about Mari? He does all the baking"
"Oh, right... Well that's why the two get along so well then"
"B-Bit, ha lol'bit', better than well. They snog in front of everyone again?" Janet's attention snapped back to Lolbit's, and Fritz, not for the first time, saw just how Carol, the town gossip and Janet's mother, were the same person, Janet had to be tight lipped about everything that happened at the Cove, but that didn't mean she wasn't a bit of a gossip at heart. And now with someone at home she could talk to who didn't already know it all... Well, she got along with the fox really well, Lolbit apparently loved to gossip as well.
"Ugh, I wish. They're touchy now, but that's not really a new thing. It's all about context I guess, cause suddenly everything Mike says sounds so much more flirty when he's talking to Mari, or maybe he's ramping it up? Would you consider-" Fritz rolled his eyes, to himself of course, if he was to obvious about it then the two would try and drag him into it solely because they knew he wasn't interested in hearing about gossip and theories about one of his best friend's love life. But apparently romantical stuff was like gasoline to a gossiper's engine, and without anything really all that interesting going on, it seemed that the only other couple at the Cove usually got circled back to occasionally, like, once a week.
It had been more, Janet had more than a few questions about how romance worked to Lolbit after and how it apparently worked when it came to animatronics, which in the end mostly just came up with a few shrugs and a mention they were pretty much new to this whole being in a robot thing. Hence... the theories the two bounced between themselves. Fritz didn't really get any of it to be honest, but he wasn't really interested in listening along either, so it balanced out well enough.
It wasn't because he was against it or anything, it just... Didn't really make sense in his brain. It was a technical thing, at least that's what he labeled it as in his own mind, he had spent so long with the animatronics, to him while he knew they were alive and everything, their bodies were... just parts and pieces. It was like... Well, frankly, it was like trying to imagine being attracted to the microwave he had just snatched his name tag from. He just couldn't picture... how.
The fact the to had been dating almost as long, if not longer than Fritz and Janet had been as well was just down right mind boggling.
So, he had simply marked it in his brain as none of his business and had moved on with his life.
He kind of wished the other two did the same, but that wasn't really the point of any of this, as he just moved around back to the living room and said to the duo.
"Sorry to break up... this. But we need to get going" The two shared a glance at each other before looking over to a nearby clock that really did say if they didn't get a move on they'll only have enough time for maybe a few minutes to help with opening, and given they had a new staff member, a teenager who Mike for some reason thought was a good idea to hire on the spot, to deal with. Janet just nodded, standing up and giving a mock salute to Lolbit who just took the absence on the couch as permission to slouch into it until he was laying across it as he waved at the two as they quickly grabbed the last things they needed and headed out of the door.
It wasn't long before they were in the parking lot, walking to the car, they were taking Fritz's today, Janet's had been doing some kind of weird rattling recently and Fritz was worried enough about it to manage to convince her to send it to the shop after he hadn't been able to figure out what was wrong with it after looking under the hood for a few hours. She thought he was overreacting but went along with it anyways for his own sake of mind, which he had greatly appreciated.
"Excuse me, you two!" Both paused, most on reflex, no one was out here at the moment, and it was rare a neighbor was around when they were leaving, so it wasn't like there was anyone else the voice could be talking about, as they turned back around and looked over to see... Burke. Fritz had seen the man before, of course he had, and apparently so had Janet, as her face twitched before settling into a calm kind of look that made Fritz feel incredibly uncertain about how the talk they were about to apparently have was going to go.
"Uh... Yes?" Jeremy had apparently been snuck up on the man two days ago, and Mike had made sure the two had known about it. Going as fair as to coach Janet in tips about how to talk to the cops without actually saying anything, which was vaguely worrying that the man knew how to do that, and more terrifying that Janet seemed to take to it well enough to give Fritz advice herself based on what Mike had said. Still, he hadn't expected the man to show up so soon, he had kind of hoped it would be a bit longer before being pestered.
More than that, it was very uncomfortable to feel the man's eyes drift and settle on him, there was a faint moment at the two just stared at each other, and Fritz had to wonder if the man was thinking about the same thing that Fritz himself was. The last time they two had seen each other...
Fritz had always done his best to be on his bests behavior around cops, it could be a scary enough world where if he didn't... Well, he made sure to not get in anyone's way, so the first time he had ever really gotten in trouble with the police left him jittery and full of nerves, not that such a thing was surprising.
He had been questioned more than once when the children had... start going missing at the first Freddy's, and then again this time by Burke himself, at the one he and Jeremy worked at together, of course Jeremy had... been out of commission at the point the man had come around, but Fritz still remember it only to well. He had been terrified something somehow would be pinned on him. And in this moment now, that old fear suddenly sprang up like it had never left him, his mouth going dry and any and all things he had been told on what to do leaving his brain as Burke stepped up and said.
"Janet Moore right? And... Fritz Smith, hello again" Well, there went any hope that the other man hadn't remembered him.
"Let's go" Janet's hand found his own and he was being tugged before he realized just what was happening as he half stumbled back into line with Janet, the first and most important thing that Janet had told him from Mike was simply the fact that if they didn't have to say anything, then don't. Cops couldn't demand answers or even for a person they wanted to talk to too stick around, especially not ones who were doing stuff unofficially.
He was ready to keep going, following after and getting his own feet back under him properly, as he followed Janet, still clutching to her hand, as they got closer to where Fritz's car was, when Burke called out to them, having not moved from where he had been standing.
"Oh, running away and hiding behind another person huh? I suppose I shouldn't be to surprised after everyone you've let happen, once a coward..." The words were like needle points in the back of his head, as he felt his teeth grit around the same time it felt like his chest was being crushed. It wasn't the first time he had been told such a thing, the last time had been from Mike, just after the two had met for the first time, and the man hadn't been gentle in the way he said it either...
But something about the cold, almost casual way the man dismissed him rubbed at something in him in a way that made him pause, as a faint burning bloomed in his chest. He had been ready to march off again, more in a huff than before, knowing he should remove himself from the situation, when-
"Who do you think you are?" Fritz didn't even so much as have time to think as a blur of blond and purple moved as suddenly Janet, who had whipped around and stalked forwards, was now standing in front of Fritz, glaring daggers at Burke who seemed just as caught off guard by the sudden demand as much as Fritz himself was. Burke seemed to get his composure back faster though, saying back sharply, in that way that came from a long time in a position of authority.
"Excuse me-" Janet didn't let the man finish, pointing suddenly and sharply right at the man's face as he paused, whether from the sheer audacity of a woman half his age and a solid four inches shorter than him making such a threatening gesture, or he cause he was actually threatened, Fritz wasn't really sure, frankly he was much to wrapped up in watching with awe as she interrupted him with words of her own.
"Excuse you?! I'm sorry, was I the one harassing people outside their homes? I'm pretty sure I could call the cops on something like this" Burke's irritation seemed to begin to grow, as he said back.
"I am an officer-" Janet was on a roll, bulldozing over his words.
"Yeah, and as an officer, you're suppose to be better than to throw insults at the back of people's heads like your a kid on the damn playground when someone doesn't want to play with you! News flash, you're a grown ass man who has no right to talk to my boyfriend like that" Burke seemed to quickly realize that this wasn't something he was going to win, either from being called out on his actions or because he simply thought it was a waste of time, it didn't change him trying to redirect the conversation to the reason why he was here in the first place.
"Listen, I'm not here for your boyfriend, I wanted to ask some questions about a Michael Afton?" Janet just huffed, and for a moment Fritz thought she was going to stalk away without bothering to answer the man's question, frankly Fritz would have been more than fine with the conversation ending off there, but instead she seemed to take a completely different route.
"Don't know him" Burke seemed pleased to finally start to get somewhere, as he said quickly.
"Are you sure? I was under the impression that you and Mister Smith here worked at his establishment, Foxy's Cove?" Fritz had to give the man credit, being able to say the full name with a straight face in this situation deserved some kind of credit. Janet just rolled her eyes.
"You sure you got your facts right mister police man? His name is Mike Schmidt"
"Is that what he told you?"
"Yeah, cause it's what is on his license, and business license, and building deed, and... Should I keep going or are you getting the picture"
"Names can be changed, he's only had this one for barely a year, what does that-"
"Oh, so you did know his name and just decided to not use it just to be vague? Are you sure you're good at your job, I'm pretty sure being factual and straight to the point is suppose to be in the job description"
"Look, I was just wondering if-"
"If you could ask me inappropriate questions about my boss? Yeah no thanks" And with that last comment, she turned and stalked off, leaving a red faced Burke in her wake as Fritz had only been able to watch the exchange like it was a tennis match until she had walked off as he found himself stumbling for a moment in his attempt to catch up with her, as he said in a hushed tone once they were far enough away.
"You are... So incredible" Janet looked quite pleased with herself as she shot him a cheeky, satisfied grin.
"Why thank you, that was very... Cathartic" The grin turned almost sheepish, eve as Fritz couldn't help but ask.
"Are you sure that was a good idea? Antagonizing him like that?" Janet just shook her head, not looking all that bothered by it.
"We're just foot notes for that old jerk, trying to find some kind of dirt, if I didn't then he might think it would be a good idea to show up again. I'm just making sure he has a good reason to not bug us anymore. Much less resort to name calling" She muttered that last part, looking genuinely angry for just a brief moment, before trying to settle the expression as Fritz felt his chest thrum with warmth as he pulled himself into the drivers seat, doing his best to keep the slightly dopey grin off his face. It hadn't all been an act, and... It felt really good to be defended so strongly.
"God, I love you" Janet just laughed, leaning in and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek that made his face burn as he turned the key and let the car stutter to life.
The warmth doing more than enough to distract him from the fact that they were going to be so late.
Janet wasn't really sure just what she was doing, but showing a kid around the Cove wasn't a new thing, occasionally there was a shy kid who didn't know what to do or one was overwhelmed by everything happening, so acting as a bit of a guide and buffer for those kinds of kids so they could actually have fun had become something of a secondary job for everyone in the Cove.
She was basically doing the same thing here, just now instead of trying to show everything off, she was also telling the kid what to do and what not to do for other things as well, and the kid in question was a teenager and less likely to run off half way through to find their parent to demand ice cream.
She had done employee training at her other jobs before coming to work at the Cove, but that had been at a dvd rental store, so the premise she was going into it with was a bit different, still, she was going to give it her best, as she rooted around and tried to figure out just what all to do. It shouldn't be that hard, she had helped out plenty of times working as one of the floor staff when she needed a break from the kitchen, frankly she kind of preferred to be out where all the action was than to be held up in the kitchen, but she had been hired for the role so she wasn't going to complain about it.
Still, it was nice to be able to get out of there and trap Mike in there in her place. And in the mean time just leaded around the teenager, Devon, who was looking around with a vague sense of uncomfortableness that he couldn't quite manage to hide at all the noise and commotion. Janet understood that, it was a bit much when you weren't used to it, it all just looked like a mess of chaos to the outside view, and there was kind of a charm to it because of that as well.
The afternoon rush was the nosiest part, the morning and evening were a lot more calmer and when families came in for proper meals and a good more relaxing time than just letting their kids run around to excise all their extra energy. Because of that it was the afternoon that they really needed the help. It wasn't uncommon that Mike had to step into the kitchen in the last few weeks to help her just keep up with the orders, and she knew the other two were run into the ground keeping track of everything on the floor from the times she had been out to help try and control the afternoon chaos.
Janet was actually pretty glad that Mike had gone through with hiring someone else, maybe not a kid, another permanent staff member would have been nice, someone to job her in the kitchen at the very least would help a lot on the strain, but she also knew that she didn't really get the same level of concern and worry that everyone else had about the idea of a new person coming in and staying here with everything that was going on.
Either way, going through the motions were mostly painless, there were a few false starts, and they'd have to get the kid two or three uniform shirts to wear so the people at the tables actually knew he worked here. Maybe shove one of Jeremy's Cove branded hats on the kid's head to help sell the image. A name tag seemed a bit much, but she was pretty sure if they didn't make one then Foxy would demand one for the kid anyways. He was big on the idea of 'team spirit'. Given they didn't have a wealth of uniforms laying around either, it was probably just better to get it over with, but that was a decision for Jeremy and Mike, the two who handled the buying and numbers of the business.
Either way, the thoughts were doing anything, and after about an hour of shadowing Janet around, Devon, the kid, seemed mostly adjusted to the noise, and had at least seen her do just about everything that he was expected to be doing, as she asked him after leading him to a slightly quieter area.
"So, any questions?" Devon only shrugged at first, Janet was pretty sure that was one of those inbuilt teen habits had became second nature when an adult asked them a question, she knew she had been the same way, because not even after the kid's shoulder had fully dropped he was already speaking, showing just how instinctive it was instead of an actual method of answering.
"Ah, no, not really... Well, I mean, am I just expected to just... hover around and help when I see someone?" Janet just nodded.
"Basically, you're floating around and helping out the rest of us more than anything. We usually have three people working the floor and each of us have a section we look after table and floor space wise, but because you don't work the entire day like us, it's a bit much to assign you an area we'll just have to cover later and early in the day before and after you come and leave. You'll just help out whoever's the most overwhelmed, mostly taking orders and running food, and maybe cleaning stuff up if any kids get a bit rowdy. If anything outside of that happens just grab one of us and we'll trade what we're doing and handle it for you. Fritz if one of the machine breaks, Jeremy or Mike if it's about scheduling a party, Mike is anyone's throwing a fit or something's up from the prize corner, and me if it's involving any kind of food allergies questions or you need someone and the other's are busy"
Devon just gave a slow nod, and Janet was a bit sympathetic to the fact that the Cove didn't really run in a very systematic or normal restaurant structure for him to easily fall into. They all played more than one role here, and as such they all kind of loosely fell into what they did in a given day instead of a set kind of schedule. Janet, frankly, was kind of glad in that way that she only really had the kitchen to look after, unlike the rest, Mike alone wore four different hats, being the boss, security, floor staff, and back up kitchen staff.
"Right, i get it... I think"
"Don't worry to much about it, you'll get the hang of it soon enough, just keep an ear out for when one of us needs you to come over and help and you'll do great" Devon just grimaced, clearly still a bit overwhelmed.
Janet maybe decided to stick around for a few more minutes and didn't comment anything when the teen seemed to hover around her for a bit longer before Jeremy, being the first one to need it, called the teen over to help split up a few orders from what looked like three different groups al deciding his area was the best place to sit all at the same time.
Mike sighed, as he sat alone in the car, his head leaning down to rest on the steering wheel. He was suppose to be heading into the shop in front of him to pick up some groceries and a few other things that the house was slowly running low on. Two lists buried in one of his pockets, but the second the car had shut off in the parking lot, it felt like some strand of energy in him got cut at the same time. Any motivation to get out of the car and have to go through the store's isles died a fast death. So... Instead he just sat there.
It wasn't quite numbness that he felt, but something similar enough to cause that familiar buzz of nothing in his ears and that sense of general unease that seemed to seep itself into his very veins and travel through his body. Slowly and awfully moving around like the thick and slow trailing blood going throughout his body.
It was a vague sense of uncomfortableness that after about five minutes he realized he was clenching his jaw to tightly, the buzzing fading away to the sound and pressure from his mouth as he pried it open while flopping back in a sluggish kind of movement against the back of his car seat. The feeling didn't really ebb away, but it was slowly fading into more a faint buzz of discomfort in the back of his mind instead of the wave of flooring awful that it had been.
Sighing, he felt himself reach up and push his hair out of his face, the mess of locks on his head hadn't grown in months, staying at the same just long enough to be annoying mess of curls that itches weirdly at the bottom of his neck, like it had been for ages now. At the moment the things just pissed him off, having to ruffle it and sweep it back to get out of his face properly.
He wouldn't mind cutting it, in fact at the moment the idea of it was tempting when everything already was in such a perfect state to rub at him wrong, but given he didn't know if it would ever grow back out... The idea of having short hair for the rest of his life... Didn't do well for him either. He had always kept his hair at a messy kind of medium length, just enough to make it so looking into mirrors let him some times be able to actually see himself staring back.
That was already getting harder and harder, he didn't need it getting worse, so with an irritated huff, he swept the hair away a bit more violently when it just fell back into his face without a care for his own wants, managing to get it stuck behind his ears properly, and kicked the thought of getting it cut for the hundredth time out of his mind as he pulled himself out of the car finally. Ignoring the faint stiffness in his back, as he stretched while walking, probably looking strange... Well, he always looked strange, but he liked the idea of doing something instead of just... being strange, as for the reason why he could already feel the way the people around him's eyes turned and seemed to hold on his visage just a bit longer than normal.
His long strides still got him into the store quickly enough, a shopping cart being grabbed on his way through the door as he made his way to the far left, planning on sweeping through the store to get everything he needed as he crossed from left to right, while pulling out the two lists from his pocket. Mari needed a few things as well, mostly baking supplies, they were apparently getting low on a whole list worth of things, plus the puppet wanted to try out some of those premixed cake boxes for... Suspected puppet reasons.
He also needed to pick up another pack of those wipes that could be used on fabric. Mari didn't make much of a mess of himself, he was to much of a tidy person for that, but that didn't mean that the fabric covering his body didn't get scents trapped in them, and working in a restaurant and living in a home that usually had something cooking, meant that he needed to wipe himself down occasionally to make sure he wasn't smelling like grease or whatever was most recently in the oven. Keeping and level of sanitation for both himself and their home's kitchen was very important to the puppet.
And as such Mike needed to grab another roll of trash bags, and a whole other list of items, which he would do before moving to get most of his own things, most of which was also food related, thankfully the store had a small butcher shop in the back which he had long since gotten himself acquainted with. Still, as he moved through the isles, Mike did his best to ignore the way that a kid pointed up at his face and the way that a mother quickly pulled the kid's arm away, trying to give him an apologetic look but couldn't quite handle not staring either.
Turning at the end of the isle, he felt his hand come up and itch absently at the scarring under his right eye, a long sharp line that while having taken ages to heal enough to take the stitches out, was still raised and obvious. He looked even more like a thug than before, Mike just snapped his hand back down before he could think more on it as he rolled the cart down where the shelves stocked with baking supplies were stored. Another familiar place for him given how many cakes and other types of sweets the Cove went through, especially because Mari was the one who did all that baking.
The premixed cake boxes were low enough that he had to lower himself down an almost uncomfortable amount to be able to grab a few, grabbing two of the three primary flavors, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, and tossing them in, before moving around to collect a few bags of sugar and flour and other such items that were on the list. Crossing them out as he went until he was just about ready to leave when-
"Excuse me sonny?" Blinking, Mike looked down and found himself looking down at an elderly lady who was looking back up at him with about as much strain in her neck as was in Mike's to look down at her, she was honestly tiny. He found his words being spoken before he really caught up with the situation.
"Yes?" She just pointed up as Mike turned and found himself staring at just above his eye level where one of those massive bags of sugar rested.
"Do you mind grabbing that for me?" Mike... Didn't have any reason to say no, yet he found himself just pausing for a second, mostly out of being caught off guard for the most part, before saying as he shook his head.
"Oh, no. Here-" Mike reached up and just plucked the thing off the shelf, moving over as he followed her to her own cart, and just placed it in. The interaction didn't go much farther than that, the old lady just gave him a pat on the arm and wandered off, pushing her cart with her while Mike just kind of stood there before shaking his head. A bit strange, but nothing that was exactly out of the norm when out shopping, so he just shrugged it off and went back to his cart.
The rest of the shopping trip went fairly quickly from there, a big of haggling with the butcher, a burly man that was very nearly as tall as Mike himself was, and made up for the lacking two inches with being nearly twice Mike's width from muscle alone. But all in all, painless and not as bad as it could have been, at least Mike was choosing to look at it like that, as he stood at the cashier's station. Standing around, as the sound of beeping of items being scanned by a disgruntled man who looked to be about twice his age, his eyes wandering about for a moment.
Eventually landing on the shelf to his right that was covered in candies that's whole point was to get kids to see them and beg their parents to get one last thing on their way out. Mike just stared at it for a moment, before, mostly without thought, grabbed one of those bags filled with small packs of differently flavored gum off and placed it with the rest. It was a variety pack, so he'd probably find something he liked in there, and it hardly cost anything so... Whatever.
He ripped the plastic open on the walk out to the car, tossing one of the packs that was in there into his pocket after popping two pieces of what apparently was raspberry flavored gum into his mouth.
It wasn't bad... He'd try one of the blue packs next.
Been a while since we had a dream scene huh? First one in this story and it was one hell of a start huh? I mean, I do have to make sure that everyone remembers that I started this series focused heavily on the horror aspects of Fnaf. Besides, we got a nice little scene after it as well too, so it's not all that bad. Really got to make sure I'm putting in that effort for the Hurt/Comfort tag. Besides, actually having long term consequences and issues after what happened in the first story is kind of the point of me truamatizing them all last time. So got to show that off sooner than later. Besides, it's probably good to be haunted by your sins for a while, for, like, character growth or something.
Anyways, moving from the start of the chapter to the end of it. Mike, in canon, apparently is super into gum, I thought about making this a character trait last time around after he got injured, but... well, it never really fit right, so we're having it here! Yeah, this last little bit... doesn't serve a massive purpose beyond Mike's body issues being shown up and mentioned so it's reestablished for this story that he feels weird about his face and weird desaturated skin thing he has going on.
While on the other side of things, the stuff with Fritz and the residents he lives with was very, very fun. It took forever, but we're finally into proper Lolbit territory, which is cool, I've already enjoyed writing for them an I can tell it's going to get better as I go on and find a proper stride for that kooky little fox. While in other news, Janet and Fritz! Aren't they adorable! Fritz is just doing his best, but he's a tired dude, and Janet is doing her best by biting off the head's of police chiefs who insult her man. It's very fun. Beyond that just established roles a bit more in the Cove, cause let's be real, it's been a bit since the Cove was used as it was intended, as a primary setting for the story, so it's nice that we're getting more screen time at the place now. I'm going to try and keep the business mostly in the background, cause we don't really need chapters of only random business days, but referenced and shown enough to keep what's happening up with the audience, but in the mean time... See ya!