Chapter 9: Glint of Color
Benji's eyes started to flutter open from the sun peeking through the blinds. When he turned to his left, he was hoping for the golden bear to be there when he woke up. With disappointment, the animatronic wasn't there.
"Am I really missing Goldie's company that much?" Benji put his hands on his head in exasperation.
Benji rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes and sat up in his bed. When he grabbed his phone off of its charging stand, Benji noticed that he had gotten a couple of texts from Scott. He was asking the night guard to come in during the day today. The day shift was sick again. Benji became a bit giddy because he would be able to see Goldie again. He replied to his boss that he would be there as soon as possible.
Benji threw off the covers from him, got undressed, and threw his clothes from yesterday into the hamper. He quickly showered and his skincare routine afterwards.
"Now what outfit should I wear today?" Benji questioned out loud, looking through his closet of clothes.
He found a golden colored sweater, a pair of brown floral, cargo jeans, a black denim jacket, a pair of black underwear, and a pair of white socks. Unwrapping his towel, Benji quickly got dressed. He decided to put his laptop and its charger into his bag. Before grabbing his bag and heading downstairs, the night guard put on a silver angelic tennis necklace to complete the outfit. Rushing down the stairs, he stepped out of his house and into a cool fall breeze. After locking the front door, Benji got into his car and sped over to the pizzeria.
Not even taking a step out of his car, not even his foot stepping onto the pavement of the parking lot, his phone's notification sound went off. Benji looked down at his phone once he was outside of his car.
Scott: Are you here yet?
Benji rolled his eyes and shook his head in a bit of annoyance. He sent a reply back.
Benji: Yes, I'm about to walk in.
The night guard shoved his phone back into his pocket. He slung his bag around his shoulders and walked briskly into the pizzeria. Scott was waiting for Benji by the doors, and looked up from his phone when he heard the inner door open. He smiled at the night guard when he had entered.
"Hey Benji! I'm glad that you could make it!" Scott beamed and patted Benji on his shoulder.
"You're welcome", Benji shook his head and smiled.
"Oh by the way, you're getting paid double for today, since you've been doing so well and me accidentally dropping a long shift on you today", Scott smiled softly at the night guard.
"Thanks, sir", Benji was trying not to sound all giddy from this excellent news.
Benji clocked in at noon and walked towards the security office. Once he was in the office, he heard his stomach grumble.
Fuck, I forgot to grab breakfast. Benji muttered to himself in his head.
Even though there weren't a lot of families here yet, and the fact he was clocked in, Benji decided to go on a quick coffee run for everyone here. As Benji slipped his bag into the locker, his stomach growled again, louder this time.
Yep, skipping breakfast was a mistake, he thought.
Scott had already made his way back to the front, chatting with some of the staff who were beginning to set up for the day. Deciding to make the most of his sudden free time and the double pay bonus, Benji figured he could swing by the coffee shop nearby and pick up something for himself—and maybe a little extra for the team. After all, a fresh coffee always seemed to lift everyone's spirits, especially with the long shift ahead. This early afternoon it was only Benji, Scott, Hayden, that hostess Caroline, and two other people in the kitchen. The others would trickle in throughout the day.
He hurried back to the front to check in with Scott, who was still standing near the counter, grinning at something on his phone.
"Hey, boss, mind if I take a quick run for some coffee?" Benji asked, trying not to sound too desperate for caffeine.
Scott glanced up, eyebrows raised. "Sounds good to me. Grab something for yourself, and put it on the company card. Oh, and maybe grab a few extras? The crew will thank you for it." Scott handed him one of the company cards to use.
Benji grinned, nodding. "On it."
Rushing out of the building with his wallet and phone in hand, the security guard had gotten into his car. With Lady Luck on his side, Benji made it to the coffee shop in ten minutes. After parking, Benji hurriedly went in. His phone went off from Hayden and Scott responding to what they wanted to drink.
"You're here early", Aaliyah grinned jokingly while handing a different customer her coffee.
"Yeah, the dayshift got sick, so they need me for both shifts today", Benji smiled and shrugged.
"Oh, that's good though. You're usual?" Aaliyah started making the order.
"Yeah, but I'm also going to need a black coffee with a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich, four caramel iced coffees, three chocolate croissants, and two boxes of a dozen donuts", Benji rattled off the list he was given by his coworkers. He was going to give Goldie one of the iced coffees.
Aaliyah almost dropped Benji's coffee in surprise. "Wait, is that all for you?!"
"Yes because I totally would consume all of that in one sitting", Benji deadpanned.
Aaliyah covered her mouth quickly to stifle a laugh.
Benji chuckled at her reaction. "It's for my coworkers, they wanted me to go on a coffee run since I was already coming here."
"That makes a lot of sense, but I was teasing you", the barista laughed while setting Benji's order on the counter.
"I know", Benji shook his head and smiled softly.
Aaliyah rung up the big order, and the night guard paid for it with the company card he was given. While waiting for his barista friend to make the order, Benji decided to scroll through his phone. Apparently, a famous and well-known gay pop and R&B singer had died in Los Angeles yesterday.
That really sucks. Benji frowned in his mind.
"Here's all of your order!" Aaliyah beamed while setting everything down on the pick-up counter. Benji put his phone back into his pocket.
All of the food was put into a big carry-out bag, while the other drinks were put into a cardboard drink carrier. Benji decided to take two trips, so he wouldn't drop and spill everything. He brought out his order and the other drinks first to his car. When the night guard came back to retrieve the bag of food, he thanked Aaliyah for the help. Once everything was secured in his car, Benji hurried back to the pizzeria.
Once Benji had parked in the pizzeria parking lot, he decided to shoot Scott a text.
Benji: Scott, can you come help me bring everything in?
Scott: Yeah of course!
When the night guard put his phone back into his pocket, he saw his boss lightly jogging out to his car. He opened his car door and got out. Benji handed the bag of food to Scott for him to bring in.
"Here, you can bring the food, while I bring in the drinks", Benji smiled.
"That sounds like a plan!" Scott grinned and took the bag of food.
Both night guard and the head of the company walked into the pizzeria with the coffee and pastries. Every human employee's face lit up when they saw the coffee. They came rushing over to grab it.
"You're a lifesaver!" Caroline beamed with excitement.
"Thanks dude", Hayden softly smiled at the night guard.
"You're welcome everyone", Benji gently waved everyone off.
Benji brought the boxes of donuts into the break room for everyone else that comes in later. While putting them out, he felt a presence in the room with him. Benji smirked to himself because he knew who it was.
"Hey Goldie", Benji turned around and smiled softly.
The golden bear animatronic waved at the night guard politely, but then gave him a confused look.
"You're here early, is everything okay?" Golden Freddy raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, the day shift became sick again, so they needed me here. Don't worry I'm getting paid extra for this", Benji explained with a polite hand gesture.
"Oh okay. That's good though", Goldie smiled with ecstasy.
"Yeah", The night guard pulled out the extra caramel iced coffee, "I got an extra one for you! If you want it". Benji gave the golden bear a sheepish smile.
"Thank you, my friend", Golden Freddy replied politely and took the iced coffee from Benji.
"Just don't tell anyone or let anyone know that I gave you that", Benji stated while Golden Freddy took a couple of sips of the drink.
"Why's that?" The golden bear was a bit naïve.
"Well, one, I don't know if any of the humans know that you guys are sentient, and I don't want either of us to get into trouble," Benji was a bit concerned, "Two, I don't want to deal with five sentient animatronics addicted to coffee, with maybe being constantly bouncing off the walls". The night guard chuckled at the last part.
"Yeah, you're right, my friend. I'll be careful", Goldie smiled softly and then drank some more of his iced coffee.
"Okay, so for the day shift I'm going to be barely in the security office", Benji began to explain to Goldie, "However, I'll be around here when I can if you need me".
"That's fine, I understand, my friend", Golden Freddy reassured the night guard.
"Remember, big guy, that iced coffee still stays between us", Benji chuckled half-jokingly as he headed out of the break room.
When the night guard was almost near the dining area, he had gotten stopped by the head chef.
"Hey Hayden, what's up?" Benji was a bit curious.
"I wanted to thank you properly for the coffee earlier, but Scott wanted everyone to keep working", Hayden rubbed the back of his head slightly with a sheepish smile.
Hayden pulled out a container that held two different cupcakes in it. One was vanilla, the other was chocolate.
"Awe, you're too sweet", Benji blushed a little bit taking the container of cupcakes, "Thank you for these!"
"You're welcome, dude", Hayden grinned.
There was a small, awkward silence between the two in the hallway.
"I'll be going back to the kitchen now", Hayden awkwardly smiled.
"Oh, okay. I'll see you around!" Benji kind of didn't want him to go back to the kitchen.
The night guard went back to the security office to quickly drop the cupcakes off at the desk. When he did that, Benji headed over to the dining area again. In the dining room, Benji noticed that there was a show going on right now with the trio that's on the main stage. There were a handful of families here, since the pizzeria opened an hour ago, and usually more families come after church because it was Sunday.
Damn, I've already been here for almost a whole week now. Benji shaking his head and smiling to himself in his head.
Benji walked over to Pirate's Cove, since Foxy didn't have a show until after the main three were done with theirs. He peeked into the big, purple starry curtains at the entrance of the cove. Ever since the company was re-established, Scott has upgraded Pirate's Cove a lot. It went from a small storage closet to this massive area that was added on. It had a stage with a pirate ship on it, multiple rows of chairs to watch the show from, a slide from the ship to the floor of Pirate's Cove, and even an area where you can take pictures with a beach backdrop! There was even a counter where you can buy pirate loot, like plastic swords with Foxy on them and eyepatches!
"Wow! This is amazing!" Benji was trying to talk softly while walking around Pirate's Cove, not wanting the fox animatronic to know he was here.
Of course, that didn't go as planned because he heard a metallic cough, like they were clearing their throat. Benji looked up at the pirate ship on the stage. There was Foxy leaning against the cabin of the ship!
"Oh! Hi Foxy!", Benji sheepishly smiled, "I didn't see you there!"
"Whaddya doin' here, mate? I thought ya were goin' ta be here later?" Foxy raised an eyebrow at the night guard.
"W-Well, the day shift got sick again. They wanted me here to do both shifts today", Benji nervously explained while fidgeting his hands.
Foxy walked over to the slide and slid down it to the floor of the Cove. He walked over to the night guard when he had reached the bottom.
"Are they payin' ya extra then, lad?" Foxy smirked.
Benji became a bit frightened by the fact that the sentient fox animatronic was standing so close to him. "Y-Yeah they are."
Foxy noticed the nervousness radiating from the night guard. "Look lad, I'm not goin' ta hurt ya. Remember, we're goin' ta trust each other from now on, right?" Foxy held his hand out for reassurance.
Benji didn't forget about the conversation the five of them had last night. They had all agreed to work together to make the pizzeria safe and fun, not just for the kids but for everyone who worked there, too. Foxy, in particular, had promised that he'd try to be more approachable, which Benji appreciated—though having an animatronic pirate fox standing this close was still a little nerve-wracking.
"Yeah, I remember," Benji said, managing a small smile as he shook Foxy's hand. Foxy's grip was gentle but firm, his metallic claws careful not to scratch.
"So, what brings ya here now, lad? Just explorin' the Cove?" Foxy asked, tilting his head with a curious glint in his eyes.
Benji nodded, glancing around the newly revamped Pirate's Cove with awe. "I just wanted to check it out before everything gets busy. I mean, the slide? The ship? It's all incredible! Scott really went all out with the upgrades."
"Aye, that he did! The kids'll be havin' the time of their lives now, climbin' aboard, slidin' down the ol' plank," Foxy said with a grin, glancing proudly at the pirate ship. "It's good ta have a fresh start, ya know? I'll be the best pirate fox captain they've ever seen!"
Benji laughed, relaxing a bit. "I think you're already the best, Foxy. The kids are going to love it here."
Foxy chuckled, giving Benji a hearty pat on the shoulder that almost knocked him off balance. "Thanks, mate. Now, off with ya! I've got some rehearsin' ta do before me show. Gotta keep me pirate voice sharp!"
"Will do," Benji replied with a grin, heading back toward the exit of Pirate's Cove. But as he turned to leave, he felt a new sense of warmth. Despite the animatronics' intimidating appearances, he could feel the effort they put into making him feel welcome.
Just before he stepped out, he turned back to see Foxy waving, his animatronic face surprisingly expressive with a wink and a grin. Benji waved back, feeling a bit braver now. Heading back into the dining room for the third time, Benji noticed that the main opening show was wrapping up. Freddy was in the middle of his short speech about safety to the kids. Benji leaned on the wall next to the entrance of Pirate's Cove to listen in on it.
"That kids is why you should always ask for help when you absolutely need it!" Freddy gave out a giant, friendly grin.
The kids that were all there, clapped and shouted with glee as the show was finished. There was an announcement that Foxy's first show of the day was about to start. A good handful of the kids that were at the other show rushed through the curtains of the Cove, eager to see their favorite pirate captain fox. The others just dispersed around the pizzeria.
"Well, time to start doing the routinely rounds", Benji muttered to himself, getting off of the wall.
He decided to head into the arcade first. Everything was as per usual, everyone playing the games. When he was almost done walking through the arcade, he heard a kid get excited. Benji turned to where he heard the burst of excitement, and he saw a particular boy from yesterday. It was Danny, who was with his sister, Jess, as well. Benji walked over to the pair who were playing Minecraft Dungeons Arcade.
"Hey bud!" Benji smiled softly while standing next to the arcade machine.
"Hey mister!" Danny beamed. The pair were waiting for the tickets to be added to their FazCade cards.
"I was doing my usual rounds and I saw you guys while walking through here. What are you up to?" Benji leaned against the machine next to the one they were playing.
"Well, Jess and I just made the top new high score!" Danny was jumping with joy and excitement.
"That's awesome bud! I'm so happy for you guys! Up top y'all!" Benji held out his hand for Danny and Jess to give him a high-five.
The both of them returned the high-five.
"I have to keep walking around, okay?" Benji grinned at the two kids.
"Okay!" The both of them exclaimed in unison.
"Make sure you stay out of trouble. Don't hesitate to ask me for anything", Benji ruffled Danny's hair. The latter almost protested, but then giggled.
"We will, I'll make sure of it", Jess replied with confidence.
The night guard walked away from them and headed out of the arcade to the next area to walk through. Benji walked up to the show stage where he saw Bonnie tuning his guitar while sitting on the stage. Daylight filtered through the blinds, casting soft rays across Bonnie's purple frame, highlighting the dust that danced lazily in the air.
"Hey, Bonnie," Benji greeted with a casual wave, feeling a bit more at ease in the daylight.
Bonnie stopped tuning his guitar, and turned towards the night guard. "Hey uh, what was your name again? I don't think any of us had gotten your name yet."
"Oh yeah, my name is Benji!" The night guard smiled proudly.
"I like that name. Wait aren't you supposed to be here at night?" The rabbit animatronic raised an eyebrow, or what Benji would think where the eyebrow should be.
"Yeah. The day shift got sick again, so Scott asked me to come in for her", Benji sat next to Bonnie on the show stage.
"That's decent that you're getting more money", Bonnie went back to finish tuning his guitar.
"Yeah", Benji looked out into the dining area as Freddy was talking to a birthday kid at his table.
"Do you trust us?" Bonnie hesitantly asked him.
"M-Maybe yeah", Benji replied nervously, not wanting to say the wrong thing.
"I do want to trust you", Bonnie softly smiled at the night guard.
"I know. I'm sorry what I called you and the others during the week last week", Benji sheepishly smiled at the purple rabbit animatronic.
At first, Bonnie was kind of taken aback by the apology. He didn't know what to say. "It's fine, I guess. I've heard worse, to be honest." The rabbit shrugged.
"Well, I have to keep walking around, so I'll catch you later Bon!" Benji got off the stage, waved goodbye, and gave Bonnie a wink.
Bonnie sat there, a bit stunned. Humans have never wanted to interact with the animatronics before outside of the birthday parties.
The rest of the day shift went smoothly for the night guard. When Danny and Jess finally had to leave, they told him their goodbyes, and that they wanted to come back next weekend. Their mom was very appreciative that the night guard was there to help everyone out at the pizzeria. Benji also did hang out with Golden Freddy in the office for a bit as well.
Only six more hours to go. Benji happily thought while munching on the last of the cupcakes that Hayden had given to him.
When Benji threw away the paper container in the trash, he sat back down at the office chair. It was already midnight, and he already felt like someone was watching him in the office while he was looking through the cameras. Benji put down the tablet, and turned around with a smile.
"Hey Golden Freddy", Benji smiled softly.
"Hello my friend", Goldie wave politely.
Benji got up from the office chair and hugged the golden bear animatronic, who returned the hug.
"What do you want to do tonight since you guys aren't doing The Game anymore?" Benji let go from the hug to ask him.
"Hmmm, to be honest, I don't know", Golden Freddy pondered.
Then, Benji had gotten an idea! He opened the locker and set his bag down onto the office desk. Unzipping the bag, he rummaged through it and pulled out his laptop and two blankets.
"We could do a movie night!" The night guard beamed, "I have so many movies on this laptop's library."
"I could go for a movie night, that would be wonderful!" Golden Freddy softly smiled at the ecstatic night guard.
Benji and Golden Freddy decided to sit down by the back wall of the security office. Benji opened the laptop and booted it on.
"What kind of movie are you in the mood for tonight?" Benji asked the golden bear animatronic. There was a slight pause.
"I guess we could watch an action movie", Golden Freddy grinned.
Once the night guard went to the action movies folder, he gave the laptop to Goldie, so he could look at all of the movies that were there. After five minutes of the golden bear looking through the list, he finally found one.
"I think The Hunger Games sounds interesting", Golden Freddy carefully handed the laptop back.
"Sounds like a plan, big guy!" Benji clicked on the title of the movie.
Before he could press the play button, he heard mechanical footsteps creeping closer! Benji stood up carefully, and tip-toed over to the west hallway door. He didn't know which of the other animatronics it was because of how dark the office was. If he was being honest with himself, Benji didn't want Freddy here yet because of how reserved he was with their new night guard friend. Benji pressed the left side light button.
"Oh my-" Benji yelped before almost tripping backwards.
A purple robotic hand grabbed his hand before he fell down. Then, he was pulled into the safety of a familiar rabbit figure.
"I'm so sorry for scaring you", Bonnie sheepishly smiled at the frightened night guard.
"You're fine. Don't ever do that again though okay?" Benji was steadying his breathing from his near heart attack.
"Okay", Bonnie let go of Benji.
The rabbit looked past Benji and noticed that Golden Freddy was also in the security office.
"What are you two up to?" Bonnie raised an inquisitive, yet invisible eyebrow.
"We were going to have a movie night tonight!" Benji beamed while pointing to the laptop in front of Goldie, who just nodded in agreement. "Do you want to join us?"
Bonnie was quite taken aback a bit.
He wants to include me with what they're doing? Bonnie's mechanical mind started to whir. This one is too sweet.
"Yes I'll join you guys", Bonnie smiled softly.
Since it was going to be so cramped in the office, Benji sat on Golden Freddy's lap, while the two animatronics were going to sit next to each other. Finally pressing play, Benji wrapped himself in one of the blankets to get comfortable. He leaned a bit back on Goldie for some support.
When the movie was at the part of the actual Hunger Games had started in the story, Benji started to feel tired. His eyes were feeling a bit heavy, but he quickly reopened them. He remembered that he was watching the movie with two of the animatronics, who were unironically his friends now. Especially the one who felt oh so comfortable, the one who he was leaning against.
I have to stay awake for this. Benji told himself, despite his body screaming at him to sleep.
He looked at the screen at the wrong time. Glimmer was getting attacked by the hive of tracker jackers. Benji shuddered at the sight of it. He got more comfortable in Golden Freddy's arms.
When the movie was finished, Benji yawned with tiredness.
"I was going to ask if you guys wanted to watch another movie, but mister tired-pants over here is about to fall asleep", Bonnie started to tease the night guard for trying not to fall asleep.
"Hey, you guys don't have to sleep! I do!" Benji tiredly pouted a bit. Bonnie ruffled the night guard's hair and chuckled.
"Are you able to stay awake for another movie?" Goldie asked Benji softly, resting his head on top of the night guard's head gently.
"Yeah, let me get up, I need to go to the bathroom really quickly", Benji sighed and got up from Goldie's lap, "I'll be right back."
The night guard sped off down the east hallway. He didn't realize how badly he had to go. Benji looked up while walking so fast down the hallway, that he didn't notice Chica was coming out of the kitchen as well!
"Oh my gosh! I can't stop!" Benji shouted as he was trying to slow himself down, thrashing his arms around to get the chicken's attention.
Chica turned her head quickly and widened her mechanical eyes in horror. She set down the pizza she had made onto a nearby table and held her hands out. The chicken animatronic caught the night guard in her arms.
"T-Thanks Chica", Benji stuttered while calming down from the incident.
"No problem, mister night guard!" Chica beamed.
"Hold on I'll be right back", Benji darted into the men's bathroom after realizing that the feeling came back.
It didn't take long before the night guard came back out of the restroom, feeling more relaxed.
"Sorry for that, Chica, I really had to use the bathroom", Benji smiled sheepishly.
"That's okay, chickpea. Say have you seen Bonnie anywhere?" Chica looked confused when she asked the question.
Oh boy, what do I tell her? Benji groaned in his head.
"Well, uh" Benji began to talk nervously, "He joined Goldie and I for our movie night."
There was a short silence from the chicken animatronic before she gave a smile. "You guys are having a movie night?! Can I come?" She was delighted about the idea.
Benji sighed and then grinned at Chica, "Yes you can come with, as long as you bring that pizza with." The night guard pointed at the pizza box on the table.
"Yeah I'll bring it with", Chica chuckled and grabbed the pizza box.
The chicken and the night guard walked down the east hallway towards the security office, side by side. When the pair arrived, both animatronics that were already there looked up at them.
"We've got another one who wants to be here", Benji chuckled while Chica put the pizza on the desk.
"Great", Bonnie rolled his eyes and then laughed.
"Hey! I'm quite interested in movies too, you know, mister rabbit!" Chica playfully pouted.
Benji sat back down in Goldie's comfortable lap while Chica sat down on Goldie's left. Bonnie just shifted a bit to make more room.
"So what movie do you y'all want to watch now?" Benji looked between the three animatronics surrounding him while holding the laptop.
"Oh!" Chica had an idea pop into her mechanical mind, "I've been hearing the kids talk about the Harry Potter movie series lately, I'm interested to watch that!"
"Now that you mention it, I did hear it being talked about during the birthday party I was playing for", Bonnie was recalling the interaction from earlier in the day, "I want to see the first one to see if it's good or not."
Benji looked up from Goldie's lap towards the golden bear himself, "What about you, big guy?"
"I'm fine with whatever you guys pick", Golden Freddy smiled softly.
"Then it's settled!" Benji started looking for the first title of the Harry Potter series in the library of movies.
When the night guard found it, he pressed play. As the title sequence was playing, Benji wrapped himself in the blanket again, and leaned against the fuzzy golden bear again.
I can't believe that I've found friends in the most uncanny places when I was trying to shut the world out. Benji thought to himself as he got more comfortable in Golden Freddy's lap.
Foxy was bored lounging around in Pirate's Cove. As he peeked out the entrance curtains, he noticed that Freddy was the only one in the dining area.
Where are ta other two? Foxy pondered while his mind whirred.
He dismissed the thought, and walked over to the bear animatronic. When Foxy got closer to him, he was confused because Freddy was just staring at a door. This new door was placed in the between area of the show stage and the backstage area.
"Whaddya lookin' at Freddy?" Foxy asked the bear with a confused look.
Apparently the fox animatronic had scared Freddy because he jumped a bit. He turned around to face Foxy.
"You didn't have to scare me like that, fox", Freddy deadpanned.
"Whoops, sorry mate", Foxy sheepishly smiled while he put his hook behind his head.
"It's okay", Freddy turned back to the door he was staring at, "Have you seen this door before?"
The fox animatronic looked at the door that Freddy had been looking at. Now closer to the door than when he was at Pirate's Cove, there was words on a sign that was attached to it. The words read 'NEW AREA COMING SOON!' while there was a giant gold number two above the door.
"Come ta thinks of it, I've never seen this before", Foxy pondered out loud.
Freddy looked at the fox with a bit of nervousness in his facial expression, "We need to protect that night guard now."
"Why, what's goin' on?" Foxy was a bit confused.
"HE might be coming back", Freddy glared a bit darkly at the taped off door.