Chapter Text
The drone of the TV was a background noise at this point. With his head resting against his palm that was propped up on the arm of the couch, Michael stared at the TV. He wasn’t paying attention to what was being said or what was happening, he didn’t really care. Michael tore his eyes away from the box TV and glanced over at Crybaby. He had his dumb bear clutched to his chest while he gazed at the TV.
He held onto that bear like a lifeline. It was kind of annoying that Crybaby did that. Michael hated that yellow bear to the point he would cut its head off and pull all the stuffing out just to leave it an empty shell, maybe even throw it into the dirt and leave it out after dark. As Michael watched Crybaby a thought popped into his head. He smirked as looked back at the TV and brought his knees up to his chest. His younger brother glanced at him before going back to watch the show that was on.
He stretched a leg close to Crybaby, laying it between them and folding his leg into a more comfortable position. Crybaby looked over at him once more before scooting away from his leg with a confused look on his face. Michael waited a few more moments before wedging his foot in between Crybaby’s arms and kicking his stupid bear out from his grip. Crybaby gasped before tears started flowing from his eyes and down his cheeks, quickly standing up to scoop up Fredbear to race off down the hall.
“Heh,” Michael scoffed, “loser.”
The brunette readjusted himself in his seat and shuffled over to where Crybaby sat before, located the remote and started flipping through channels. He settled for a comedy series that he’s seen countless times. A few hours passed with him sitting on the couch. Michael’s father would come out of his office a few times out of the day, Elizabeth rushed out of the house at one point yelling about how some of her friends were outside, and he had no idea where the crybaby was.
In the middle of a restaurant commercial with Michael spread out across the couch, Elizabeth opened the door, slammed it shut, marched through the entry hallway and stopped in the arch way to the living room.
“MICHAEL!!”
Michael startled, half falling off of the couch. “WHAT THE HELL, BRAT?!”
“I’m hungry, and I’m not a brat!” Elizabeth fumed.
Michael stared at Beth for a few short moments before getting off of the floor and retrieving his spot on the couch. “Go find something to eat then, I’m not your mother.”
Elizabeth stayed quiet for a few seconds before huffing, “Fine.”
Michael heard Elizabeth stomp away, not bothering to look up from the TV. Not before long, Michael heard a door slam shut and Beth came stomping her way back into the living room.
“There’s nothing to eat.”
Michael groaned out, slipping off the couch and dragging himself into the kitchen with the small ginger behind him. He opened the fridge to see that most of the leftovers that were there, were gone. There were still some but nothing Elizabeth would eat. The brunette looked down at his sister and she looked back at him with a knowing and smug look.
He snarled under his breath as he threw open the pantry down. Chips, crackers, marinara jars, boxed pasta, and blah blah blah. There really was nothing Elizabeth could just grab and go. Damnit. He’ll have to make dinner again, will he?
Michael huffed out an annoyed breath before looking down at his younger sister. “Go ask Crybaby what he wants for dinner.”
The ginger girl gasped out with a smile and ran off in the direction of Crybaby’s room. Michael whipped his head around towards Father’s office, considering for a moment if he should let him be or ask if there’s something he would prefer over the littles. He decided against it knowing that Father would most likely stay inside of that small room until Brat and Crybaby went to bed, and he knew [ᖇEᗪᗩᑕTEᗪ] wasn’t coming back anytime soon. She is such a sorry excuse for a mother figure.
The 16-year-old stood there, hanging off of the pantry door, when Elizabeth came running back.
“He doesn’t know, said that he would have whatever I’m having.”
“Well, what do you want?”
She thought for a moment. “Pizza.”
“Pizza? Really? Father owns a pizzeria, you can get that whenever you want.” Michael shut the door and leaned his back against the hardwood, throwing a hand towards the plank of wood that separated the man and them.
The brat stared at Michael for a split second. “I don’t want Daddy’s pizza.”
Silence engulfed the two as they stared at each other, then the teenager caved.
He sighed, annoyed. “Go fetch my wallet.”
Elizabeth let out a joyful shriek and ran off towards the entry hallway. Michael strided into the living room where the home phone resided and flopped onto the couch beside it. Elizabeth ran into the same room giggling and pushed the gray pouch into his hands. He flipped the small thing open before taking out his money and counted how much he had.
They could make do with a single large. The littles don’t eat too much, so it should be enough. He picked up the phone and dialed the number of the local restaurant that was just a few blocks away. When they asked if it was delivery or pick up, Michael hesitated. He didn’t have much to his name, and if he said delivery they would charge more. In the end, he chose pick up. It would be nice to walk so late at night and feel the damped air on his skin, but he would have to bring his siblings. He could never trust them by themselves when Father was in his office.
When he placed down the phone, Elizabeth slapped her hands on his knees and started bouncing on her feet, her curled hair bouncing with her. “Are you going for a walk? Can I come?”
“You’re gonna have to, I don’t trust you fuckers by yourselves. Especially when Dad is working.”
“Yay!” She yelled, running off to, Michael presumed, tell Crybaby to get ready.
The boy stood up and stretched his arms high over his head and let out a satisfied sigh. With that, he made his way to the office door and knocked three times.
“Dad?” He yelled through the wood.
An answer didn’t come so he knocked again. A muffled, irritated grumble sounded before his father answered.
“What?”
Michael opened the door but never entered the room, just stayed outside of the door frame. His father had an endoskeleton propped up on the table with blueprints in his hand. “Me and the other two are running to pick up the pizza.”
“Is it that time already?” He muttered as he glanced at the mounted clock that hung by the door. “Just don’t get hit by any cars, and make sure your siblings don’t get kidnapped.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He exhaled as he shut the door, letting his father get back to whatever he was doing. He always hated how he brought home those metal frames instead of spending some time with his family.
Elizabeth’s cheerful yell had Michael looking down the hallway. “Mikey! We’re done!”
Elizabeth changed into a different dress and she had shoes that somewhat matched it, while the Crybaby followed meekly behind her, clutching his stuipd bear to his chest again and looking at the ground. Michael tsked and Crybaby flinched, it wasn’t obvious but if you know what to look for, it stands out like a sore thumb.
“Let’s get going.”
Elizabeth skipped to the entry hallway while Crybaby followed her. Michael walked behind his younger brother, only coming to a stop when Beth went to open the door.
“We’re leaving!” He yelled out in the direction of his father as the littles walked out of the house.
He didn’t expect an answer, besides he was already closing the door before his father could say a word.