Chapter Text
It was late.
Incredibly so, by time the car came to a stop beside the sidewalk. The neighborhood was silent. Not a soul out on the street. Well, except for her. Finally shifting the car to Park, she sighed and slacked in her seat. "Longest 8 hours, ever," she muttered, reaching to turn on an interior light. Able to see, she reached for the rear-view mirror, turning it to look at herself. A young adult stared back, about 26 in age. Rusty reddish-brown hair, kept short, practically outlined her face. Currently, the humidity had made it puffy, a little messy. Mentally complaining, she brushed it back and finger-combed it the best she could. Light-blue eyes peered through silver-framed glasses, her dark brows furrowed behind her bangs with her self-aimed griping.
Not only had she been in a rush to get home and pack, then throw everything in the car, but she hadn't taken the time to change out of her uniform. 'That's what I get for planning around work,' she thought, glancing down at herself. Black shoes, jeans, a purple uniform shirt, and a black security jacket over it. On the left side of the jacket, an image of an animatronic bear smiled back at her. "Just get out of the car," she told herself, turning off the headlights first, then the car. She popped the trunk open before climbing out of the driver's seat, shutting her door and locking the vehicle before stepping around behind it. From the trunk, she grabbed her dark brown suitcase and extra pair of shoes. Before closing the trunk, she used its interior light to check the time on her watch.
Just a few minutes short of 2 in the morning.
With a mental groan, she closed the trunk, gathered her belongings, and trekked the rest of the way up the path to the brick house before her. The porch light was on, as was the light in the living room. Looked like everyone was still up at this hour. Pausing at the door, the pale-toned woman reached to press the door bell. Within moments, she heard movement. The lock turned, and the door opened. A man had answered. Tall, well-built, with somewhat long black hair--neatly kept. Green eyes seemed tired, but excited to see her. He wore a solid gray shirt and jeans, and greeted her with a wide smile.
"Heya, squirt. Glad you could make it," he spoke, enveloping her in a hug. She returned a small laugh and hug. "It's good to see you," the man added. "You too, Mitch. Haven't seen you guys since Christmas," she replied as they separated. "Heh, funny how six months tend to fly by, eh? C'mon, come inside. We've got your room ready for you, and I'm sure you're tired after such a long drive," Mitch continued, helping her to carry her belongings inside. The door was closed behind her, her brother then reaching to turn off the porch light. Before her was their living room. White carpet, deep-red sofa and loveseat, a wide TV above the fireplace. A snack table sat near the sofa, currently the resting place for a nearly-empty bowl of pretzels. Sitting on the sofa were another woman and a little girl. Her brother's wife and daughter.
The wife, a somewhat chubby woman with long, rich red hair and forest-green eyes, immediately stood from her seat upon their guest's arrival. Also bearing a smile, she approached with open arms to embrace her sister-in-law. "So happy to see you back," she warmly stated. "Glad to be back. Sorry you guys had to wait up so late for me," their guest responded. The wife, Rune, quickly waved it by. "Think nothin' of it. I actually was considerin' brewing up some--" The Irish woman was then interrupted by her daughter's cheerful voice. "Auntie Faye!" cried the dark-haired girl, whom rushed to abandon her storybook on the sofa to hug her aunt. Faye, Mitch's sister, let out another soft laugh and knelt to gather up her niece. She'd celebrated her 10th birthday just a few days prior.
Her niece had dressed much like her mother, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and skirt. However, her outfit differed in that she also wore a pair of lightly-colored tights. Like Faye, her niece also wore glasses, and had nearly the same shade of blue eyes. "Happy to see you too, Reese-piece," Faye teased, the little girl giving her a tight hug. Giggling, Reese separated from her, "Did you remember to get me something for my birthday?" Her aunt resisted a snicker, shifting the child into one arm to free a hand. "Of course I did. What sort of auntie would I be to forget?" Faye stuck her hand into her jacket pocket, withdrawing a small plush. Solid black, with white stripes on its arms and legs. White buttons were stitched on its chest, and its face was white with red dots on its cheeks. Streaks of purple ran down from its empty eyes to its wide smile. Instantly, Reese's face light up. "Emmy!" she cried, taking the doll when offered to embrace it. "What do we say?" came her mother's voice. "Oh. Thank you, auntie," Reese quickly spoke.
"You're very welcome," Faye replied, setting her niece down. "Is Emmy doing okay?" Reese then asked, peering up at Faye through her glasses. "He's just fine, bite-size. I check on him, every shift," assured Faye, whom proceeded to remove her jacket while her brother carted her belongings off to the guest room. "That's good. I miss him," the child stated, resting her chin on the doll's head.
"Aw, he misses you too, Reese. Tell you what: when I get back, we can Face Time with him."
Reese gasped, her smile returning, "Really?!"
"Heheh, sure. I'm back on night shift when I return."
The child tossed her arms in the air, almost losing grip on her doll, "Yay!"
With a warm tone, Rune stepped back into the picture. "Alright, now. You got to stay up long enough to say 'ello to your auntie. It's time for bed, now," she told her daughter, whom promptly emitted a noise of disagreement. "Come along. Say goodnight to Auntie." With a frown, Reese mumbled her compliance, then turned to Faye. "Night, auntie. See you in the morning."
Faye waved the child off, watching the two traverse upstairs to Reese's bedroom. Once they were out of sight, she moved to collapse on the sofa, taking the time to neatly put away the child's belongings. Her brother soon enough emerged from the guest room, taking a seat beside her. "So, how was the drive?" he began. "Heh," his sister chuckled. "Remind me never to put off packing until after work, again. I was supposed to be off at 3 today, but Carter was running late, so I had to stay and cover for him until he got in."
Mitch cocked a brow, "Let me guess: you stayed over an extra hour?"
"Sure did. Almost two hours. The guy finally comes in, drenched with coffee. Apparently, he thought he'd time to meet someone for lunch, and the server they got was new; didn't know how to properly carry beverages. He ordered a coffee to go, and the lady dropped it on him."
Her brother grinned, shaking his head.
"So, since he's now in a rush to try to get home and change before work, he hurries to pay his tab. And can't, because he forgot his wallet at home..."
"Aw, that's great."
"He decides the best course of action is to instead dig through his vehicle for loose change to cover the $1.30 he still owes. And in the process of digging, he drops his keys between the seat and center console."
"Talk about having a bad day."
"No kidding. So, by the time he fishes out his keys AND the money he needed to pay off his order, he has no time to drive home and change. He drove straight to work, instead."
"What did you have to do during those two hours?"
"Pull a kid out of the prize machine," Faye stated plainly, casually rubbing at the base of an ear. Her brother laughed, "Hey, at least it was better than playing an impromptu round of 'Dig-Dug'." To that, she smirked, "Had to be better than THAT." They both readdressed Rune as she made her way back down the stairs, offering them both drinks on her way to the kitchen--which they both accept with thanks. "Hate to switch to a more serious topic," Mitch began, turning back to his sister, "but how's work going for you?" Faye shrugged, resting her head on the back of the sofa, "Making decent money. The day guard quit, so I'm filling both positions until they can hire someone else. For the time I'm away, the managers volunteered to stay and work the guard shifts."
"That'll put you over hours. Can't be a bad thing," Mitch pointed out. "Nah, overtime's fine by me. They have no choice but to make an exception; they don't have anyone else, right now. Besides, I'm two paychecks away from paying off my car," smiled Faye, whom 'danced' a quick little jig in her seat. "Glad to hear, squirt. And, uh, the animatronics aren't giving you a hard time?" wondered her brother. "Hm, no. I honestly still don't know why they'd acted out. I mean, they were that way when I was initially hired on, but quickly stopped after my first shift as night guard," she explained.
"They did? Huh. Sounds like they might've been looking for someone, expecting you to be that someone. Then maybe quit when they realized you weren't whom they were expecting."
"Hm...maybe? I mean, I DID have a rather close call, that first night."
"What happened?"
Faye sighed, letting air through her nose, "Toy Bonnie jumped me. Pinned me against the wall." Mitch held a look of shock. "I'm okay, though. Thought quickly enough to tell him, 'It's me, it's Faye', over and over. Somehow, it got him to back off." Her brother seemed to cringe, "I don't know how you do it, squirt. I would've quit after that, if it were me."
"Hey, I need the money. The work's not hard, just...you have to know what you're doing. Like I said, it was my first shift as the night guard. Nothing any different from being the day guard. Only thing was, nobody told me the characters would flip their 'psycho' switches after dark." She silenced herself as Rune entered the room, handing filled glasses to them both. "Discussin' work, are you?" the red-haired woman questioned as she sat on the loveseat. "Eh, it's what grown folks do, isn't it?" Faye snickered back, sipping from her glass. "Sadly," Rune nodded. "But switchin' to a happier topic, have you given it any thought as to if you're goin' to move? Maybe live a lil' closer to us, so that we won't have to spend so much time, drivin'?"
Faye hummed softly to herself, "I haven't decided, yet. I mean, I wanted to stay in our parents' hometown, but...it's gotten a little empty after you guys moved. I know you had to, what with Mitch's job and all. At the same time, though, it's where our parents grew up, met, settled down. It's all I've ever known. Plus, it's where my job is, currently. Despite the set-backs, I still love what I do."
"Well, you could ask to transfer."
Faye's gaze shot back to Rune, "Transfer? You guys have one, here?"
"Aye, we do. 'Tis the second location, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong."
"The second...? Oh, you mean Freddy Fazbear's."
"That be it."
"...Hm...I've never been to that location."
"Neither have we, to be honest with you," Rune sheepishly smiled. "We keep meaning to take Reese, but..."
"Work?"
"Aye, work."
Faye set her glass on the snack table, resting back in her seat. "Well...I've never been, so I guess I could take the time to check it out. See if I like it. If it checks out, I'll see if I can't ask to transfer before Christmas, this year." Conflict settled on her face. "Oh, wait--they're closed on Sundays, aren't they?"
Both Rune and Mitch nodded back. "Yep; closed every Sunday," her brother clarified. "Spazz. Um, how about Monday, then? I can take Reese while you guys are at work," Faye then offered. "I think that's a fine idea," Rune agreed, looking to her husband. "Sure. I don't see why not," he put in. "Reese has been wanting to spend time with you, anyway."
"Great. Then we'll go, Monday morning," Faye decided. "Good to hear. However, the hour's late. We should all think about going to bed, yeah?" Rune gestured to the clock on the wall, standing to accept the empty glasses. "Suppose we'd better. It's been a long drive," her sister-in-law agreed, also getting up. "Alright. Feel free to wander the house. Food's in the kitchen, all shower goods are in the bathroom," Mitch picked at his sister. "Bro, I've been by your house, before," Faye playfully defended herself. "Teasing, squirt," he chuckled.
"At least you spared me the whole 'water in the tap' quote," Faye called back as she disappeared behind her door.