Chapter Text
'It's a New Day!'
That phrase had always graced the screen whenever she'd punched in. It'd been that way since she was hired, a couple years back. That also meant it hadn't been updated in a few years. After a few seconds, the sentence vanished and returned to its default screen, waiting for the next employee to clock in. "Morning, Mel," she greeted as she pulled her guard hat in place on her head. "Good morning, Faye. I do hope you had breakfast this morning, because we've quite a many birthdays being celebrated, today," a blonde-haired woman in a gold uniform responded from behind the front counter. Her name tag read, "Melanie". "Ah, nothing I can't handle. Just have to keep the spectators away from the guardrail, as usual," Faye shrugged back, re-attaching her badge. While the rest of the staff wore gold uniforms, guards had to wear purple. Her uniform consisted of a purple jacket and dark pants, her badge pinned on her left pocket, her name tag on the right. Her rust-brown hair was kept short, over which sat a purple guard hat.
Over light-blue eyes were a pair of silver glasses. Which, of course, she naturally had a habit of adjusting.
Stepping by the front counter, the young woman inspected the show floor. All five primary dining tables were set, with no over-turned seats. Some of the party hats--normally positioned in the tables' centers--were missing. More than likely being worn by children. Already, a couple of families were seated and eating pizza. On the show stage just beyond, the restaurant's mascot characters performed. The lineup was made up of two bears, two bunnies, and a chicken. One bear was brown, the other gold. One bunny was purple, the other gold. The chicken, well...she was yellow. A little out of place among the others, but she was new. It wouldn't take any time at all for kids to fall in love with her.
Faye had come to like her, anyway.
Not seeing any conflicts on the show floor, the guard turned her attention to the gaming floor. Other than a kid crying in the ball pit because she couldn't get out and a couple boys arguing over a game, everything appeared normal. As per usual. Initial scan of the main floor complete, Faye proceeded to the back office. Not to take a seat, but to pick up her tablet. The desk job was for the Night Guard, not the Day Guard. As it was booting up, she made way for her post near the stage. Nothing spectacular; just a stool and a pedestal for the tablet to sit on. As she sat down, Faye took a quick look at the camera system. There was no one at the back door. No children in the maintenance halls. A few people visiting the restrooms, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were no visitors in Pirate Cove. Not yet, anyway. There would be by noon. There always were.
All was clear as far as the cameras went, so the guard set aside the tablet and focused on the show stage. The job was simple enough: occasionally check the cameras for anything unusual and keep kids off the stage. Rule 6 on the list stated, "Don't touch Freddy". Or any character on stage, really. She was to make sure that didn't happen, hence the rail blocking off the stage from the public. Kids were often tempted to climb it, so she'd been stationed nearby to prevent them from doing so. Children were already singing along with the characters on stage. An every-day occurrence. Faye had learned to tune it out. Not as far as the mascots' singing, anyway. There had been days where she'd caught herself singing along. Some of the songs WERE catchy, after all. A great way to kill time when there wasn't much happening.
A couple hours had passed. Show curtains had closed and opened a few more times. In-between shows, Faye took to monitoring the floor, an eye open for mishaps. A little girl had stopped her, face red and cheeks wet with tears, to ask her if she would retrieve her stolen tickets from a boy whom had run by and snatched them. It was quickly settled, and Faye was able to give the child back her tickets. The parents thanked her for it. Once her round was over, she returned to her post. Another show was starting. This time, though, she perked up, a smile tugging her lips. From the entrance, she could hear a familiar male voice. It was smooth, faintly dark. If cake were a sound, in other words. She watched as a tall, pale-fleshed man walked in. His hair was somewhat long and colored a shade of purple. His eyes were a deep blue, bright over the most charming smile Faye had ever seen. Normally, she wouldn't see him during the day; he was typically the Night Guard. Normally, he wore purple, just as she was. This time, however, he was wearing dark skin-tight clothing. He only did so whenever he had to perform as the mascot character the company referred to as "SpringBonnie". He was the golden rabbit playing guitar on stage.
For birthday parties, he had to wear SpringBonnie and act out the character. Same went for the golden bear, Fredbear, but he had an actor of his own.
This particular man in question wasn't just a night guard and an actor, no. He happened to be one of two owners of the business: Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. He'd also been the man to interview Faye the day she was hired. Initially, she'd fallen in love with his voice. Months passed, and she'd fallen in love with how well he'd treated her. After a year, she'd held him in high respect upon his telling her they were promoting her--in appreciation for how hard she worked. It never hurt either whenever he'd chosen to buy breakfast for everyone working the same morning shifts. There never once was a day she'd had a bad encounter with this man. He was very attentive, kind and polite to her in just about every way, and incredibly charming. It hadn't taken Faye long to realize that she was, in fact, in love with him. Every moment he was around, she felt her heart flutter. As he spoke to Mel at the front desk, Faye sat in comfortable silence, unable to rid herself of either her smile or blossoming blush.
Until a woman with dark-brown hair and garbed in a lovely rich dress walked in after him. She'd called his name, handed him something as she neared him, spoke to him. When he'd responded, she'd grinned, leaned forward to kiss him. At that, Faye's smile fell. Her shoulders sagged. She sighed. Right. That was his WIFE; he was married. AND he was a father. Teeth clenched behind closed lips, Faye reached to pull her hat down over her eyes, she silently trying to fight back tears while at the same time calming her reddened face. In love with a married man...and nobody understood just how much it HURT. After 22 years of existing, she'd finally fallen in love--and it was with a man she couldn't have. How pathetic. Just her luck, she always thought. "Good morning, Faye," he'd called to her. Managing to pull herself together in time, she lifted the hat to return a bright smile. "Morning, Mr. Afton." She waved back in response to his, sparing a glance to the entrance. His wife had gone.
"Early, as always. Keeping us all safe? Trouble-makers sorted out?"
"Absolutely, sir." She looked to the stage, the current show coming to an end.
He chuckled. "Shouldn't even have to ask anymore, should I? You always do a great job. Well, glad I can count on you to have my back; first party's going to start in a bit." He looked at his watch, proceeding to remove it. Clearly, he couldn't wear it while donning the golden rabbit.
"You'll be great," she replied with a curt nod.
He slightly bowed with respect, then pardoned himself to head backstage. Once he'd gone, her facade fell. The job paid well, hours were decent, and management was great. It only bothered her that she had to work with someone she cared so deeply about, but...couldn't get close to. Hoping to mask the emotional pain, she picked up her tablet and began searching through the cameras.
* * * *
He HATED to see her like that. She'd been coming in for years, was always present at every one of his shows. Hadn't missed one, yet. He'd taken a liking to how she'd stare up at him, every shift. How well she'd sing along when the band performed. How comedic she'd be whenever his actor wore him around the children. Granted, he couldn't see her while worn, but...he could still hear her. And he'd grown to enjoy her presence, often wishing he could approach her the way the other humans could. He could not. They did not know his secret. SHE did not know his secret. His actor had forbidden him from ever revealing it to anyone but him. He HATED it. He especially hated to see her unhappy. But...what was he to do? He could do no more than spare a look at her whenever he'd turned her direction during a performance. Secretly, he hoped she would notice, meet his gaze. She hadn't, so far. That's all he could do, currently. Watch. Her focus was on the device in her hands. If only she'd look up. At the stage. At him.
The curtain finally closed in front of him, and he let his ears lower. It ate him up inside that he couldn't help her, cheer her up, and he couldn't understand why. There was a tap on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" a deep voice softly asked. He turned, green eyes meeting the golden figure beside him. Fredbear. "I'm fine, mate. Just takin' a minute for myself," he replied, faking joy just as SHE had, previously. He had to wonder if this hurt her as badly as it did, him. Nodding the best he could, the gold bear continued, "Well, we both know what time it is. They'll be waiting for us." He carefully turned to walk himself down off the stage. Body mimicking a sigh, the gold rabbit did the same. Sure, he knew what was coming. It was literally the only way he was permitted near the public. Near her. He just hated he couldn't see her.
Backstage, Mr. Afton waited with a heavier-set man, short hair the same dark shade as his mustache. "You fellas feel up for a party? Birthday girl's going to arrive, soon," the man, Henry, spoke. "So long as you're doing all the singing. The ol' voice box feels like it's going to pop," Fredbear stated, popping open his chest hatch as Henry, his actor, picked up a hand crank. "I'm confident Will can take care of it when we're finished. Won't you?" Henry spared a glance to his business partner. "Don't I always?" Will smirked back, watching as Henry carefully put the bear into Suit Mode. Blue eyes shifted to the gold rabbit. At that, he tried not to display his distaste. He despised Suit Mode. A part of him wished he'd been made a simple animatronic. "Come now, pal. Play nice," spoke his actor. Another crank was in his hands. Well, the sooner it was done...
He refused to meet the man's gaze, but unlocked his hatch, all the same.