Work Text:
You sighed contently as you punched in to your shift at the Pizzaplex. Another day another dollar. You really couldn't complain too much about your current job. Right now you were working overnight shifts, which were perfect for you given your sleep schedule. It was also much better versus when you first started working here doing the part time day shifts. There was no dealing with rude people for one, and you could basically relax and get paid for doing almost nothing. Just make sure everything is running smoothly, report anything out of place and keep things safe.
The job you got was working in the Daycare. You started out just helping with the party planning and wrangling the children, but slowly through sheer hard work, dedication, and perhaps just dumb luck, you ended up getting promoted to full time. Now in the last few months, you were given the full night shift. The reason you got this position was the most obvious fact that you seemed to be the only person who could actually keep the Daycare's local mascot under control.
You were the only one who oddly enough could finally break through to the overly energetic Sun. It was mind boggling to both you and management at first when this was taken note of. You didn't mind the friendly Sun animatronic, and it was clear he quickly took a liking to you as well. Maybe it was something about your personality, or it could be the endless amount of patience you had with him over the other employees. Either way the higher ups couldn't deny your effect on business since you've been hired. There had been less complaints ever since you started, and they didn't have nearly as many issues getting 'Sunny' to do his job more efficiently after hours. It seemed like you were the only one that he really ever bothered to listen to.
If that was the only thing keeping you here with a stable job that payed extremely well, you couldn't really fault it. You actually didn't mind the new responsibility, and you enjoyed the animatronic's company. Over the months you had gotten to know each other quite well. You still weren't sure if the AI in this place were actually alive or not, maybe just programmed with an endless data bank of responses, but you liked the fact you could at least call some of them your friends. Especially Sunny.
Sunny seemed to like it too. He was always excited to see you coming in for your shift and had endless stories about the day to tell you about and always had a bunch of fun activities lined up for the night. The two of you seemed to build a very strong friendship and bond, and with it came trust and understanding.
Sure you had a few hiccups here and there, you still get a chill or two thinking back to when you first met Moon by mistake, but even that you managed to over come. Sunny was always somewhat protective over you since that happened, and you now had a system to leave and hide in a safe place whenever the power got cut in the Daycare, and then return when it was over. But even then, the Moon had no interest in harming you. A few times you weren't watching the time and again had a run in with him, but as much as he tormented and terrorized you, he never really wanted to kill you. Rough you up a bit sure, but it seemed there was some restraint behind those red eyes. It was still Sunny inside there after all.
All of this slowly became normal for you. Routine. Something you were used to, and quite found of. You started to look forward to your shifts so you could spend time with Sunny. Maybe it was only because you had nothing better going on in your life right now. You really probably weren't that attached to the animatronic, right? He's a robot, of course you can't really replace human interaction with him. You're nothing more than just friends. Totally. You were sure he thought of you like that too, he would have to! It was in his programming to see everyone as his friend of course! Whatever helped you through the night...
One thing was for sure, as you pushed your previous thoughts aside, you knew you were eager to see Sunnydrop tonight. You had a few days taken off work for mandatory holidays. He hadn't gotten to see you at all during that time, so you were sure he was probably missing you with how overly attached he'd become to your presence. Or maybe he didn't really have any perception of time and would pick up right where you two left off, as if you'd only been gone overnight again? It was exciting to think about how he'd react to you being back.
Heading from the backroom and down the stairs you made your way in to the playground of the Superstar Daycare. Pushing open one of the large wooden doors and instantly glancing around the familiar setting. The place was quiet, and tidy and very empty. Clearly all of the kids had been picked up and brought home for the day and it looked as if Sunny had also finished his chores early tonight.
Speaking of Sunnydrop, where was he? Your eyes scanned the room as you slowly walked further in to it. You made your presence known to him, calling out as you went. This was a bit unusual for the normally ever present Daycare Attendant. You knew that he liked to stay up in his room when he didn't have visitors to attend to, but he normally showed up whenever someone stepped foot in the Daycare. Even knowing you were in the room, was all the more concerning why he didn't basically come rushing to greet you.
“Sunny?” You called out his name once more as you wandered around the playground. Walking under the bridge, looking up and through the slides. “Hello?”
Suddenly a very distinct sound caught your attention. The noise of a plastic ball from the nearby pit rolling across the floor behind you. You turned to gaze back at it for a moment, before slowly approaching and picking it up, looking around and seeing no one there. You couldn't help but smirk.
“Sunny... I know you're in hereeee.” You playfully called out as you started to head around the back of one of the jungle gyms to see where the source of the ball came from.
A gentle, familiar jingle was heard passing quickly over you before you could catch it. You quickly sprinted to the other end of the room to follow it though the tunnels above. It seemingly disappeared when you hit the other wall. This caused you to frown now as you shifted to look around, thinking on where he could have gone.
Three more balls quickly rolled out on to the floor nearby. You were at the edge of the ball pit now. You went to kick them back in to their place before you scanned the sea of rainbow plastic. A faint movement could of been seen in the far back of the pit, quickly stopping as if it knew you were watching.
“Gotcha!” You giggled and quickly dived in to the ball pit, heading for the location.
The sound of the balls shifting with your weight made a lot of noise for the quiet area as you waded through them. You ended up at the target location and found no one there, though you could of sworn some of the noise stirred up wasn't from you at all. You sighed, a bit annoyed now as you pouted and turned to start heading back to the solid ground of the Playground.
That was the plan at least, but as soon as your back was turned a pair of metal arms snaked up around you, yanking you back down playfully to drown in the balls. You squeaked out a slight surprise as you struggled to surface again. When you did you found yourself face to face with an extremely bright smiling face.
“Actually, I think I got you!” Sunny proudly proclaimed before he moved to scoop you up out of the balls before you had time to process it. “Sunshine! I'm glad you're finally back! I missed you so much!”
You couldn't help but blush a little bit at the nickname he had given you, which started about a week before you took your holidays. “Hey Sunny, how have you been?” You smile back at him, accepting his tight, almost breath taking hug before he finally set you down properly.
“Terrible. Miserable. Couldn't stand it. Awful. HORRIBLE even!” Sunnydrop replied, though his upbeat tone of voice implied he wasn't serious about the claims. “The minute I checked and found out you WOULDN'T be coming back for a few days, why it was just unbearable!”
You laughed. “Okay, I get it. You missed me huh?”
“You missed me too, right!?” Sunnydrop asked as he leaned in to your personal space a bit, ever moving from side to side.
“Of course I did!” You were honest. “Couldn't wait to get back to work!”
“Yes! I thought so!” Sunny seemed pleased by this information. “I don't think you should be allowed to leave like that anymore, Y/N!”
“We'll have to run that by management.” You chuckle. “What's the plan for tonight?”
“Oh! Anything you want, sweetheart!” Sunnydrop stated, gesturing wide with his hands.
“S-sweetheart?” You stammered a bit. That nickname was NEW.
“...Is something wrong?” Sunny looked back at you, fidgeting with his hands now waiting for your reassurance.
“N-no... It's fine. I'm fine.” You brushed it off, perhaps he just meant it in a friendly way. Picked up some lingo from the grandmothers that came and went with their grandchildren, right? “U-uhm...”
“I know, I know! It's so hard to choose!” Sunnydrop continued on as if everything was normal and okay between you two. “There's so much we can do! And we have the whole night! Then the night after that! And the next, and the next one too!” He was so eager to spend time with you. “Anything you want, just say it and I'll do it for you!”
“You know, I'm supposed to be here to keep you company.” You explain to him with a smile. “What do YOU want to do?”
“What I want to do is whatever YOU want to do. That's what I want to do.” Sunnydrop shot back again quickly, and then continued to talk. “Oh, but then if you want to do what I want to do, then that means I want to do what you want to do, which is doing what I want to do, that does what you want to do, when I want to do it-”
“Easy champ, don't fry your hard drive.” You laughed a bit and tried to distract him from ending up in a loop or paradox. You weren't sure if the AI could pass the turning test, and you saw enough media to imply that maybe it was at least unhealthy for a robot to be thinking about things like that.
“Ah, I'm fine.” He brushed you off playfully. “But I suppose if you can't pick, then I will have to do it for you!” He then suddenly took you by the wrist and started to lead you to the wooden doors and up the Daycare steps. “I know what we can do! I have something to show you, a new toy!”
“Oh? What kind of toy is it?” You question with curiosity.
“You'll have to wait and see!” Sunny said. “It's really special though! I like it, and I think you will too!”
You followed along as Sunny lead you though the passage that lead back up to his room. It wasn't a strange place for you to be in anymore, he'd shown you it a few months back and you've both spent a fair bit of time in here playing games and talking. It was just a bit more calm and peaceful, and less distracting than the kid centred theme of the daycare.
“Okay! Wait right there, let me get it!” Sunny instructed you to stand still in the centre of his room as he quickly skipped to the corner and dug through a tickle trunk he owned in which he kept various items.
“Where did you get this supposed thing anyway?” You questioned as you watch him dig through a bunch of different things. Scarfs, balls, a few stray paint brushes and googly eyes.
“One of the adults gave it to me!” Sunny cheerfully responded. “I'm used to getting gifts from the kids, I have SO MUCH macaroni art, but this was new!” He finally pulled a white cylinder like object from the trunk, showing it off. “Ta-da!”
“Oooh, pretty! What is it?” You walked closer to him to have a look at his new toy. “Is it a lamp? A nightlight?”
“Oh it's better than that!” Sunny responded. “The mother who gave it to me said it was a thank you gift and she felt it would fit right in with my daycare!”
“Let's see it then!” You clapped enthusiastically as you watched him fiddle with it to turn it on.
Once he had it on he placed it on the floor and you both stepped back. You watched as the light shone brightly in it and then it started to spin. There was a pattern on the outside of the lamp that you could see rotating with it. It shot the lights out around the area in a disco like fashion, but it was slow. You could faintly see the shape of stars and moons on the walls of Sunny's room.
“Ooh, its like some kind of light kaleidoscope?” You looked around the room, it had to be a strong light to reflect in the already lit up room.
“Yeah!” Sunny hopped in place. “Oh! Oh! But it's even better in the dark!”
“I bet. Too bad I can't see that.” You stated.
“But you can!” Sunny looked back at you with his unmoving grin.
“W-what?” You questioned him. “Do you want me to take it out of the daycare on my own or something?”
“No, I can show you!” He stated, and headed across his room to go for the power box to his lights, which normally shouldn't be flipped off.
“Wait!” You tried to reach out to him a bit nervously. “I thought the rule was lights stay on?!”
“It is, but I'll make an exception for this!” Sunny gleefully responded as his hand clamped around the switch. “You'll love it, I promise!”
“B-but what about-”
You winced as the switch was pulled, debating how you were going to make your escape. You doubted you could survive the fall in to the ball pit like Sunny did almost every day, and you'd have to run past him to get out of the room from the other side.
“Why do you look so worried?”
You opened your eyes to see Sunny still, well, Sunny. This confused you a moment as you stumbled back, but then you saw. The beautiful lights and patterns of the cartoon stars lit up the room. They danced and sparkled around which was memorizing to you in a way. You glanced back at Sunny once more, a bit confused still.
“Oh! I get it now!” Sunny tapped his forehead with a chuckle before holding a hand out to you. “It's bright enough that it doesn't trip my sensors. That's pretty neat, isn't it?”
“Yeah, totally.” You nodded in agreement. You could agree that it was bright in the room despite looking dark. You could still see perfectly fine and it was pretty to look at. You ended up looking back up at the ceiling and watching the stars swirl around.
You shifted as you heard Sunny laugh gently and move past you, flopping himself down on the collection of pillows in his room. He gazed up contently at the ceiling, captivated by the light display. After watching him for a moment, you decided to join him, settling down too in to the cloud shaped pillow next to his sun shaped one.
“I love this.” He stated aloud. “It's pretty much just like the real thing!”
This caught your attention as you turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“The stars! This is what they are like, right?” Sunny questioned you, he moved to kind of tilt his head in your direction. “I can pick out constellations in these too! It's just like the stuff I see on the kid's video tablets and such!”
“You don't... Know what the stars look like?” You asked him with a kind of hesitancy to your tone.
“Do you?” He sat up a bit straighter again.
“Well, yeah. I go outside all the time, it's dark when I get here.” You explain. “Don't you look outside?”
“Oh all the time!” Sunny replied. “Actually this might be better than that. Outside It seems like there's only one or two stars. This has a whole galaxy!”
“No, it's not like that... It's different than looking out a window.” You commented. “You can see this display but better if you have the right circumstances.” Then it clicked for you, Sunny was never outside of the Pizzaplex. Of course he hasn't been, you don't think that any of the animatronics have been outside. “Sunny, have you ever left this place?”
He shifted his head, seemingly twitching a bit. It looked like he was debating how to answer the question, or maybe he was offended by the suggestion. You couldn't really tell sometimes with that concrete smile. “Well, no.” He finally responded. “That's against the rules, isn't it? You know I don't like Rule Breakers.” His tone dropped a bit on the last statement.
“I suppose.” You responded. “But...” An idea came to you suddenly. “What if you didn't technically leave the Pizzaplex?”
“What are you suggesting?” He seemed to know you well, almost too well. He knew you had a plan cooking up. “You're not seriously thinking on doing anything to get us in to TROUBLE, are you?”
“Well, it's only trouble if we're caught, right?” You smiled softly at him.
Sunny looked back at you for a moment more before shifting. Ordinarily he'd give anyone else a time out in the corner for even suggesting to bend the rules like that, but with you it seemed he was willing to make an exception. “You... Make a point, Sunshine.” Sun said as he sat up to face you now, sitting cross legged. “Alright, lay it on me.”
You were a bit surprised how easily he was willing to hear you out on this idea. You knew that Sunny liked to follow the rules, or at least his own rules, and that he really didn't like it when he got in serious trouble with management. It was risky for the both of you to be wandering and snooping in places you aren't supposed to be. There was a limited area where you could free roam, but there was always places off limits. Though you wondered if Sunny had the same access to all doors as Freddy and his friends did.
“Is there... A roof access to this place by chance?” You asked him.
It seemed like you could hear his gears churning as he stared blankly back at you for another few moments. He shifted, not talking as he looked to the side focusing on the floor. He then finally looked back to you. “There is. I know a route we could probably use to gain access.”
“You sound unsure.” You responded to him. “You don't have to do this if you don't want to. It was just a suggestion.”
“Oh no, you got the seed planted now! We have to follow it through to see it grow up, don't we?” Sunnydrop's tone had a slight air of mischief to it. “Of course we'd need some special clearance to access the path I have in mind.”
“You don't just automatically have it?”
“We're not allowed to leave, Sweetheart-” There it was again. “Of course they didn't program us bots with the ability to access any exit doors.”
“Right, sorry. Dumb idea.” You sigh. “I just thought, if you liked this little toy, you'd love to see the real deal.”
“I do!” Sunny stood up now. “The hours going to be up soon.” He stated. “How about this though? You stay right here all cozy and such, and I'll leave this time.”
“You don't have to-” You started to get up to get ready to leave.
“No, I want to.” Sunny pushed you back down gently in to the pillows. “Stay.”
You tilted your head to the side, staring back at him curiously. You clearly weren't allowed to argue back either. He seemed determined on this suggestion. It wasn't long that you heard the sound of the power dying in the rest of the Daycare, and the light from the stage went out too. If it wasn't for the lamp that was so bright, Moon would have been all over you by now.
Instead Sunny just seemed to give you a look. “Goodnight...” He quickly jumped up and off the stage of his room, leaving you alone in there with the light, which you opted to keep on for now.
You sighed, flopping back down on the familiar pillow and watching the lamp's light continuing to spin over your head. This was abnormal for you to be in here alone like this. It made you feel out of place, like you didn't belong. It confused you why Sunny decided to leave instead of the other way around. You also didn't know why he didn't just stay with you and the light since it didn't trip his sensors and clearly meant he didn't have to worry about Moon every hour.
Unless of course, he was intentionally using Moon to his advantage. You started to think about the weather before you came in to work tonight. It was clear skies, and you probably could have seen some stars if you weren't just so used to the sight and took it for granted on your way inside the building. Sunnydrop seemed set on this idea you've given him, and you had to admit it did seem kind of like an exciting idea. It was a change of pace from your normal activities at least. If he knew a route, and you could find the clearance needed to access it, then you two could probably actually see the sky tonight before anyone even noticed you were gone.
There was a bit of crashing in the distance of the quiet Daycare. Things echoed and creaked as the building moaned. You were always hyper aware of everything and how big the place was when you didn't have the constant white noise of the lights and other powers in the facility. You were timing it, and it was almost up. The lights only stayed off for a few minutes each hour, and then they would be back. Though the sounds of scraping and faint laughter were starting to concern you, wondering what was causing it.
And Sun, or rather Moon now, wasn't anywhere to be seen from your current position. You didn't hear much out in the Daycare either. It seemed the noises were all coming from other places in the building. Morbid curiosity and an inability to sit still for too long (something the pair of you shared it seemed) took over you. You stood up, trying to be as quiet as you could be while you made your way over to Sunny's stage.
You pulled the tall red fabric curtain aside and peaked out in to the darkness. Your eyes were still adjusting a bit trying to make things out. The lamp he had really was bright, huh? Some of it spilled over in to the daycare from the gap behind you. You scanned the area below, tempted to shine your flashlight as your hand naturally rested near it on your hip. You were looking... Searching for the telltale signs of the creature that stalked the dark. Listening for a jingle of the bells, keeping eyes peeled for a glimpse of his own red ones.
You couldn't see anything. There was no sign of activity in the Daycare, everything was where you two left it before you ventured up to Sunny's room. This was very odd behaviour, you thought. When Sunnydrop said he would leave this time, it looks as if he actually meant that he would leave the Daycare completely. If that was the case you were curious to explore the place during lights out, something you rarely got to do in comfort.
Knowing the lights would be back any moment you turned around to head back in to the room.
“Boo!”
You screamed and stumbled backwards with a start. All you could hear was the laughter and a glimpse of Moon up on the stage still as your heel slipped and you fell backwards off the stage, straight down in to the ball pit below.
Thankfully it seems the balls were just soft enough to break your fall. It really wasn't as high as it seemed either. You did sink to the bottom of the pit though, bruising your backside off the foam flooring. The lights finally returned shortly after you hit the plastic. You thought for sure you were dead for a moment, but hearing the rustling of the plastic you opened your eyes to find yourself buried in rainbows.
The sound of another being moving in the pit was heard and it approached you. You winced as the balls were scooped up and tossed aside, uncovering an opening to the fresh air and light of the Daycare.
Sunnydrop popped his head in to your view, staring back down at you with visible concern. “Whoops.” Was all he seemed to be able to say on behalf of Moondrop. “Y-you- Are you alright, S-Sunshine?”
You stared back at him for a moment, debating if you wanted to scold him or not for that incident. It wasn't really his fault, but yet it was, but it wasn't. It was complicated. You sighed with a soft groan as you shifted to try and sit up. “I'm fine.” You were, a bit sore and maybe damaged pride, but nothing too serious.
Sunny held his hand out to you offering you grounding to pull yourself upright. He stood leaning down a bit to your height as he gently moved his hand from your arm to your cheek. “Sorry.” He stated, gently rubbing his thumb in to your skin. “Everything's good right? Nothing broken?”
You felt a small heat in your face. It was probably just your body coming down from the high of adrenaline from that whole ordeal. You took Sun's hand pushed it down and away. “I'm okay. Thanks for asking.”
“Of course!” Sunny beamed back at you contently. “Wouldn't want to have hurt our doll!”
You blushed, just straight up blushed. “N-Now hang on a mo-”
“Anyway! You said you wanted roof access?” Sunnydrop completely cut you off and quickly picked you up to take you out of the ball pit once again. That was twice now today he's carted you around like the doll he apparently thinks you are.
“Y-You're still interested in that?” You questioned him. “Put me down.” You tacked on, heart racing a little bit.
He gently set you down on your feet near the big wooden doors of the Daycare. “Yes! You have me all excited about it now! C'mon I know a way we can take.” He quickly skipped past you and shoved open the door, turning back to you with his hand outstretched for you to take it.
You rolled your eyes and decided to shove down any concerns you have for the time being and follow up behind him. Taking his hand his grip was firm but not strict as he gleefully paced a bit ahead of you. Sunny lead you through the familiar parts of the Daycare. Past the Lucky Stars gift shop and up the stairs back to the main counter area and entrance to the lobby. Not much was said as you walked through the drop off area and past the rushing fountain display. You figured Sun was too focused on his objective to keep up a conversation, and you always found it quite peaceful in the area between the lobby and daycare.
Your attention drifted back to looking up at Sunnydrop who's focus remained straight ahead of him. The only sound he made was the involuntarily jingle of his wrist bells. The sound was always soothing to you. You studied his face as the neon lights reflected off of his face plate and seemed to almost cause a glimmer in his otherwise blank eyes. You've been inside his personal bubble before, and he many, many times helped himself to yours, but you never really took the time to study him. To appreciate the craftsmanship of his design. All of the animationics were very well designed to be honest.
Your eyes took a moment to adjust again from the dimmer lighting of the Daycare's hall to the brightness of the upper balcony of the lobby. Across from you was the photo booths and diner, and then down the left was the actual way to the entrance and lobby. Sun quickly gave a gentle pull on your hand and instead lead you to the right, which was where the elevators awaited.
“Where are we going?” You finally ask him.
“You wanted to go to the roof, right?” He hummed softly as the elevator doors opened for both of you. “Need to go up for that, yeah?”
You'd only been to the second floor of the Pizzaplex. There was really no need to go any higher, most places you need to check on where within this area, and it was also the only places you were allowed to free roam without issues from management. Sunny'd been there a few times with you too, always finding some fun at the larger arcade vs the small one next to his daycare, and you even snuck in to the raceway once or twice to drive the carts after hours.
However he was determined to take you higher than the second floor. You watched as he quietly hummed to himself, a familiar tune you couldn't quite place. He observed the buttons on the elevator before selecting a certain combination of them. The doors closed and now you could only wait for your next stop.
Sunny let go of your hand now finally and turned to look back at you. “Oh, now I'm starting to get excited! Aren't you?” He rocked from side to side with his goofy grin, unable to sit still.
“A little bit, yeah.” You responded. “Are you sure this route won't get us in to trouble?”
“Hopefully.” He laughed. “You were the one who talked me in to this, now why are you afraid of getting caught?” He was clearly teasing you.
“I'm just thinking about you!” You shot back trying to match his banter. “They might punish you, and fire me!”
“Like you said, it's only trouble if we're spotted.” Sunny seemed contented on your previous comments. “It's kind of thrilling actually, breaking the rules and all.”
You cocked a brow towards the tall animatronic. “You're not going to get caught up on setting a bad example for the kiddos from now on, are you?”
Sunny didn't respond verbally so much as push out a sound of artificial air, waving you off without concern. “Should be blaming you for your bad influence! You're always distracting me!”
“Me? But I'm only here at night!” You were a bit confused.
“Oh, I was hooked long before that.” Sunny commented. Another vague statement that left you wondering.
And you didn't have time to ask about it either as the doors opened to a long hallway you haven't seen before. Sunny cheerfully skipped on ahead of you, popping his head in and out of the various rooms. You were unsure if he was just curious, or trying to find his way around. Maybe both.
The area looked like wide office area. You guessed it made sense for the business department of the company. Each room looked like a few offices or open space with cubicles. There was lots of printing and supplies, and everything was currently abandoned for the night. The only thing on was the overhead lights.
Your knew for sure that you weren't supposed to be up here. Who knows what kind of sensitive data could be in these computers and file cabinets? Your security duty and route were strictly set to the lobby and Daycare area, and your job was to be keeping an eye on Sunnydrop.
Who you currently lost sight of, causing you to panic a bit. Quickening your pace you glanced from office to office as you made your way down the hallway. The sound of boxes rattling and gleeful humming alerted you to his whereabouts. You stopped close to the large windows on the other side of the floor and looked to the large office at the end that stated it was belonged to upper management.
Sunny poked his head out of the door, an assortment of sticky notes in various colors already stuck to himself, and a handful of pens and a pack of highlighters in the other one. “Y/N, look!” He was pleased with himself. “They have highlighters! Can I have some for the Daycare? Can I, can I, can I, can I-”
“Sunny!” You hissed his name in a lower tone, not wanting anyone to hear you if they were still around. “Put those back! They're not yours and lets get out of here! We're not meant to be here, this is highly restricted!” When you thought about going off the grid in the Pizzaplex, you weren't expecting to walk in on corporate's personal space.
“Awh, it's all in good fun, sunshine!” Sunny did stiffen up a bit and let himself out of the room when he sensed your more serious tone. “We're on an adventure, aren't we?” He was still holding the highlighters.
“You were supposed to be leading us to the roof, not goofing off in the offices!” You slightly whined at him. “Get over here.” You motioned to the spot on the floor in front of you, staring back at him sternly. Your blood was starting to boil just slightly. Maybe you were starting to understand why some of the employees lost their patience with the Sun.
Sunny looked back at you for another moment, movements going still. He looked away, tossing the highlighters back in to the room and shaking off some of the sticky notes before slowly walking up to you as you demanded of him. He stood in front of you now, looking down silently. His face never changed with his smile, but somehow you felt like it was a bit flatter than normal.
You scanned him with your own eyes, looking back up at him. You were trying to keep your composure and be serious with him, thinking on what you were going to say next. You were debating calling this whole endeavour off and dragging him back to the Daycare where he belonged. You sighed, softening your look. There was a single sticky note stuck to one of his beams just to the right of his face that he missed. He really was just a big kid at heart it seemed, and genuinely got distracted. Not to mention excited.
A small chuckle escaped your throat as you reached up on your tip toes to snag the sticky note off of him. He flinched back a bit in surprise, not aware that was still stuck to him, though hearing you laugh it instantly made him want to join in with soft giggles of his own. He figured you weren't mad at him anymore, and that meant he was forgiven.
“So, you still know the way to the roof?” You asked him finally, folding up the small sticky note and shoving it in your pocket for now.
“I never forgot it!” He replied proudly. “Follow me!” He took the lead again and this time pushed past you, heading down to the other end away from the offices and to another door.
You followed suit, and paused when he did in front of the door. He looked back to you, as if gesturing for you to try the door. It was a security door labelled fire exit. Of course, you knew there was areas to the roof from the fire escape, in the case anyone needed to access the building from another point to save people in case of a fire.
Reaching a hand forward, you twitched in anticipation of being so far off bounds and actually reaching your end goal. You were also getting excited to show Sunnydrop the stars you were talking about, knowing he'd forget the lamp even existed once he saw the real deal.
All of these emotions quickly left though and were replaced with a frown as you noticed the handle of the door wouldn't turn. There was a key card scanner next to you, and you wouldn't dare scan your own to even attempt to open it for fear of being tracked later on. This was as far as the pair of you could go, which was disappointing to say the least.
“What now?” You questioned Sunny as you turned to face him. “We got all this way for nothing, it's locked.”
“Hmm.” Sunny bounced on his feet next to you. He didn't seem to put off by the sudden end of your journey the same way you were. In fact, he seemed even more excited now. “If only we had the proper security pass, huh?”
“Yeah.” You sighed.
Click.
The reassuring beep caught your attention as you saw Sunny leaning past you to tap against the key card scanner. The door unlocked and he casually pushed it open. He leaned casually on the door as he looked back at you. That grin you swear had grown in size since you last took notice of it. He gazed back at you, waiting to judge your reaction, though your surprised look already filled him in.
“How?” You questioned him, blinking again and trying to process that. “You said you guys don't have access to the exit doors.”
“We don't!” Sunny replied happily. “But, I know a guy.” He shifted now and clasped between his index and middle finger you could see him dangling a very high level security pass. It was clearly one meant to be held by the human staff of the complex, which begged the question of where he got it from.
And then it all made sense. When he dipped off with Moon earlier. He was using that to get around quickly and sneakily, slipping in to a restricted area, most likely through some vents. “Sunnydrop!” You gasped his name dramatically as you stepped through the doorway he was still holding open for you. “Don't tell me you've broken the rules again and STOLE that pass?”
Sun took a moment, as if he wasn't sure if you were kidding or not. Your smirk across your face let him know the difference and he chuckled a bit. “Oh, stealing is horrible! A very bad thing to do! Against the rules!” You watched as he pulled a simple magic trick to make the pass “vanish” though you knew he probably tucked it away somewhere. “I consider it borrowing without asking. Much nicer.” He clasped his hands together and smiled back at you.
You laughed at him again before offering him your hand willingly this time. “Shall we?”
Sunnydrop eagerly took it up, almost intertwining your fingers as he once again lead you on your way. You were faced with a large stairwell and then the roof access at the top. It wasn't too short of a climb before you were at the last door, which Sunny opened again for you.
Stepping out on to the roof you could hear the metal beams creaking below you. It was clear this area wasn't access in awhile, making you question how stable and safe it was to be up there. Given the fact Sunny could walk across it no problem though, knowing damn well he was a few hundred pounds of metal heavier than you, you decided it was safe enough. The cool air hit your skin and a gentle breeze stirred up. The soft jingle of Sunny's bells went off again in the motion.
Sunny let out a whistle of sorts as he looked around the roof. He stepped out in to the middle arms wide and twirling a bit. “We made it! We did it, look at us! Woo!” He paused then looked back at you. “Now what?”
“Have you forgotten why we're here?” You asked him as you walked up with him and gazed up at the sky.
“Oh right! The stars!” Sunny quickly sat himself down on the roof tiles and tilted his head upwards. “When does it start?”
You frowned now. Around you were some bright lights. Light pollution. It beamed up from the large parking lot below the complex. There were a few flood lights on the roof too for safety reasons. You could see some of the brighter stars, but it wasn't anything like you'd promised Sunny. You looked back to him, trying to gauge his feelings.
“Hm.” That didn't sound too excited or confident. “Well, I guess its a bit more than I could see from the Daycare windows.” He shifted again to look at you. He was rocking a bit impatiently in his spot, holding his ankles to keep his legs folded close to himself. “That's it?”
“Sorry.” You sighed, taking a spot next to him and pulling your knees to your chest. You looked down and out over the lights of the parking lot which were much brighter than the few dots in the sky. “I kind of forgot about the light pollution.”
“Ohhh, right.” Sunny followed your gaze, looking at the lights. “This is still pretty though. And fun!”
“We're risking getting in to trouble for nothing impressive.” You mumbled. “I just wasted our time.”
“Nah, you didn't! Don't say that!” Sunny snapped his head towards you. “I had fun! And this is still exciting! I don't really go out like this, actually I don't think I've ever been outside since I've been shipped!” He stood up now. “It's pretty cool actually! Makes me wish I could just hop off here and run off in to the fields and woods, go exploring. Be free!”
“Why don't you?” You questioned him. If he wanted to go right now you wouldn't be able to stop him. In fact, bringing him out here was against everything in your job description. You were supposed to keep him in check, not set him loose on the general public.
“Well, a few things really.” Sun put his hands on his hips as he explained. “I have a job I love dearly for one. The kids can be a pain, and messes are terrible, but overall I really do appreciate the little dewdrops!” He looked out over the parking lot. “I'd miss that, that's for sure. And they'd miss me! I can't do that to 'em. It wouldn't be right. Not fair, not fair!”
“And what else?”
“Well, battery power is the other concern.” He looked back at you again, gesturing with his right hand. “They only make us able to operate at full capacity for about a day or two. If I don't charge within that time frame, I go in to low power, and eventually I'll just turn off. What good would I be as just a husk in the woods somewhere, huh? Spooky!”
Sunnydrop always had such a positive outlook on things, didn't he? He made you chuckle again at his explanations. “Yeah, I guess that would be pretty bad.”
“Aaaaand-” Sunny walked himself over to you once more, kneeling down and taking one of your hands in his, holding it gently. “I wouldn't get to see my sunshine anymore if I left!”
“S-Sun...” Your breath hitched in your throat as you processed his comments towards you.
“I missed you so much during your holiday! Not being able to see you any more at all would be the worst!” He continued on. “I like spending time with you, and tonight was a lot of fun! Regardless of the stars!”
Oh god, he really meant that didn't he?
“Doll?” The pet name took your attention back to him, though you feel your face still running hot.
“Y-yeah! Sorry!” You cussed yourself out mentally and broke eye contact with him, though you didn't retract your hand from his grip. “I missed you too...” you kinda mumbled that, as if you were still in denial, but he heard you. And he was content with it.
“Awh! C'mere!” And with that you were trapped in another bone crunching hug. It made you wonder how he didn't hurt the children with such strength, or maybe it was only you he hugged with such force, afraid that if he'd let go you'd slip from his life for good.
Your moment was interrupted by a beeping on your wrist watch. It was the alarm you set for the hour when the lights would go out again. Around the three am mark they would stay off for an hour and come back at four. It was a new power plan the company was testing out. You pulled out of the hug and silenced your watch.
“Oh, that means its time to go, isn't it?” Sunny was still hovering close to you, hands outstretched as if he wanted to pull you back in again.
“Yes, we should get back inside before-” You stopped yourself, thinking on it for a moment.
Sunnydrop cocked his head to the side, wide grin questioning why you stopped your sentence.
“When the power cuts, all the lights go out.” You commented more to yourself than aloud to him. “If all the lights go out, that includes the parking lot and flood lights.”
“That would make it completely dark up here!” Sunny responded. “Even spookier!” He stood up now heading for the door. “We don't have much time left to get back, sweetheart.”
You snagged his wrist and pulled him back to you. He fell effortlessly with your grip, as if he allowed you to drag him around like that. He faced you, one hand propped himself up against the roofing.
“Y/N?”
“Stay.” You told him. “When all the lights go out, you'll be able to see what I'm talking about.” This would be correct.
The Pizzaplex was in a location that was just on the outskirts of the city due to the size it needed for building and expansion. The only light source off the highway was the building itself. If the power cut, it would be pitch black, thus killing the light pollution and allowing the stars in the sky to shine to their fullest.
Sunny looked shocked at your suggestion. “I can't!” He yanked himself away from you slightly but didn't stand back up. “Lights out is bad for me! You know that! I can't be around you when that happens.”
“Why, because of Moon?” You questioned him. You knew exactly what would happen to him when the power went out and not a light source bright enough around to keep him as Sunnydrop.
“Of course it's because of him!” Sunny responded. “We might hurt you if we stick around too long! You should run and hide, not much time left!”
“I'm... not afraid.” You told him sincerely. You have dealt with Moon a few times now, and you recalled that you were still alive and breathing after each encounter. It was still Sunny, they were one in the same.
Sunny looked away and focused on his hands in his lap. “It's not about scaring you.” He finally admired. “I don't want to hurt you.” He fiddled with his hands. “Pretty, pretty Doll. Don't want to break you.”
Your expression shifted to that of pity looking back at how Sun was acting. He was so concerned for you because he cared so much about you. He didn't trust himself around you when he was Moon.
“I almost broke you already tonight, remember?” He recalled when he had startled you on the stage. “Sorry. Really sorry about that.” He shifted to make an attempt to stand up again.
“I don't mind.” You stated, moving over to him and gripping him by the shoulders now. “You can stay, and we can see the stars together!”
Sunny looked back at you with his unending smile. He seemed like he was debating staying. He shifted a bit, hands on your wrists hesitant to remove you from himself. “I-I don't... You... I can't! I can't!” He tried to shake you off.
“You're not going to hurt me.” You reassured him. “I know it, because you're still there. You haven't actually hurt me yet, why would now be any different?”
“I...Hmmn.” He was at a loss for words. You made a good point. You always did, you always made so much sense to him. If he wanted to actually hurt you, it would have happened by now, wouldn't it? “Y/N...” He softly spoke your name.
“It's okay.” You gave him a smile and a gentle pap on the face plate. “I trust you.”
He shifted to look back up at you when you said that. He stiffed up a bit, but in a positive way as he let out a chuckle. “Heh.”
Confident he was willing to take the chance with you now, you shifted again on the roof and made yourself comfy against his side. You gazed up at the sky already connecting the dots between the few stars that you could already see. Sunny seemed to take your lead and followed your actions, laying down with you and gazing back up at the sky, waiting for the inevitable to happen. You could tell he was feeling a bit anxious and nervous with how he would shift next to you and keep folding and unfolding his hands and crossing his arms, but he was willing to sit this one though if you were going to be there with him.
Your watch started a count down, detecting you were not away from the animatronic and started giving out warning beeps before the lights would shut off. You silently counted along with the beeps, counting down as they went.
The sound of the place shutting down was rather loud when you were outside it. The sound of lights losing power in the parking lot and then the whole building under you. Everything was once again enhanced but in a different way as you could hear the sound of the wind and any junk that was blowing in it. The rustle of the grass and trees around the pizzaplex and the occasional wildlife that scurried about, probably spooked by the sudden switch of the power.
And above you, was the brightness of the night sky. It was still dark around you, but the sky lit up like a Christmas tree. There was so much to see, and it's changed since you last took the time to appreciate it in it's entirety like this. When there was no light pollution the whole galaxy almost became exposed. The only thing missing was the moon in the sky, which was partly shroud by the occasional clouds, but overall it was a much better scene to witness than the lamp in Sunny's room.
You felt a sense of pride and proud of yourself for being right about this. The scene was breathtaking. You turned your head to see if Sunny had caught glimpse of the stars as well. Instead you found him curled in on himself, hands over his head and facing away. You struggled to make him out properly in the dim light around you, prompting you to sit up and reach over, making sure he was okay.
“Sunny?”
“WE WARNED YOU!” The voice that met you was lower and more sinister.
You shrieked backwards as the transformation had finished. Moon didn't hesitate to pounce on you, driving you in to the roof tile as you struggled to fight against him. All the time he was hissing at you, seeming a bit more aggressive than usual.
“Naught! NAUGHTY, dirty little RULE BREAKER.” He shouted at you as he quickly overpowered your feeble attempts to flee. “Past your BEDTIME. AGAINST THE RULES. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE.”
You let out a pained gasp as he forced more air out of you, before finding his hands around your neck, slowly squeezing. He'd hunted you before in the past, and made threats, but you never really thought he'd follow through on it. It seemed he was upset about going against his programming, the rules. You knew how much he hated Rule Breakers. You'd be surprised if Sunny didn't ban you from the Daycare after this whole ordeal – if you survived it that was.
Choking for air you simply kicked trying to toss the bot off of yourself, and grimacing at the pain it caused you. You knew this wasn't intentional, it was reactionary. With what strength you had left, you gasped out for him to look up, pointing upwards above the both of you.
The red eyes that were boring a hole through your soul finally changed position, fixating on where you gestured, as if curious what you were pointing out. It was enough of a distraction that you could feel the choke around your neck loosen and you were able to finally buck him off to the side. You rolled over yourself as you tried to gasp for air and regain yourself. Seeing spots as your vision came back in to view and you coughed trying to steady your breathing again. You were about to get mad and cuss at Moon before getting up to escape, but when you turned around, the sight you saw memorized you.
It had completely captivated him. There he was, calm now. Calmer than you've ever seen when he was in this mode. You observed him, flat on his back and sprawled out on the tile as he stared straight up in to the sky. His eyes seemed wider than normal somehow, and the grin looking as if it was about to falter a bit, though that was impossible. You could see the stars reflecting in his eyes, how the light caught on his metal and highlighted his frame. He seemed peaceful, lost in thought as he gazed off in to the sky.
It was the most beautiful thing he'd seen. He never thought he'd ever get to see something quite like this. You were right, turns out. This was much better than that silly lamp he had in his room. Nothing could compare to this, not now. Once he's seen it, he'd never forget it. Saving it somewhere to his memory banks, a place he can look back at it whenever he wants. It was relaxing, it was calming.
You sighed, slowly making your way over to him. He didn't seem to react, or didn't care when you shifted and lowered yourself down next to him. You were still breathing a bit hard and recovering, but you'd let this whole incident slide for now. This was a completely new experience you weren't expecting to witness and you wanted to share in it with him.
The animatronic only moved when you placed your head near to his against the roof. He tilted his own head just enough to look at you. He seemed guilty now in his movement, looking over your exhausted form. “Sorry.” He finally let out through his voice box. It wasn't still quite Sunny's tone, but it was a bit more patient than the anger he spewed moments ago. “Didn't mean it. Didn't want to hurt my doll.”
The apology felt sincere. You nodded. “It's okay.” you shifted a bit closer to Moon and looked back up at the stars. “Pretty right?”
“Very. So pretty. It's beautiful.” Moon commented, though his voice was taking a bit to catch up with his thoughts. He was distracted. Put in to a trance by the sight before him. How could anything possibly measure up to this beauty? The answer almost escaped him. Almost. He stole another quick glance at you before focusing on the sky above.
“You can see this whenever you want you know.” You spoke to him now. “It's always like this, you just need the right weather. And no lights.”
“Mmmn.”
The pair of you spent some time as you stared back up at the sky. You attempted to point out a few constellations to him that you knew off hand, and he intently listened. You even explained to him about how the stars were actually other Suns, meaning really he was a star too. He chuckled but didn't go much in to the topic. He was just so, focused. And you loved it, watching as he'd just gaze up at the sky enjoying every inch of it. There was so many stars, so much to see. He'd never be able to count them all in one night. Maybe not even in a million nights. He wanted to count them though. Each and every one of them, and he wanted to do it every night with you. Just like you were now.
The clouds finally lifted and allowed the moonlight to shine down. The moon was full, high and bright in the sky and it actually lit up the area of the roof a little bit for you two. Casting long, strange shadows on stuff around you as it loomed overhead. It just served to make the sky even prettier with the all the stars twinkling around it.
Looking at Moon again, you couldn't process what you were seeing happening. Aside from being lost in a trance it looked like he was reacting to the moonlight. You swore you heard him gasp audibly as you watched him shift a bit. Sun's familiar beams started to work their way back out again, and the colour shifted a bit in his chassis. Still though he donned his night cap and the star patterns of his nighttime attire. It was an odd look, you've never seen from him before. As if he was caught mid switch between the two sides of himself.
“Hey.” You looked over him again, still mesmerized by the change in appearance. “You good?”
“Better than good.” It was a mixture of the two voices you got to know so well speaking at once. “I'm fantastic. I love this. I love the stars.” He hesitated for a moment as if he was going to stop himself from continuing, then decided against it as he breathed out. “I love you.”
You can't say you were really surprised at this point. It was just confirmation more than anything and it caused you to chuckle a bit. You were glad he was so attached to you and honestly, you couldn't say it sounded like a bad idea to admit that you liked him back too. “Good. I'm glad.” He only shifted to pull you in closer to him, without taking his gaze off the scene overhead. “I love you too.” You quietly stated, listening as some gears churned inside his chassis upon being told this.
It was peaceful for the both of you. Relaxing. There was no sound now, only the soft rustle of the breeze and of course his little bells that always soothed your mind. He only broke it once more during the hour you spent on that roof, simply addressing you.
“Thank you.”