Chapter Text
After the day he’s had, Luka would much rather not work with Monty right now. But, this was his job, he decided to sell his soul to Fazbear Entertainment. It’s not like the job was bad, the pay was good and he can't complain about all the tinkering he gets to do, It’s just Monty. He can be incredibly insufferable at the worst times.
Luka lets out a deep, stressed sigh, and knocks on the door, waiting for a response. I just gotta fix his claws and then I’m out of here. Just gotta put up with him for a little bit. The door slides open and there was the insufferable alligator, in all his glory.
“Nice of you to finally join me.” He says with a smug grin. Luka just groans and pushes past him into the room, setting down his maintenance bag on the floor next to the couch. “What, you’re not gonna talk to me?” Monty pries, still standing near the door with his arms crossed and a fake offended look on his face.
“It’s nothing personal, Monty I just don’t have the time or patience for your nonsense tonight. Take a seat and let’s get those claws fixed up, okay?” Luka says with a sigh. Monty grunts, but complies, plopping down onto the couch. Luka takes up whatever room is left, which isn’t much, and takes one of Monty’s much larger hands into his own. He inspects the damage before reaching down into his bag and pulling out nail polish.
“Are you even allowed to change the color?” Monty speaks up as Luka twists off the cap of the purple nail polish.
“I can do whatever I want, the worst they’re gonna do is tell me to change it back.” Luka responds, stubbornly.
Not even halfway through Monty’s first hand, he pulls away, inspecting Luka, curiously. “Come on, I seriously don’t have time for this tonight.” Luka protests, reaching for his hand again. Monty stares him down for a minute, confusion painting his face.
“Are you alright, Luka?” He asks, practically staring into Luka’s soul. Luka groans and reaches for Monty’s hand again, and he pulls it away again. “Tell me what’s wrong.” Monty pushes.
“Listen, Monty, I really don’t need you to act as if you care, I’m just tired and stressed. Let me finish this so I can go home, please.” Luka practically begs, his voice noticeably getting whiny and higher pitched. Monty stares for another minute and then places his hand back in Luka’s.
After that hand was done, Luka reaches for the other one, and Monty pulls away again. Luka groans again and Monty just stares at him. “You should take a break.” He states, not really asking, more telling.
Luka sighs and looks up to meet Monty’s eyes with his own teary ones. “Listen, as much as I want to, I really just want to get this over with.” Luka says, practically crying.
Monty would be lying if he said this behavior didn’t remind him of the kids he dealt with all day. “Will ya please just let me help ya for once? God, I’m tryin’ to be nice and you just wanna get away from me as soon as ya can.” He says bitterly, turning away from Luka. And that broke the flood gates.
Luka was sobbing into his hands now, letting out little whimpers as he tries to hug his knees to his chest. His tight uniform made it way harder than it needed to be, and that only made him cry more.
Monty was surprised, sure he saw kids crying all the time but, he hardly ever saw adults cry, let alone Luka. Did his words really hurt him that much? Surely not, he talks like that all the time. Something else has to be going on. He slowly gets up and moves over to the floor in front of Luka, getting to his knees. He hesitates for a second before placing his big hands on either side of Luka’s face.
“Can you look at me please, hun?” He says softly, lifting Luka’s head to face him. Something about his behavior just makes Monty go into ‘protect’ mode, almost like a parent. Why? He hasn’t the slightest clue. He starts wiping the tears from Luka’s face, careful to not scratch his already red skin.
“I’m sorry I didn’t realize I hurt your feelings that bad. You usually take my attitude pretty well…” He tries to understand what he did wrong, looking deep into Luka’s puffy and glossy eyes.
“‘S not that..” Luka tries to explain. His voice is way softer than before, he even sounds like a child Monty notes to himself. He waits for Luka to elaborate but realizes that won’t be happening anytime soon without being prompted.
“Can ya tell me what’s wrong then, Rockstar? You’re makin’ me all worried.” He explains, petting Luka’s cheek gently. He shakes his head quickly and violently. “Well, why not? I wanna make sure you’re okay.” Monty explains, moving one had to take Luka’s, hoping to comfort him more.
“Just…” Luka starts, looking around the room for answers. He shifts around, clearly uncomfortable in his clothes. “Dunno how to explain…” He says, looking down at his hand connected with Monty’s. “Your gonna think ‘s weird…” He tries to keep his voice quiet, knowing he’s already past the point of trying to stop it from sounding childish.
“I won’t think it’s weird, Promise.” Monty says with a smile, removing his hand from Luka’s to offer his pinky. Luka stares for a moment, then interlocks his pinky with Monty’s. Another tear slips from his eye and he wipes it with his sleeve.
Luka takes a deep breath, trying to pull himself out of the headspace enough to talk. “I’ve got this thing where… basically my mind goes back to a childlike state, I can’t help it, and it helps me destress but I didn’t think it would happen here. I guess I’ve just had a really long day.” He starts to tear up again at the end of the sentence, his voice getting whiny.
“I see…” Monty says, shifting to hold both of Luka’s hands in his, and squeezing them lightly. Luka looks away, embarrassed, a few tears slipping from his eyes. “Oh, Rockstar, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it helps you. I’m not going to judge you or anything. In fact, I’d like to help you. If you’d let me, that is.” He explains, putting on a comforting smile.
Luka nods slowly, letting himself slip fully. Monty stands up and offers his hand to Luka. He looks confused but takes it. “I can tell those clothes are uncomfy. Let’s go to the gift shop and get you something a bit more kid-friendly.” He says with a smile, tugging on Luka’s hand lightly to help him up.
The journey to Glamrock Gifts was filled with comfortable silence. Luka clung to Monty’s arm for dear life, taking careful steps, so he doesn’t trip over himself. But, of course, nothing can go right tonight and Luka trips over his own stupid shoes. If it wasn’t for his death grip on Monty he would have fallen face-first into the ground.
“Ya need some help, little one?” Monty offers with a smile. Luka nods, making grabby hands to signal for Monty to pick him up. He gets the hint, and, as carefully as possible, grabs the boy by his sides, letting him wrap his arms and legs comfortably around him. “Better?” He asks. Luka nods and cuddles up to Monty’s chest.
The rest of the walk was silent, and Luka almost fell asleep a few times, maybe a bit too comfortable in the arms of an 8 foot tall gator, but who cares. Monty stops in front of the closed gates of the gift shop and places Luka down on the floor. He stumbles and protests, but grabs back onto his arm. The door clicks open and the two wander inside.
Without missing a beat, Monty is already holding up different merch options to him, having him feel the texture. He seemed to be purposefully avoiding his own merch, and Luka hated that. After one more Freddy shirt, he got sick of it and took it upon himself to grab one of the black and green Monty Golf shirts.
“You sure that’s the one you want, bud?” Monty asks, genuinely surprised. Luka nods confidently. “Alright, Rockstar let’s get you some pants.” That was a much easier task, just plain black sweatpants with a little pizza graphic near the hip. Monty was content with his work and started leading Luka out of the shop, only stopping when he tugged his hand away and pointed at the stack of plushies with curious eyes.
“Can I have one?” He asks, already making his way over, regardless of what Monty would say. He was weak, to say the least, he couldn’t have said no even if he wanted to. And so he followed behind Luka as he wandered towards the shelves, happily pulling one of the big Monty plushies into his arms. He put on a big smile and showed it off. Monty laughed, “Alright, the big one it is. Let’s get you back to my room so we can get comfy okay?” Monty holds out his hand and Luka grabs it tightly, walking along beside him.
Once they were back, the big plushie was plopped onto the couch and Luka was delicately changed into his new outfit. “So, what now, little guy?” Monty asks pulling Luka over to the couch and dropping the plushie into his lap.
Luka giggles and gives the plushie a tight hug, “Dunno, paint nails? We match?” He suggests, pulling Monty’s hand over to him.
“Alright, we can do that,” Monty responds softly, getting up to grab the abandoned nail polish from before. He sits back down on the couch and takes one of Luka’s hands into his “Ya gotta stay real still for me, don’t wanna mess it up okay?” He says, opening the bottle. Luka nods excitedly, watching as Monty carefully applies the purple nail polish to his fingers.
He finishes up and blows lightly on the nail polish to help it dry quicker. “All done!” He says letting go of Luka’s hands. He looks down and admires them for a minute and then jumps up to give Monty a tight hug. Monty hugs back, squeezing lightly.
“Thank you, Papa!” Luka mumbles into Monty’s chest. Monty laughs and hugs Luka tighter.
“Of course, little man. Now, what’s next on the agenda?” He asks, pulling out of the hug to look into Luka’s eyes. He just looked so happy. Luka thinks for a minute, trying to remember what kind of stuff he does when he’s alone. We could play? But didn’t bring any toys. Hmmm. Got it!
“Can we color?!” He asks excitedly, already getting up and bouncing around, looking for paper.
“We can, but I gotta think of where we could get the stuff,” Monty responds, standing up as well. “How ‘bout the daycare? I’m sure Sunny would even help ya color. How’s that sound, Rockstar?” Luka’s eyes light up and he nods excitedly, grabbing Monty’s hand and practically dragging him out of Rockstar Row.