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Gregory wouldn’t say it had been a long time since he’s been in the daycare, but he hasn’t stepped foot inside since that hellish night, the one that still woke him up at night screaming, though he was proud to say it had been reduced to once a week, rather than three. He had always been too scared to go inside, especially by himself. Of course he felt bad. He knew Sundrop was most comfortable in the daycare, which meant he rarely got to see him, though honestly… there was a part of him that was glad. He didn’t have anything against Sun himself, but there was always that concern that something would happen and Moondrop would come out. He couldn’t take that chance, he couldn’t even think about it without his heart rate picking up. It was a common topic that came up when he would sit down and talk to Freddy whenever he was feeling anxious. That event had been months ago and Moon hadn’t even been himself, so there was a part of him that felt frustrated with his fear of the animatronic, but he was working on that too, trying to be a little nicer to himself. All of it was… a lot of work, but he’d like to think standing here meant he was making some progress.
He was half tempted to scurry away and forget about the reason why he had come here, though. Freddy suggested talking to Moon about what happened. Maybe telling him exactly how he felt would help ease his tensions. Gregory quite frankly hated the idea, but he didn’t want to dance around this area of the pizzaplex or completely avoid Sun for the rest of his time here. Gregory chewed on his lower lip for a while, then sighed and knocked on the doors when he finally found the courage to do so. He had to fix this, and it wouldn’t start changing if he didn’t take this first step.
It took a moment before one of the doors opened. Sun appeared in the opening and blinked down at him, then gasped in delight. “Gregory! Hello!” He greeted him excitedly, throwing open both doors then held his hands up in the air. “If it isn’t the pizzaplex’s most famous and precious little resident! Oh how exciting! It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to see you.” He turned and motioned with both hands into the daycare. “Please, please, come inside! We should have a little tea party and catch up! All of my information about you is second hand, you know, but I do so love watching Freddy talk about you. He gets so excited, it’s very cute.”
“Ah, um…” Gregory hesitated as he looked into the daycare and swallowed, then looked back up at Sun. “Actually, can we maybe hang out somewhere else? Is that ok?”
“Oh! Of course, of course! Not a problem at all.” Sun stepped out and pulled the daycare doors closed behind him, then turned to smile down at Gregory. He scooped up his hand to hold. “Anywhere in particular you’d like to go?”
The boy’s nerves were already pretty high, so the handholding wasn’t his favorite thing right now, but he forced himself to not pull away, worried he might upset the attendant. “We can go to the pirate cove. It’s just around the corner.”
“Sounds good to me!” The pair made their way to the abandoned area of the megaplex while Sundrop asked him a bunch of questions. “I hear you started school again! Do you like it there so far?” He looked down at him and tilted his head. “I heard you got into a bit of a fight, but Freddy and Bonnie worked everything out.”
Gregory couldn’t help but smile a little bit at the memory of his principal run screaming out of his office like a madman after his two adopted parents scared the ever loving out of him. “Yeah, that was pretty funny.” He admitted as he stared down at his shoes, grateful for the topic. It distracted him from his purpose for being here for a little bit. “Things have been really nice after that though. I joined the soccer team and there’s a robotics program there too. For our midterm, we have to start working on our own little robots and for our final, they’ll get to fight each other.”
“Oh! How exciting!” Sun balled his free hand into a fist and shook it side to side. “That should be a lot of fun. I hope I get to see it when it’s finished! Have you always liked building things? Do you want to be a little engineer when you grow up?”
The boy shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s definitely more of a recent thing. I really like watching Bonnie make modifications to himself and the others, or when he works on those androids of his.” He finally looked up at Sundrop. “Have you seen them yet? They’re so cool. They’re super lifelike.”
The attendant shook his head. “I have not, but they sound super cool! Bonnie is so talented, so smart.” He smiled and poked Gregory’s nose. “And it sounds like you are too! It’s so cute how both of them have seemed to rub off on you in different ways.”
Gregory looked back down at the floor and rubbed his nose a little. Despite his nerves over the conversation they were about to have, Sun’s comment sent a little bit of warmth bubbling up into his chest. “Yeah I guess so.”
When they reached the pirate cove, the child walked over to a bench and sat down. Sun took a seat beside him and kicked his feet a little. He looked around while Gregory tried to figure out how to start all this. “I haven’t been here in a long time.” Sun spoke up, knocking him from his thoughts. “It’s so quiet now.”
Gregory glanced around too, taking in the decorations and abandoned pieces of playground equipment, all pirate themed. “What did this place used to be? I mean like, what happened here?” He asked.
Sun grinned down at him and laced his fingers together. “Why, this used to be Foxy’s attraction! The Pirate’s Cove! He used to tell the kids epic stories of sea voyages and ship battles, or sing little chanteys while playing his accordion. He’d set up little games where he’d split the group of kids into two teams and run them through pirate themed games to see which would earn the most points, and they’d get a prize!” He pointed to the window across from them. “I could see everything from the daycare windows. It looked like so much fun! Sometimes I would bring the kids in my care over and we’d have a little party!” He sighed happily at the memory as he rested his hands in his lap, and slowly, his smile grew a touch sad. “Now this place sits quiet, long since abandoned and forgotten. I do so miss that charming little pirate.”
The boy frowned and looked down at his knees. He remembered Freddy mentioning Foxy a while ago, when they were in the original restaurant down below. He said he had been decommissioned, replaced by Roxi, because the pirate gig just wasn’t as popular as it used to be. The idea was sadder now than it had been when he first heard it, since he learned just how sentient all the animatronics in this place were. He wondered what it must have felt like to be told he was going to be shut down because he wasn’t popular enough. “What was Foxy like?” Gregory asked as he looked up at the animatronic. “I’ve only heard Freddy mention him once.”
Sun hummed and nodded a little. “I can understand why. They used to be very close friends. I can’t imagine his decommissioning was easy on anyone, most of all him, Bonnie, and Chica. They were all very close.” He smiled then and held up his hands. “Oh, but Foxy was so silly! He loved kids so much, even if he would complain after hours about being too old to be running around like he did. He and Bonnie used to get into lots of trouble together with their little pranks, too. No one was safe, not even each other. But Foxy liked lazing around too.” He pointed up to two large masts of a pirate ship playset towards the center. Strung up between them at the very top was a hammock Gregory had never noticed before. “He would lay up there in his hammock for hours, napping, playing his accordion, or writing.” Sundrop waved a hand at the boy and giggled. “He was very good at poetry, and he would hate that I told you that, but he isn’t here to get defensive about it.”
Gregory raised an amused eyebrow. “Why would he get mad that you told me?”
“Because poetry is a very sweet and vulnerable thing, and Foxy didn’t like sharing that side of himself with people.”
“But he showed you?”
“Oh stars no!” Sun waved both his hands down. “I just happened to find one of his little poems one night and when he saw I had it, he got really mad and super scary, lots of fang and snarling. He apologized later about the whole thing, but I definitely didn’t make that mistake twice.” He settled his hands in his lap again. “I hope he had someone he could be his whole self with, though.” Gregory considered this and thought maybe he could understand. It definitely wasn’t easy to share some of the deeper sides of himself with Freddy. It was relaxing to know he had someone who wouldn’t judge him though and hoped Foxy had that person, too.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Sun clapped his hands together and turned a smile on Gregory. “So! Are you going to catch us up on things? We both want to know how the cutest little resident of the Mega Pizzaplex is doing! You said you joined the soccer team? That’s so exciting!” He spoke.
Gregory swallowed as his nerves picked up again when he heard Sundrop say ‘we’. It reminded him why he went to the daycare in the first place. He wished they could keep talking about Foxy instead, but he knew the longer he avoided this, the worst it would be. “I uh… well, actually…” He pressed his lips together as he thought about his next few words. “I wanted to talk to you both about something else. Ya see, I’ve been working on… processing everything that happened my first night here. It’s been really hard sometimes, but I think I’m getting somewhere with it all, so that’s good. I’ve been talking to Freddy about it and getting it off my chest makes it seem a little less heavy, so… well…” He paused again, not sure how to put this without hurting either Sun or Moon’s feelings. “I thought maybe it would help all of us if we talked about… Moon.”
Surprise came over Sun’s face as he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He frowned, then nodded a little. “I see. Would you like for us to switch places?”
“No!” Gregory’s head whipped up as he looked at him with big, terrified eyes, but he quickly swore and shook his head. “Shit, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t-”
“Hey hey, it’s ok!” The attendant held up his hands and gave him a little smile. “Don’t stress yourself over it, darlin’. We both understand. How about I speak for him instead, would that be alright?”
The boy thought about this for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m ok with that.”
Sun smiled and set his hands in his lap again. “Wonderful. Now, what would you like to talk about?”
Gregory looked back down at the floor as he fell into silence for a long moment, sorting through his thoughts. He ran this whole thing through his head so many times, but sitting here now, he forgot all of it. “What does Moon remember of that night?” He decided to ask.
There was a pause, before Sun answered. “Not a lot, I’m afraid. He remembers when you first came to the daycare, but it’s kind of fuzzy. He doesn’t remember anything after you turned off the nights, or any time the lights in the building went out. He remembers a little of what I did, but much of the night is a blur to him, all up until Roxi shocked us.”
“So he doesn’t remember… chasing me?”
The attendant frowned as his brows knitted together. He shook his head. “No, he doesn’t.” Just thinking about it had Gregory’s heart rate picking up, but he took a few, slow deep breaths like Freddy had shown him to get it back under control. “He wants to know what he did, if you’re willing to tell us.” Sun spoke softly, then held up his hands. “And there’s no pressure to if you’re not comfortable enough to talk about it.”
The boy chewed his lower lip and fiddled with his hands in his lap. He knew he should say it aloud, get it all off his chest, say exactly how it made him feel, but recalling it was hard. Not in the sense that he couldn’t, but because he didn’t like to, but he was here to clear the air and Moon wouldn’t know the extent of how his actions affected him if he didn’t tell him. “When the lights went off in the daycare, you chased me as I tried to restore power and get the lights back on, but… it was more than that.” He wrapped his arms around himself. “It felt like… you were hunting me. It wasn’t just trying to catch me, it was like a game to you. You could have caught me so many times, but instead, you’d do something to let me know you were there, watching me, or you’d slam against the playset walls and laugh when I scrambled away.”
Gregory pressed his hands into his lap as he balled them into fists and frowned. He could remember everything so clearly, as though it all happened yesterday, and he hated it. He could hear Moon taunting him from the shadows, see his red eyes glowing as they traced his moments through the daycare. He remembered the way he giggled and dragged his nails down the metal door of the security office later in the evening, when the mall lost power after they shocked Monty- and suddenly he was standing. He shook his head as he took a few steps forward and took a slow deep breath in through his nose, then let it out through his mouth. He did this a few times, counting to eight with each breath.
“Oh Gregory…” Sun started. His hands were up by his mouth now. He lowered them like he would say more, but Gregory held up a hand.
“Hold on.” The boy said. “Let me get all this out first. I need to get this off my chest. I have to tell Moon everything before… before I can start moving past this.” He glanced up at Sundrop. “If that’s alright.”
The attendant nodded quickly as he clasped his hands together and held them to his chest. “Yes, of course!”
Gregory nodded a little and took another deep breath as he rolled his words around in his head for a long moment. “What you did to me… really fucked me up.” He decided on, not seeing the point in sugar coating it now. He dropped his gaze to the floor. He couldn’t look at Sun while he said this. It felt weird to be a mix of angry, upset, and anxious towards someone who had nothing to do with why he was feeling this way in the first place. “I have more nightmares of you than of anything else, and I have been through some shit. I have met some very sketchy and dangerous people before, but none of them scare me like you do. All this happened almost a year ago, and it’s still fucking with me! I can’t go near the daycare without getting a dose of adrenaline, like I’m about to fall into a fight or flight reaction.” He balled his hands into fists. “I have a hard time seeing Sun because I’m afraid you’ll come out if the lights turn off by accident. I used to be so mad at you for everything that happened that night and for what you did to me, for adding to the baggage I’ve got to carry around. I’m still kind of pissed, because this isn’t fun to deal with and I know I’ll be dealing with it for a long time.” Gregory sighed in frustration then rubbed his face. “But I don’t want to be mad at you or scared of you anymore. Not just because it’s fucking exhausting to carry this tension all the time, but because I know it wasn’t really you. You were hacked and twisted into doing the bidding of some psychotic dickhead who likes to hurt and torment kids, I know that! But I can’t get my body to stop reacting like it’s life or death every time I even think of you.”
He paused and wrapped his arms around himself. It was silent in the cove as he gathered himself and slowly brought himself down from his heightened emotions. “I’m working on it, though.” He said quietly. “And… it’s probably gonna take a while, and I don’t know if I’ll ever fully trust you, but I want to be able to look at you and talk to you without having this buffer. I want us to be on good terms. So I guess just…” He sighed. “Be patient with me? I want to start interacting more, just a little bit at first, but maybe building up to… actually talking to you face to face?” He glanced up at Sundrop weary.
“Yes!” The attendant answered quickly. “Yes. He says yes very eagerly. He would love nothing more than.” He then paused, listening, then nodded, mostly to himself. “He wants me to speak word for word what he does. So everything I’m about to say is from him, ok?” Gregory gave him one, small nod in reply. Sundrop paused as he glanced to the side, then back at the boy. “I am so incredibly sorry for what I did to you, Gregory, and that sounds weak in comparison to how I really feel. Words seem so useless, because they will not make you feel any better, but they’re all I have right now, so I hope they will be of some small comfort. I truly want to right the wrongs I’ve done to you, and I’ll do so in any way you want me to. I’m very grateful for this second change you’re giving me, and I promise not to waste it. Please, take as much time as you need. Don’t worry about us. We’re both more concerned with you being happy.”
Gregory smiled a little at this as he felt some of his nerves start to ease. He had been nervous to have this conversation, because it wasn’t easy for him to talk about emotions with people he wasn’t comfortable with, he didn’t like being vulnerable, but both Sun and Moon’s wholehearted reaction made him feel a little better. He was glad he came. “They might seem useless to you, but they mean a lot to me, so thanks. I can’t say I’m totally looking forward to the emotional rollercoaster this is gonna send me through, but…” He took a deep breath, then sighed, “I am looking forward to finally addressing this. I don’t like it hanging over me.”
Sun held out his hand to him as he gave him a warm smile. Gregory hesitated, but slowly reached out to take it. The attendant held it lightly, so he could take his hand back at any time. “We’re looking forward to fixing all of this, too.”