Chapter Text
Well, this was kind of screwed up.
Gregory couldn’t break free of the staff member’s grip as the man brought him through the entrance area and down to the hall surrounding the Daycare. “I’m not an escapee!” he snapped.
“Well, you are now. I don’t have the patience to deal with you.” The man stopped as they got to a grand set of double doors. He knocked on the door, Gregory’s wrist still gripped in his hand and his smile gone again.
It opened, revealing a sliver of a grand play place as well as presumably the daycare attendant. He matched the plushies Gregory saw, at least. Yells and laughter and the thundering of feet and spunky, upbeat music interrupted by random sounds escaped into the walkway. “Hello!” Sun trilled. He took notice of Gregory. “And hello to you, new friend! Who are you?”
Gregory glared at him. The staff member stated, “He’s an escapee or whatever. I dunno. He was causing a ruckus stealing out of the giftshop.”
“I wasn’t stealing!” Gregory snapped. “I was just looking!”
“An escapee?” Sun prompted, tipping his head. The spokes attached to his flat, round head shivered and lagged behind as if not directly attached. “I don’t recognize the little guy. He isn’t in the system. Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Take him.” The staff member let go of Gregory and pushed him inside. He gave Gregory a wide, venomous smile. “Now you go play nice with the other kids and have a Faztastic day.” With that, the man turned and walked off into the crowd.
Gregory stuck his tongue out at him.
The door shut.
“Well!” Sun exclaimed, immediately grabbing Gregory’s attention. “It seems that we have a surprise guest! What is your name?”
Gregory about retorted about it being none of his business, but he had a very big feeling that answer wouldn’t fly and he’d just be stuck here for longer. “Gregory.”
“What a nice name! What do you want to do, Gregory?”
“Leave,” Gregory stated flatly.
“Well, we can’t do that,” Sun admitted, putting a finger to his “chin” in a thoughtful expression. Though, he didn’t actually have the ability to move his plastic face and thus his permanent smile so he could only imply it. “Hmm… well, what about finger painting o-or telling stories or play in the jungle gym!”
Gregory looked at the lady behind the security desk next to the door. “Can you call the cops instead?”
The lady snorted and coughed up some of what she’d been drinking.
Sun set his hands on his hips, pressing down on the frills around his waist and jingling the bells tied to his wrists. “New friend! Let’s not talk like that. We have to think positive. After all, the easiest way to be happy is to be positive!”
“Well, I’m positive I shouldn’t be here,” Gregory countered. He saw the security lady typing something into her phone. Oh-ho-ho, they’re laughing at him, aren’t they? Well game on.
“I guess that’s one thing to be positive about!” Sun exclaimed. “Let’s be positive about something else, too. Do you like Fizzy Faz?”
Gregory’s eyes brightened. He immediately smothered the look. “I dunno, maybe. I don’t want your kid drink, though.”
Sun chuckled. “All grown up, I see. Well! I’ll get you the big kids Fizzy Faz, then! How about that?”
“I’m not thirsty,” Gregory claimed. “So, I don’t feel like it.”
“What about a snack?” Sun asked, a little less energetic but not at all negative.
Gregory’s stomach clenched at the thought. “I mean, maybe, I guess, sure. I’m not a kid, though. I don’t want baby food.”
“Great! I have just the thing! Come with me!”
Gregory followed, but without near the same amount of energy the weird bot showed. He shot a look back at the lady, who paid him no attention, and then the door.
First: Food. Second: Escape.
Gregory couldn’t whine about the food Sun took down for him. After all, he loved raisins and yogurt was nice. However, he couldn’t let any of these dumb adults win, so he did complain about them being for babies but ate them, anyway. Sun stopped paying attention to him fairly quickly after giving him food, as he had to rush over to a child who’d fallen off the castle-themed half wall surrounding the ball pit.
Gregory wolfed down his snack and turned his sights back on the door. He barely made it past the jungle gym before he felt a large pair of hands around his sides and his feet left the ground. He crossed his arms and glared at Sun as he was set down on the other side of the Daycare Attendant. “That’s the Security Desk! Little kids aren’t allowed to go there. How about we play on the slide instead?”
The slide… heh.
Gregory decided to play along. He very quickly lost Sun while on the slide. The Daycare Attendant went off to go to another few children. The boy peered over the mouth of the slide. When he found Sun going around the left half of the jungle gym and break line of sight, Gregory climbed up on top of the slide and climbed up the tall blue tube-slide as quickly as he could. A plastic, transparent bubble reared up in the middle of the slide. He found much less purchase on that than he did on the rest of the slide. Still, he managed to get over it. Just as he managed to get to the top, he heard the jingle of bells from a very quick ascent beside him. His foot slipped.
His imminent fall that would have surely landed him an injury stopped before it could truly begin.
Sun, who’d snatched the back of his shirt, shifted him so that he was in a more secure hold and climbed down. He set Gregory on the ground and put his hands on his hips. “New friend, you can’t climb on those slides. You could get hurt! We play inside the play structures, not on top of them.”
Gregory, arms crossed, puffed, “If you hadn’t snuck up behind me, I wouldn’t’ve slipped! I was just fine.”
“That was still very dangerous! I know you are not happy, but that does not mean you are allowed to put yourself in danger!” Sun took a quick breath. His voice became perky again. “Now, how about we do something safe? We can draw with the other kids and tell stories!”
Gregory’s pout deepened. Still, he took a breath through his teeth. He could’ve sworn the guy was doing something way out of sight. He would need to be sneakier next time. “Fine. But I don’t like coloring books.”
Sun was definitely distracted, now. He was putting on a puppet show. A good amount of kids clustered together to watch. Gregory sat with his back toward the ball pit so he could see the security desk. If he could get past the new security guard on shift, he could open the door and make a break for it. Sun wouldn’t be able to find Gregory in that crowd, or inside one of the shops. He was a master of escape. Once he got momentum going, once he plotted out his escape and correctly observed his surroundings and threats, Gregory could disappear. Sun happened to be a threat he had never before encountered, and frankly was happy to have avoided for so long. He really should have learned about him outside, just in case. But he didn’t, which stunk.
Gregory caught himself looking back at the little scenes the Daycare Attendant had put on, all of which were chosen by kids in the audience. It was… weird listening to him. Sun could mimic any voice the kids asked for perfectly. Did Sun have some sort of recording device? But that wouldn’t make sense. How was he able to put on such uniquely tailored shows with pre-recorded voices?
The boy hadn’t realized he sat through the entire show and had stopped thinking of escape plans until after Sun announced showtime was over.
“Look at that! We’ve been having so much fun, I almost forgot the time!” he announced, no longer holding puppets on his hands. “It’s time for little kids to take a nap.”
Gregory could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes. Many of the kids complained. Some weren’t as adamant as others, and some didn’t complain at all. Gregory, however, was much too old for naptime. What did they think he was, four?
Sun shepherded the kids away from their space between the ball pit and jungle gym and to a room adjacent. The door was across from the double doors and security desk, with Time Out being between it and the wall bordering the outside. Time Out. Gregory was a little surprised he wasn’t there by now. Even though he was not a little kid. He’d seen some kid there once for like, three minutes. Sun probably didn’t like Time Out or something. Or maybe kids just cooperated more here.
Whatever the case, Gregory had little more time to think about it as he had to go into the naptime room. Technically, he could try and slip out of the crowd, but the daycare attendant was vigilant. As if he could read Gregory’s mind, Sun gently nudged Gregory closer into the crowd where he couldn’t escape as easily.
The singular light above hardly worked with the navy-blue walls and ceiling and carpet. Beds at various intervals and of various sizes including cribs made neat rows. Stars dangled from the ceiling. Nightlights connected to the wall in places. At the end of the room, he spotted extra folded sheets and blankets as well as a basket of pillows.
Once everyone was inside, Sun shut the door and turned off the lights.
Not a lot changed in the room. A dull glow still overtook it and the nightlights glimmered, spattering the ceiling and walls with lights. Sun was the biggest change.
The spokes around Sun’s head retracted completely, replaced by a floppy blue night cap with yellow stars and a bell at the end. His clothes went from vibrant orange and yellow stripes to a navy blue with large, yellow stars. Some glowed in the blacklights. Half his face paled further into white while the smaller half darkened. Small, baby blue pinkpricks of light glowed from his bicolored eyes.
Gregory looked around. A few kids jolted at the change. Some decided to scurry to their beds. For the most part, the kids went about as normal, taking off their shoes by the beds. A few of the girls helped each other with their hair, be it in braids or ponytails. Moon strode past him to help. If Sun wasn’t crouched behind a box playing hide-and-seek or putting on a puppet show, he was standing up almost straight, surpassing any adult Gregory had ever seen and probably the glamrocks, too. If he moved, he skipped with long strides and exaggerated movements to rustle the bells on his wrists and ankles. Moon hunched over so he was smaller, and his own movements did not disturb the bells on his outfit quite as much. He was slinky like a cat more than bouncy like a hyper caffeinated puppy.
While Moon helped those who needed aid in pulling down their hair or taking off their shoes, Gregory surveyed the room. Though the semi-darkness was an annoying hinder, he still spotted a couple of doors. One had a restroom sign on it with Freddy and Chica’s symbols. The other had an employee’s only label.
“It’s time for bed,” Moon rasped.
The boy bristled as the daycare attendant somehow snuck up on him. He turned to Moon and squared his shoulders. “Yeah, well, I don’t need to. I’m not a little kid.”
“Even big kids need sleep and take naps from time to time.” His head cocked a little. Sun sometimes did that, but always in a quirky way. Gregory couldn’t detect any anger, but he wasn’t about to lower his guard an inch.
The boy puffed, “Well, I’m not tired. Why don’t you put the babies to sleep, and I go home?”
“Your parents aren’t here to pick you up, yet. Now come. It’s time for all the kids to rest their heads. First, I can read a story.” Moon took a few steps back toward to the other end of the room. A few kids sat attentively in squishy bean bags. Well, some more attentively than others. Gregory couldn’t help but hesitate. Bean bag chairs! They were way better than the little plastic ones in the rest of the daycare or the plastic or wooden ones adults used.
Gregory eyed Moon but relented and followed. Moon turned his head so he looked ahead. Gregory couldn’t help but feel he wasn’t in the clear, though. If he was to escape, he would need to shake off this Moon guy. What better way to shake off some naptime adult person thing than to pretend to sleep and sneak out in the dark? Heh. They were making it too easy for him, now. Pretending to sleep and sneaking out. Oldest trick in the book!
…a trick everyone knew…
Oh, well. By the time he was noticed, he’d be long gone.
Moon’s voice contrasted Sun in every way. While Sun was loud and bubbly and had a lighter voice, Moon was quiet, calm, and his voice was deeper.
The once quite active children on the bean bags started to lose their grip on their previous energy. Gregory realized much too late what Sun did. While he was the opposite of Moon in every way, he forced kids to move. There were times they rested and had snacks and drew, but other times of running and climbing and depleting any energy they had so they ran on nonexistent reserves now–reserves easily broken with a bedtime story and gentle encouragement to lay down.
Gregory. Wasn’t. Tired.
He’d been tricked enough that day. He was absolutely not falling for anything new. He did copy the other children around him to be sure he was putting on a good act. If he acted well enough, if he just pretended, he was all the closer to freedom.
Gregory was gently ushered to his own bed, where he had to take off his shoes and lay down with a blanket pulled over him. He could hear the clinking and whirring of gears and mechanical parts and the creaking of the daycare attendant’s joints while he was this close. The lights turned off completely.
Thankfully, another kid nearby started whining.
What a baby. Probably a nightmare. Nightmares were stupid.
“Frère Jacques, frère Jacques
“Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
“Sonnez les matines!
“Sonnez les matines!
“Ding dang dong
“Ding dang dong,” Moon cooed.
Gregory’s eyebrows furrowed. That wasn’t Spanish, but it sounded a little bit like that. French? Italian?
“Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
“Brother John, Brother John,”
Oh. Brother John. Gregory remembered that song, softly sung by a feminine voice. But he didn’t recognize the first part. She probably just didn’t know French or whatever it was.
“Morning bells are ringing!
“Morning bells are ringing!
“Ding dang dong
“Ding dang dong,” Moon went quiet. The kid once having a nightmare no longer whined. She sniffled and mumbled something.
Gregory shut his eyes tight and tangled the blanket in his fingers.
Moon repeated the lullaby just as smoothly as before. Bots probably knew all sorts of languages. Though, whoever voiced said bots probably didn’t so different actors who knew those languages would have to record themselves. So why didn’t Moon sound different?
Gregory wormed deeper into his blankets and shut him out as best he could.
He felt the tips of lithe fingers run over his hair.
Gregory let out a quiet, forced hiss like a shrinking balloon.
The hand retreated.
Gregory went quiet again, burying his face in the pillow. He didn’t need some lullaby or wish good night or whatever. It wasn’t even night. Stupid bot. It was the middle of the day or something. A little later than the middle of the day, but still. Not night.
As soon as Gregory got a grip on himself, he went back to listening to his surroundings. Moon sang a quiet lullaby to some other kid further away. Gregory couldn’t see the daycare attendant, but he heard his voice further down the room. The employees only door stood on the opposite side of the room.
Hmm…
Maybe…
Moon’s lullaby ended. After a heartbeat of silence, Gregory spotted the daycare attendant moving and heard the quiet clink of his bells.
He shut his eye again as he noticed Moon turn in his direction.
He listened to Moon as he moved. His joints creaked when he stood in one place as he was constantly moving, though Gregory only heard that when Moon was rather close. When he was very close, the boy could hear the clicking and whirring of his inner mechanisms. Muffled footsteps patted across the ground as Moon moved along with the occasional quiet jingle of his bells. Whenever a child made a disturbance of any kind, be it an unpleasant dream or the inability to stay asleep, he stopped beside them.
Gregory couldn’t get a routine from the daycare attendant. He seemed to be moving at random. Though Gregory could guess he made a rough circle, moving clockwise, the constant interruption of either a child needing his attention or something trivial like moving the blankets or his occasional venture toward the center to check on them interrupted said “pattern”. Gregory put down his indignation fiercely as he realized Moon’s quiet steps approached and faltered near Gregory more often than any of the other children.
He knew, didn’t he?
Ugh.
Maybe if one of the little ones got too fussy, it could cover him. After all, they liked noise and they were on the opposite side of the room.