Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You felt a small huff escape your lungs as you bent down and pull at the edges of the small garbage can that rested under the counter. You grip the bag tucked over the side and pull it out so you can empty the trash for what feels like the millionth time today. You had only been working for a couple of hours so far today, but it was still hectic. Luckily by now, you’ve gotten the hang of these rush days, but you’re secretly celebrating how your manager agreed to give you all the open night shifts with no argument. Sure, the place is enormous and honestly really intimidating on the night shift, even after your many months of working here. But honestly, working alone at night was shockingly delightful. Especially compared to the insanity that is the weekend day shifts. You would happily take a peaceful shift in the later hours, even if you are going to be emptying the garbage almost all night. As you tie the bag's top and move to put in a new one when you hear your name called.

You look to find one of your new coworkers, Kyle (you think) standing in the doorway with his bag slung over his shoulder. He flashed you a small, tired smile, ever so slightly creased in concern. Why was he concerned?

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? Night shift alone is always kinda intimidating. I really don’t mind staying late if you don’t wanna be alone” He offered again. He had mentioned it earlier and you simply waved him off, just as you were doing now.

“No! No, no, no! I’m fine dude, really. It’s just emptying the trash and wiping stuff down, I’ll be out of here in no time!” You once again assured him. Honestly, he was right, nightshift by yourself was actually very nerve-wracking, or at least it was when you first started working here. Back during your first night shift you still didn’t really know all the ins and outs of this place yet. You only really knew how to get to a few places and do your usual jobs at the prize counter. Not to mention all the rumors that circulate about what goes on here at night, it's more than enough encouragement to get all the new employees out of the building on time. You were no exception when you first started, but thinking back on it now it all seems kind of silly. Kyle was probably thinking about all the rumors that you hear when you first get the job, so you couldn’t really blame him for being concerned. Besides, nobody else knew your true motives for working nightshift, and you’d like to keep it that way, even if it did cause a little extra anxiety for your friendlier coworkers. “Thank you, though. I really appreciate the offer.” You gave him a reassuring smile.

“Well okay, I’m out of here then. See you next time, and good luck on the night shift.” He cast you a small, albeit hesitant wave before heading to a clock-out station. You found yourself smiling as you finished tying up the bag and put a new one in before heading to the large garbage cart in the nearby staff closet. You tossed in the bag of what’s probably mostly receipt paper before snagging the to-do list and clipboard that hung up on the wall.

“Let’s see what the damage is.” You mumbled to yourself as your eyes scanned the list of your tasks for the night. It honestly was a very light list for the night. Shockingly so. When you worked the closing shift most Fridays after a busy afternoon, there was usually a lot of work to do, and a lot of work that you guys just couldn’t get done before it was time to leave. You remember adding quite a few tasks on this same clipboard for the poor person who had to work the night shift last Thursday night because you had an early final the next day. Maybe everyone worked extra hard so you wouldn’t be overloaded on your first night as the new permanent night shift employee. Honestly, that probably wasn’t the case, but you liked this job and almost all of your coworkers so far, so you pretend that's the reason anyways and feel a pleasant warmth in your chest at the thought. “Not too bad for a Friday night. I might even have time to swing by the daycare before lights out.” You hum out to nobody in particular. Truth be told you probably wouldn’t have time. As much as you’d love to see Sun before the first hourly charge, you were feeling a bit sluggish today and didn’t really feel like busting your ass for only a little bit of hang time. You’d have to make it up to him later, but for now, you might as well get started.

You load your cart up with supplies and hook up your earbuds to your phone, picking out a playlist to work to. Once you find the right one you begin pushing your cart toward the northern arcade. You knew you were going to be alone, yet the stark emptiness of the large building still gave you a nervous chill down your spine. There were sounds, but they were all soft or distant humming and whirring from all the inner workings and mechanisms of this place. When you’re surrounded by customers and an insane amount of screaming kids, the background sounds like the air vents whirring, or the slushie machines clinking to life with a loud hum get lost in the mix. But without the overwhelming stimulus of a typical day at the pizzaplex arcade, all those little sounds seem much more apparent now. They’re actually rather quiet and honestly sounded distant, background noise really. But for some reason, whenever you were here alone they felt all too close and all too loud. The only noise breaking through the thick fog of the building's murmurings was the wheel of your cart. It was kind of broken, and a little crooked, making the occasional high pitch squeak as it rolled. It wasn’t really loud, but hearing it echo back along with your gentle footfalls, left a strange turn in your stomach. This place was admittedly kind of spooky when it was empty. Well, partially empty. It didn’t take long after the building closed for the security S.T.A.F.F. bots to find their usual patrol spots. You always waved or greeted them, often giving silly nicknames or having one-sided conversations with them, regardless of how silly it might look. It made you feel better and helped break up the silent emptiness. Not to mention you’d probably hear the glam rocks roaming about at some point in the night.

The very idea of running into the star animatronics was rather nerve-wracking. During your first few days on the job, you had run into and been somewhat introduced to each of them at some point or another. They had all been relatively pleasant interactions, although very brief. Now, the idea of bumping into them without another person as a buffer made your guts twist in knots. There were plenty of rumors about the animatronics here being unlike anywhere else, rumors you’d later come to find are very true and very understated. People often vouched that if it weren’t for their silly appearance one could easily mistake them for actual people. Although that phrasing didn’t sit quite right with you, you were undeniably curious. Even the friend who helped get you this job had vouched for how utterly alive and sentient these bots were.

If they were really so human-like, what's to stop you from making a fool of yourself as you risk doing around regular people? Imagine being judged by a machine. You don’t think your ego could take a punch like that, honestly. But you were still curious enough to find yourself hoping to run into one of them. By now, of course, having slowly worked more and more nightshifts up until now, you did eventually run into the glamrocks. Although, your interactions had been brief, and very few and far in between, they seemed rather friendly so long as you showed them a little respect. Freddy and Chica had been exceptionally friendly and even invited you to stop by Rockstar Row anytime you wanted to chat. It was easy to see why they were favorites among the younger kids, always charming and chipper. Roxy and Monty on the other hand had been a bit rougher around the edges. Both had a gruff exterior, but it was obvious they didn’t dislike you. But they were both still a little intimidating and made you a bit nervous. However, you still found yourself giddy at the chance to talk to them again whenever it presented itself, ever curious to know more about the stars of this place. You’ve always been too nosy for your own good. You smiled to yourself as you continued musing on thoughts of how talking to one of the bots tonight might go. Scrubbing and humming idly as you work, you occasionally take a break and play on your phone, having almost finished your work on the Northern Arcade. You’re about to spray the last table when the lights suddenly go out. You can’t help but let out an embarrassing yelp as you’re suddenly plunged into darkness, stopping in your tracks.

You look up at the lights that rested high up on the ceiling before drawing your eyes around the room as you adjusted to the dark. You remember being told about the hourly charge cycles, even though you found the reasoning behind it to be a little ridiculous. How could you possibly forget that you’d be stumbling about in the dark as you work here alone? Especially since the animatronic who comes out at this time is a big part of why you wanted the night shift in the first place. The lights going out were always so abrupt, you were beginning to think you’d never get used to it. You wanted to spend more time with your new friend by doing this but now you were starting to wonder if the other employees were all laughing at you for choosing the worst shift ever. You shook off your bitterness and returned to wiping down the last spot in the arcade. The lights going out were a minor thing with the lamps that were built into each cart, which you quickly flipped on so you could see the path to the next table.

You had no doubt Moon would be passing through soon since your new schedule was already put into the system. He had gotten into the habit of checking your schedule to see when you worked the night shift. He insisted it was so he would know when he had to babysit you but you were pretty certain it was so he could plan ahead how to pester you throughout your shift. If it was anything like your most recent nights with Moon he would probably ignore you for this first charge cycle so he could run his usual route around the plex, but by the second cycle, he was usually by your side ready to give you a hard time. The thought of the animatronics typical antics brought a small smile to your face and a slight bounce in your step. You quickly finished whipping down the last remaining tables and peeling off a couple of Mr.Hippo magnets from the coin machine. You were about to chuck them in with the trash before a small idea came to your head and you swiftly tucked them into your pocket.

Placing all the supplies back onto their homes on the cart you begin to make your way across to the South arcade to finish the second half of your duties for the night. Honestly, you’re really glad Kyle (you’re still unsure if that's right) offered to help you restock the prize counter before he left. If he hadn’t you probably would have been here another hour or so and would probably get stuck in here. The chilling memory of Moon chasing you around, calling you a rulebreaker because you got lost and stayed past midnight was enough encouragement to get out of there on time. You remember you had later asked him about that, once the two of you had become more acquainted.

“What would you have done?” You asked, looking up at Moon through your lashes as you lazily whipped down a bench. He only tilted his head at you with a soft click, a silent request for you to elaborate. “Y’know, my first night. When I stayed too late and you chased me around. What would you have done if you caught me?” You stopped your movements and looked at him directly, intent on getting a response. He let out a deep hum as if he had to genuinely think about it, before tilting his face back to its regular position.

“Punished you.” He replied as if that explained it all. After that, you had spent a good 10 minutes trying to get HIM to elaborate only for him to explain that as long as you followed the rules, there wouldn’t be a repeat of your first night. So you did. Follow the rules that is. Very strictly for a good while, before you felt you and Moon had grown close enough you could be a bit laxer with it. For example, there were a few nights since then when you had so much cleaning to do that you couldn’t have possibly made it out before midnight. But instead of playing a deadly game of tag again, Moon would scold you about time management and sneak you out of a fire escape in the side area of the building, all the while reminding you of how it was a one-time thing.

Honestly, the past eight months had been a long and slow transition between things with you and Moon. The first two months you only had the night shift one week a month like everyone else in the arcade areas, splitting the work evenly among you all. During that time Moon had followed you around insisting he had to babysit you so you didn’t get lost or break anything. It baffled you that he treated you like such a nuisance yet went out of his way to spend his time out of the daycare with you. It wasn’t until you talked to the other employees of the plex that you found out you were the only one who really talked to him, as everyone else went out of their way to avoid him. Most areas of the plex got all their cleaning done before close so there wouldn’t have to be anyone on the night shift. The rest just went out of their way to avoid him. You had come to realize that he was probably lonely, and your giving him a second chance was an unexpected surprise to him so he probably enjoyed having some company, even if he did make you really nervous. That realization is what lead you to gradually take on more and more night shifts until eventually, you worked almost every night shift there was at the arcade. Now over the past few months of working with Moon all the time you had grown quite fond of the animatronic, just as he seems to have grown friendly towards you. As the lights suddenly came back on and blinded you, you sat down to rest for a moment, idly playing on your phone as your mind raced back to your second encounter with the animatronic.

To say you were nervous to be back was an understatement. You were downright terrified, as memories from the chase you endured the night before wracked a series of anxious shivers down your spine. It was as if you could still feel its long gangly hand wrapped around your ankle. Not to mention that whole weird thing with the arcade machine that you still can't quite recall without causing a serious headache. Honestly, the whole experience was so wild and ridiculous you had a nightmare last night. That was the first time you'd had a night terror in years, and it was entirely unpleasant. You had wanted to talk to your manager about it today, maybe beg a coworker to change shifts with you. But after you had insisted you could handle the night shift on your first month you don't think you could the embarrassment of turning tail after the first night. After all, you took the shift to look like a hard-working go-getter, backing out now because of a bad experience would have the opposite effect you wanted. Besides, this time you were ready. If that jester freak tried anything tonight he'd come face to face with your trusty broom.

A faint jingling suddenly shakes you from your thoughts, cutting through the eerie quiet of the sleeping building's hollow air. You pause your music and remove your earbud before looking around for the source of the ringing, quickly snatching your broom from your cart. It takes you a moment to realize that the sound is coming from overhead, and moving at that. You lock on to where you think the sound is coming from and see an unfortunately familiar gangly form moving in the darkness. You feel your heart stop as your veins run cold with a shivering fear you tried to shake off, but couldn't. You squint and find yourself leaning forward slightly as if that would help you see any better without the lights. As you looked closer though you did notice a faint glow of stars on its pants, rather puffy pants at that. You hadn't noticed that the night before. You note the dangling lines from its wrist and the odd swaying form that adorned what you think to be its head. The more you look the more faint details you pick out, like the odd line that seems to be coming from its back and disappearing into the shadows on the ceiling.

That’s right, there was a security animatronic that roamed the place every hour, and that was probably why he was calling you an intruder last night. That also seems like an important fact to remember. Man, you really need to keep a notebook on you and start writing this down. If you kept it up you were gonna embarrass yourself in no time. Or maybe get yourself killed. No. Stop. Stop thinking like that. You don't know he would've killed you if he caught you. But, something deep inside you told you that he probably would have. Spacing out completely, you failed to realize how intently you seemed to stare at this thing, clutching your broom handle tightly all the while. Until its head swiveled and two shining red lights landed on you, seemingly staring you down now too as it seemed to freeze in midair. Your breathing hitched and you began to mentally berate yourself for not just locking yourself into one of the employee break rooms littered around the plex until the lights came back on. With the glow of his eyes shining over his face you faintly make out the light crescent shape adorning the left side of its head. It looked like a Moon. Wait, Moon. Why do you feel like you've heard that mentioned before? Come one brain, now is the worst possible time to forget something, especially with the killer robot staring you down. Now wasn’t the time to be lost in thought however as it was undoubtedly staring at you, and it was bordering on awkward. Somewhat shakily, you lifted your hand in a soft, half wave and felt your mouth run a little dry. Okay. Very dry.

“Uh, Hello?” You managed to rasp out, inwardly cringing at how meek and shaky it ended up sounding. You offered what you hoped was a convincing smile and slowly placed your hand back on the cart. You felt your nerves bubbling over as you stood there, having a staring contest with it for what felt like an eternity. The longer it stayed quiet, the more your skin prickled with nerves. You were about to try and say something else when it suddenly moves, stopping the air in your lungs once again. Its face merely clicks, and tilts to the side, oddly reminding you of a dog that’s confused. Though all you can see is the glow from its eyes, you sense a slight tension pulling at its features. Were you not so weirded out and laser-focused on it you might have missed it. Though its face remained stuck in what you now see as a large, garishly toothy grin, you have a feeling it’d be frowning if it could.

It clicks its head to face upright again, as a brief puff of static comes from it, sounding like an odd, mechanical huff. It turned back in the direction it was headed, and moves forward, leaving you standing there feeling a little incredulous. Well, that could have gone better. Note to self, the security bot that flies is not only deadly, but also kind of rude. You suppose that spares you a bit of small talk or addressing last night's fiasco as you try to ignore the pang of disappointment lingering from the uneventful interaction. You spent all that time worrying only to be snubbed. Carrying on with your work, it wasn’t long before the lights suddenly flashed back on.

The South arcade didn’t take nearly as long as the North arcade did, now that you had gotten into the swing of things. You looked out at your handy work, searching for any spots you may have missed. You still have plenty of time to dump the trash and get to the front exit before the shutters locked for the night. With a bit of renewed energy, you push your cart back toward the prize counter, humming along to the tune in your ear. You feel an odd lump under your shoe making you pause, and lift up your foot to see what you stepped on. Shining back at you was the smiling face of the company’s beloved mascot. A Fazcoin. You picked up the small token, turning it over in your hand as a lump formed in your throat. You had found a fazcoin last night too, opting to spend it on that weird game tucked away in the corner. Princess something or other, you couldn't really remember. And the thought of the game alone sent an off wave of panicked shivers through you as your mind struggled desperately to recall anything about actually playing the game. But all your mind could muster was images of the nightmare you'd experienced. Twisting, shifting, amorphous blobs with horrifying glowing features and teeth lurching forwards, all reaching their slimy dripping flesh out to grasp you. The memory made you shudder before you put the coin back on the ground, opting to leave it there this time.

Now with your work mostly finished it was time to begin looking for the trash shoot that you should be nearing soon. But you didn’t. You kept walking and walking, for far too long. You knew the trash shoot was closer than this. The thought had you pause and look around in confusion. Where were you? You still saw arcade games but the theme seemed different than the main arcade hall. You took a few strides back through the door you just walked through and looked around, trying to gauge where you had wandered off to. Taking a few steps around and peeking at your surroundings proved pointless, so you eventually gave up, sulking back to your cart and activating your fazwatch. You tried to read the map on it, but the size was so small you struggled to make out anything on it.

Without any sign or warning, you were suddenly plunged into darkness. You groaned as the sudden change caused your eyes to have an even harder time trying to read the small screen. Seriously, what's the point in putting a map on such a tiny watch? You eventually ended up backtracking a bit further, still utterly lost and growing more frustrated by the second. You pulled the map up again, squinting hard as you desperately tried to read the world's most confusing map.

"Hey!" A raspy voice barked somewhere behind you. It wasn't particularly loud, but in the quiet of the charge cycle, it gave you a serious scare as you yelped and turned on your heels. Standing just a few feet in front of you was the Moon-faced thing from earlier. It was honestly rather large up close, looming over you as it stood tall staring down with its red optics. Once again, despite the still grin, you could practically feel it frowning. Without really thinking you grabbed your broom and pointed the handle at it, before taking a few stumbling steps back, creating what you felt to be a safe distance between you. This seemed to make it frown more, at least you think it would frown more.

"What are you still doing here?"It croaked out, voice oddly sounding like a growl mixed with a whisper. Its voice didn't sound as scratchy and growly as it had the night before, but that didn't mean the sound of it still didn't make your heart stutter in fear.

An odd twisting feeling worked its way through your gut. It felt like it was staring you down, waiting for you to move. Like you were prey and it was just waiting for you to run before it pounced, like it had the night before. Its body seemed eerily still, held taught, and poised. You felt an odd tingle of panic, something in your gut was screaming that you were in danger, again.

"Me?" You replied dumbly, still a little jostled at the sudden appearance of someone else, especially this thing, the last bot you wanted to see in this place. As if you didn't look ridiculous enough you even pointed at yourself for good measure. He only seemed to tighten his stance in irritation, causing you to quickly return your other hand to the broom handle.

"Yes, you" It hissed out, its tone made it very obvious it was annoyed, as it sounded tight and strained. "It's midnight, the shutters are locked. All human staff is supposed to be gone by now. " It crossed its arms as it spoke, glowering down at you. The sudden movement caused a spike of anxiety in you that made you just the broom handle out farther and take another step back, which only seemed to annoy it further. "Staying past your shift is against the rules" Its voice rumbled lowly, sending a shiver of fear sparking down your spine. It seemed to hunch forward toward you, making you lean back slightly. "You're trespassing" it hissed out at you. That familiar term was NOT helping the fear pumping through you right now.

"Oh, right um. Actually, I was hoping to be gone by now, b-but I don't really know where I am." You drummed your fingers anxiously as you fumbled out an explanation, never once taking your eyes off of it. "I was trying to get to the garbage shoot to clear out my cart, but I got turned around, and I guess I just uh…lost track of time." You say as you briefly glance at your watch. Seeing the late time you feel your voice slowly die in your throat. The way he stared down at you reminded you of when you'd try and make up an excuse to your mom as a kid, who was not buying any of it. You pulled the broom handle back a bit and tilted your head at it."Sorry."

It seemed to regard you for a few more moments before heaving a very crackly sigh and turning its heels. It muttered out a grumbly "Come with me."

"HAH" You couldn't help but scoff. "I'm not going anywhere with you. In case you've forgotten you chased me around last night!!!" You were standing back up normally now, feeling absolutely incredulous that it actually expected you to follow it no questions asked. "How do I know you're not going to try something again?" You called out angrily, stamping the broom on the ground with a huff.

It turned around quickly, glaring at you from a few feet away. Oh, you definitely pissed it off. It stomped its way toward you as you once again stuck your broom out in a warning to try and get it to stop. But it was useless as it grabbed the tip of the broom and pushed it aside before getting uncomfortably close to your face. You could practically feel the murderous intent dripping off this guy. "You don't. And I wasn't asking" he growled before releasing your broom and turning to walk away again, leaving you softly trembling in your spot.

It waved its hand over its shoulder signaling for you to follow. You stumbled for only a moment before quickly pushing your cart, trying to catch up with it. It seemed to keep a brisque pace, walking just a little ahead of you, which was fine by you as you were happy to stay far away from it. It occasionally glanced back at you, probably to make sure you were still following it. The awkward silence was beginning to gnaw at you far worse than your crackling terror as you came to a sudden decision.

"Thank you!" You suddenly spoke out, pushing your cart to the side before coming to a hurried walk to keep pace beside it. It looked over at you, seemingly surprised by your little outburst. Having its eyes on you reminded you why you were scared of it in the first place, causing you to lose a little of the bravado you had built up for the past few minutes. "Thank you," you repeated. "for uh, y'know, um, showing me the way" you hate how your voice wavered a bit, as your anxiety clearly seeped through. You came to a comfortable speed and turned to look ahead of you, occasionally glancing at it.

"No problem." It grumbled back, looking ahead as it walked. You found yourself stumbling on how to continue the conversation. It must have noticed you getting ready to speak again because it beat you to the punch. "I'm sorry," it spoke lowly, seeming to pause to gauge your reaction. You must've looked at me dumbfounded as you felt because it continued "for chasing you last night. I shouldn't have treated you like a trespasser. New employees get lost all the time" It muttered, flooding you with a light relief that you aren't the only one, as well as an explanation to its behavior last night.

"That uh, that's ok. Well. The misunderstanding part not the chasing me part but uh, thank you. I guess." You found yourself looking down at your feet. That, kind of explains it you suppose. After all most people don't work a night shift until their second month, it was only your second week. It wasn't the first time one of the bots didn't recognize you as staff since some of your information was still being uploaded into the system. "We haven't met yet," You start, holding your (unfortunately trembling) hand out to it, offering to shake. "I'm-"

You don't get a chance to present your name, as its voicebox rumbles it out before you can. "It says so on your employee badge" it seems amused at your surprise as it points to your lanyard in explanation. It doesn't take your hand as it keeps walking, although a bit slower now.

"Oh." Your step pauses for a moment as you shake off the fact he's ignored you twice now. But, you quickly rush to return to your place at its side. "And uh, you areeee" you drawl out, hoping to break the tension a bit further, the more you talk to it the more your fear melts away. Mostly. It once again stares down at you, seemingly considering something. Quite the silent brooding type huh? It suddenly reaches out and grabs the half-fallen hand you presented and gives it a curt shake.

"Moondrop. But everyone calls me Moon." He remarks gruffly, before pulling his hand back to his side. His pace seems much slower now, not that you properly noticed. You find yourself taking in all the little details you couldn't see on him during your high-speed chase yesterday.

"Well, thank you, Moon. For uh, helping me" You shyly thanked him again, coming to an abrupt stop as he halts beside you. "And, you know, not killing me" you chuckle dryly, earning an unreadable squint from him.

"Here we are" He holds his arms out in a half-assed "ta-dah" pose, drawing your attention to the familiar handle on the wall. The garbage shoot, that's right! You were trying to dump the trash.

You flashed him a sideways grin as you awkwardly shuffled over and pulled the hatch open. He seemed to step back as you worked, watching you rather than leaving like you expected him to. You quickly hefted the garbage bags into the shoot, grabbing two at a time. Soon enough you were slamming the hatch closed and dusting your hands off. Seeing you finish your task, Moon steps back towards you, keeping a respectful distance which you very much appreciate. Just because he apologized doesn't mean you trust him yet.

"You can put the cart back away in the closet right there" He lazily lifted his arm up a small distance and pointed a few feet further down on the wall you were standing by. Sure enough, you could make out the shape of a closet door.

He only seemed to grow impatient with you once again as you rushed to put the cart away. You fumbled a bit and wound up knocking off some supplies that you sheepishly picked up and put back into place. Once you closed the closet door you turned to see Moon once again staring at you.

"I'm assuming you know your way to the front doors?" He grumbled, not even attempting to hide his bristling mood. It seemed the longer you were here the more annoyed he got. You wanted to assure him that of course, you did, but your confident demeanor quickly fell as you realized, of course, you didn't. He seemed to notice the slump in your shoulders as he once again chuffed a small crinkly burst of static. "Come on then."

Repeating the process earlier you quickly returned to his side for the somewhat long trek to the entrance. You still felt quite embarrassed that you got so lost on your second night alone, let alone have to be guided by a robot you're still pretty sure tried to kill you. Unlike the first time, you two remained quiet for this walk, as you stopped back by the prize counter. You swiftly gathered your belongings and clocked out before returning to Moon’s side. The walk wasn't as long as you expected and soon enough you were both standing a few feet from the entrance to the pizzaplex. Surprisingly, the shutters weren't down and locked like you expected them to be, and a thought suddenly came to you.

"I thought the doors locked at midnight every night." You turned to Moon, confusion lacing through your crinkled features. Now that you were thinking about it, the shutters were open last night too, when you ran out to your car. You had been in such a rush you hadn't really noticed.

"They tend to keep them open later when new hires work, so they don't get locked in" He didn't even try to hide the teasing tone as he cocked his head to the side to look at you. You felt your cheeks heat up as you walked towards the door, very much ready to return home to your bed's welcoming embrace. You heard what sounded vaguely like a chuckle behind you before Moon crooned out a taunting "Nighty Night". He said the same thing when you ran out the shutters last night. This bastard was totally teasing you right now!

"Good Night Moon" you called over your shoulder, annoyance leaking into your tone before pushing the glass door's handle. The cold, night air rushed to sting your face as you hurried to your car, desperately ignoring the haunting chuckle that rang out from behind you.

Back in the present, you reminisced about all the little details of that night that you hadn't really noticed at the time. Honestly, he'd never admit it, but after you ran out the first night he probably noticed the open shutters and realized you were a new employee. Maybe that's why he apologized the next night, but he hasn't apologized since. About anything really, especially not as directly as that. He's never been. good at the whole emotional vulnerability thing, but honestly neither was Sun.

Just like always, you're interrupted from your thoughts, as the lights once again flicker off, leaving you in a dark and empty arcade. You once again flick on the cart's lamp and dig in your pocket for some loose bills you're sure you stuffed in there earlier. You shuffle over to a familiar corner of the arcade, one of the only places where the power isn't shut off in the building during the charge cycles. The vending machine's light is a welcome sight to your surprisingly hungry brain. You fish out some crumpled-up ones that you quickly tried to smooth out. You shoved a couple of them into the machine before eyeing your snack options. A lot of the popular choices were sold out since it was a busy day after all. You decided that some El Chips brand cheap snack would have to do the trick as you punched in the number and waited for it to drop down. You quickly snatched up your snack, popping the bag open as you turned around, only to yelp as a large figure stood silently before you. Chips flew everywhere as you clamped your hand to your chest, willing your heart rate to slow back to its normal rhythm.

"NOT FUNNY MOON" you griped as you smacked the animatronic with your now empty bag of chips. He merely cackled, thoroughly enjoying your misery as you glowered down at the mess on the floor before you. "Now I gotta clean this up!!" You grumbled, making your way back to your cart, pointedly ignoring the crunch of your shoes crushing some of the chips.

"Serves you right" Moon chuckled lowly. "Your situational awareness is terrible" He leaned casually against the wall by the vending machine, watching you as you started to sweep up the chips.

"Or maybe you're just an ass who's too good at sneaking" you grumbled. Ignoring his chiding at your use of foul language. A comfortable silence fell over you too as you finished cleaning the chips before making your way back to Moon and the vending machine as you fished out some more crumpled-up bills from your pocket.

"What else do you have left to do tonight?" Moon hummed as you straightened out the bills and promptly slipped them into the machine.

"Just gotta finish up here and take out the trash. Pretty light for a Friday, but I have until midnight to do it." You hummed back, ordering a second bag of chips, casting Moon a pointed glare as you retrieved the new bag from the dropbox.

"Trash huh? Guess I'll have to escort you so you don't get lost then." His tone was light and teasing, and you tried to fight the smile creeping up on your face. You failed miserably.

"Oh of course! What would I do without my big strong escort to guide me?" You sighed dramatically clasping the chips between your hands and holding them up to your face in a mocking swoon pose. Moon chuckled, the laughter rumbling deep in his chest, causing a light flutter in your own. That had been happening a lot lately. You're not sure why.

"So you'll have a bit more free time tonight?" Moon asked, doing a horrible job at hiding his excitement. Lately, you had been getting your work done extra early to spend a bit more time with Moon, usually, so you guys could binge movies and shows on your phone. Being moved to night shift permanently had come with a small pay raise, so you had splurged a bit and got a good streaming bundle so you could watch more stuff. Currently, you and Moon had been binging a rather long show, and just last night the two of you made it to the final season. You weren't surprised he was so excited to binge it, especially since you didn't work the night shift this weekend.

"Yes, Moon. Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to binge tonight!" You pulled open the fresh bag of chips and sat down at a nearby bench to enjoy your little snack. "You know, you wouldn't have to wait for me to watch stuff if you'd just introduce me to-" Moon cut you off with a loud dramatic groan s he draped his body next to you on the bench. You had been trying to convince Moon to introduce you to Sun for a couple of weeks now, and vice versa with Sun. You had grown to know and care for both sides of the jester animatronic. All the while you had assumed that each knew of your friendship with the other. The only reason you realized that wasn't the cause was that your friend Monnie (who got you the job in the first place) told you how delighted Sun was to have a friend he didn't have to share with his darker counterpart. Which, you suppose is probably the same reason Moon is just as hesitant to introduce you to his cheery counterpart. You hated hanging out with both of them without them knowing, it felt like you were lying or cheating somehow, which certainly wasn't your intent. But they also weren't being very fair about it either.

"Noooooooo" Moon groaned out, clearly annoyed to be having this conversation again.

"Come on Moon! If you let me meet Sun, then I can leave something with you for you both to watch TV on, and then he won't question where it came from!! All problems solved in one go!!!" You tried to explain it in a way that would convince him, but he just wouldn't budge. He rotated his shoulder until his arm was bent backward, facing you and positioned like he was controlling the mouth of an invisible hand puppet.

"Never gonna happen, starshine" the hand mimicked mouth movements, as though it were talking. You couldn't help the grin on your face as you snorted and ate another handful of chips.

"Fine, fine. I'm just saying, it'd make things a lot easier." You sighed as you finished your chips and tossed the bag into your cart.

The rest of the shift was business as usual, you and Moon chatting idly and teasing each other while you worked until he had to take off just before the lights came back on. You wondered how he got around from the daycare so fast, making you chuckle as you muse over the idea of Moon desperately booking it back to the daycare whenever the lights come on. You had quickly finished cleaning the Southern Arcade and dumped the trash in your cart. Right as you were putting said cart away, the lights cut out. It wasn't long until you heard a familiar jingling behind you.

"Hello, again spaceboy" You mused aloud. You heard him hum as he patiently waited behind you. Once you finished putting up the cart you turned to face him, flashing a bright smile. Your smile quickly fell as you took in his thoughtful expression. Even though his face plate couldn't change, you spend almost every night with someone for several months and you learn to read their moods. This mood meant he was gonna get into your personal business, and that did not bode well for you. "You ready to go binge the last season?" You asked, trying to distract him from whatever he was plotting. His head clicked to the side as he regarded you thoughtfully before he suddenly righted himself and stood up a bit straighter.

"Sure" He cooed. "But only if we play a game on the walkover". Uh oh. Games with Moon were never good. He was always up to something when he asked to play a game. He always asked, but it was never a request.

"Oh?" You tried to play off your spike in nervousness. "Sure. What game do you want to play?" You began to walk to the daycare as Moon started striding beside you. He hummed, pleased at your agreement to play whatever he had plotted.

"How about 20 questions?" He asked coyly, his smile tilting into what you know to be his smug grin. Well shit. You're definitely doomed.

Chapter Text

You groaned loudly as you let your shoulders slump forward. Moon’s static grin only tugged higher as his eyes lit up a bit brighter. Amusement painted his features, as he tried (and failed) to hide the slightly bouncier momentum in his step. Usually, whenever you two played twenty questions it went one of two ways. It either went casually, with you two asking mundane questions that often devolved into silly “Would you rather” scenarios. Or, it would become a very serious back and forth with you two probing each other with uncomfortable questions you wouldn’t ask each other otherwise. It usually resulted in a very tough conversation or a tense but comforting new level of understanding. You often used the game as a way to get Moon (and occasionally Sun) to talk to you rather than bottle things up. In fact, it was almost always you who suggested the game, even going so far as tricking them into agreeing just as Moon has now done to you.

“No, Moon.” You shot an annoyed glance at him, trying to look serious enough to deter him from insisting on playing it. Unfortunately, that only seemed to spur him on. Dammit.

“Ooooo” he crooned as he strode a bit in front of you before resuming a steady pace. His head and chassis spun around to face you as his legs remained facing forward, causing an involuntary shudder to wrack through you. No matter how much he and Sun did that you never really got used to it. “But you already agreed.” His head tilted to the side, his grin stretching into more of a smug smirk. “You aren’t a liar, are you?”.

“So what if I am? Lying isn’t against the rules or anything” You shot back at him, as you stood straight again and crossed your arms. You were teasing of course, but it seemed Moon isn’t in the mood to tease about this tonight.

“No, it isn’t. But it’s very very rude” His head did a full rotation, before it stopped upright, allowing you to see the deep black of his eye lights highlighted by white pupils. After all your time spent with the dark half of the daycare attendant you’ve come to learn that Moon isn’t very keen on expressing his emotions, but his eyes often gave away his state of mind. Usually, his eyes remained a bright red with white pupils, indicating he was his usual grumpy self, but you’ve come to recognize that when his eyes turned black he was getting annoyed. It was a very slippery slope from annoyed to violent.

“Okay, Okay. I’m nothing if not polite.” You sighed and held your hands up in mock surrender. Looks like you weren’t getting out of this anytime soon. “Usual rules I assume?” You breathed out slowly, trying very hard not to let the building yawn you felt break free. Looks like your energy drink from just before close is wearing off.

“Yes,” He hummed, eying you carefully as if he could sense your stifled yawn. “Our usual back and forth, two passes.” His eyes returned to their usual ruby glow as he leaned closely into your space, smug grin returning. “But maybe if you play nice I’ll give you a surprise at the end.”. You felt a sudden flutter in your chest at the abrupt intrusion into your personal space.

That had been happening a lot lately, that fluttering feeling, usually followed by an internal warmth that spread through your chest. Well, that and Moon invading your personal space. Sun had always been very up close and personal with you so you had grown very used to his touchy-feely behavior to the point it didn’t really fluster you anymore. It honestly felt like he had no concept of personal space, but he was very respectful of any boundaries you put down. Meanwhile, Moon was actually very avoidant of you at first, avoiding any contact with you as if you would burn him. Over time he’s become a bit bolder, although it was usually so he could poke, prod, and tease you. But lately, it seemed he liked to invade your space far more than usual, just for the sake of being in your space. But it’s not like it got under your skin. Nope. Definitely not.

“Okay, Moon man, what’s your first question?” You smiled, trying to stamp out that fluttery feeling, silently sighing in relief as he leaned back out of your space. Moon hummed thoughtfully, holding the elbow of his arm as his other hand tapped at the bottom of his faceplate. You couldn’t help the real smile that fell across your features at his regular theatrics.

“Let’s start off easy. Twenty is a big number after all.” He grinned down at you, gaze softening a bit as the playful atmosphere returned between you two. You were about to make a joke about him counting on his fingers, but Moon spoke up again with a slightly perky lilt to his voice that surprised you a bit. “How did your finals go?” He asked, briefly spinning his head to face in the direction you two were walking. He was probably making sure he wasn’t going to stumble into anything.

“They went good, I guess.” You sighed more than spoke, and Moon’s head spun back around to face you, causing the bell on his hat to chime as it whipped around.

“Come on now, they can’t have been that bad.” He said, tone teasing but sympathetic. He really was a big softie when he felt like being nice.

“No, no. They weren’t anything terrible. I’ll pass the semester for sure, but I know my grades could have been better. But I’m seriously looking forward to having next semester off. I need a break before I go completely bonkers.” You stuffed your hands in your pants pockets as you walked, tiredness slowly creeping in more and more. Moon hummed in understanding but stayed silent, waiting for your question to him. “Hmmmm what do you do on nights that I’m not here?”

“Wait for you to come back” Moon slouched, clasping his hands together as he pressed them into his cheek. His never changing faceplate still bore its static grin, but you can tell he’d be fake pouting if he could. You bit back a laugh and rolled your eyes before staring at him, waiting for a real response. He merely chuckled before standing up straight again, dropping the act. “Usually I just run my regular security patrols. Sometimes I see if there’s anything, good someone, left in lost and found.” Moon stuttered his steps for a moment, seemingly tripped up by something. “You mentioned a while ago you were thinking about changing majors.” You hummed in response as he spun himself back around and retook his place walking beside you, slouching forward lazily, so you didn’t have to crane your neck up as much. “What are you thinking of changing it to?”

“You promise not to laugh?” You couldn’t help the cheeky smile that tugged at your lips as you watched Moon mime crossing his heart. “Robotics and Mechanical Engineering.” You could barely get your answer out before you burst into a fit of giggles at Moon’s deadpan expression. “Okay, Okay. In all seriousness, I don’t really know. As much as I love Studio art and Illustration, I think I want to do something more business oriented. I’ve been kind of looking into Graphic Design a bit.” You caught your breath as Moon mulled over your answer. In the brief silence, you wracked your brain for another question.

You two continued like that for a while, asking light-hearted questions and playfully joking back and forth at each other's answers. Both of you still hadn’t used your two skips, and you were beginning to think you had been worried for nothing. So far your little question game had been very lighthearted and was actually a rather enjoyable conversation. It was always nice when Moon opened up to you. You were so caught up in your fun little game you had hardly noticed just how much you two had slowed your walking pace.

“How uh,” You mumbled out softly, actively avoiding the animatronics gaze on you in favor of staring at your old, worn-out sneakers. “How old are you?” The question felt bizarre to ask a robot, especially a robot you’ve come to befriend over the past several months. All of the animatronics’ AI was programmed to be child friendly, but they all also seemed to behave like adults as well, so it wasn’t really a question or concern of how old he was mentally. It was more of a curious wonder at how old he was physically.

“Why?” He asked, softly. You were a bit surprised at the lack of his usual growly inflection. You looked up and met his eyes, which held an emotion you couldn’t quite place, and suddenly your nerves got the best of you.

“Well, I don’t know. It’s just um” You fumbled with your words as he continued to stare at you, gaze never breaking. “The Pizzaplex has been around for a while, and I know it used to have a lot of other animatronics and stuff.” You awkwardly rubbed the back of your neck, recalling how a long-time employee once mentioned there used to be a fitness area themed around an animatronic named Ballora. “And I know there was a period of time where the entire place got shut down and completely redone. I just kinda noticed you aren’t really like the glamrocks or even the staff bots and it just made me wonder if you uh, were here since the beginning.” You trailed off, eyes daring to meet his again. He slowed his pace down, eventually stopping, causing you to have to take a few steps back to stand next to him again.

“I-” He began but quickly fell quiet, seemingly thinking about how he should answer this. “We” He corrected. “Sun and I were built and activated when the pizzaplex first opened. Back then there was a lot more animatronics, and this entire place looked very different. ” He paused again, seemingly lost in thought. You placed a hand on his arm, a silent comfort letting him know he didn’t have to continue if he didn’t want to. He seemed to appreciate this and you kind of understood why. If this place really was that different that means any of the original animatronics he was friends with were probably gone now. It also explained why his and Sun’s make and model seemed so different from all the other animatronics in the plex.

“Sorry, if that brought up some unpleasant memories I didn’t mean to-” You began, only to be cut off by Moon suddenly speaking.

“My turn.” He chimed sharply, holding his hand beside his face as though he was telling you a secret. “I heard a rumor that you got called into the big boss’s office the other day” He hummed out in a sing-songy tone. “What was that all about anyway? Did you finally get in trouble like the little rulebreaker you are?” He chuckled deeply, once again leaning into your personal space. Oh boy. That is most definitely NOT a question you could answer. Well, you could, but it was probably best if you didn’t.

Your mind raced back to just a few days ago, when just as Moon said, you had been called into the big boss’s office. It was very much reminiscent of that nerve-wracking feeling from when you got called into the principal’s office or a teacher asked to talk with you after class. You didn’t know why or how but you were certain that you were in trouble somehow. To be entirely fair, that isn’t a far-fetched assumption when it came to working in the pizzaplex. There were a lot of rules for working here, a lot of which were unwritten and often unspoken. Something kind of tells you, befriending the animatronics and spending a chunk of your shift binging Netflix with one of them was kind of frowned upon.

You remember sitting there, in that stiff, uncomfortable chair on the other side of his desk as he talked on what seemed to be a very important phone call. You hadn’t even made it to the clock-in station when your manager ushered you to his office, simply stating that the boss wanted to see you. You waited anxiously as he finished up the phone call, spinning around in his desk chair as he looked you up in down.

“So you’re the kid they’re all talking about?” He asked, voice gruff and somewhat tired. You must have looked as confused as you felt because he opened up a file on his desk before saying your first and last name as if asking for confirmation.

“Yes, sir?” You spoke, inwardly cringing at the awkward crack in your voice. This was it, you are so unquestionably fired.

“How would you like a promotion?” He set the file down and leaned forward, resting on his elbows. Once again, your shock and confusion must have shown on your face because he simply cleared his throat and continued explaining. “I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of rumors regarding the Daycare Attendant, especially regarding the Moondrop animatronic. We moved it over to working security patrols during the nightshift after a certain… incident took place in the daycare.” You just nodded dumbly, listening as he explained. “Well, even after limiting its contact with human employees the daycare attendant has been known to be quite the problem in regards to human staff. But, both sides of the animatronic seem to have taken quite a liking to you.” He then leaned back, spinning the file around to face you before sliding it across the desk for you to look at. “You’re the only employee to not only agree to work nightshift frequently, but to ask to be moved to nightshift permanently. Which is shocking considering the incident you failed to report a few months back.”

“Incident?” You asked meekly, but you could feel the panic swelling inside you and clenching tightly at the back of your throat. You knew exactly what he was talking about. It happened during your second month working here, during one of your earlier interactions with Moon. You had stayed behind far past your shift, despite not being scheduled for the night shift that night. You had wanted to get another look at that game, the one in DJ Music Man’s basement. The same one that had shocked you on your first night, and had been haunting your dreams ever since. Honestly, it was foolish of you to even attempt, especially knowing Moon had patrols at night. Had it not been for the security guard Vanessa stunning Moon when she did, you probably wouldn’t be here today. But, you hadn’t reported the incident, and even went out of your way to get Vanessa to promise not to report it either. So how did he know about it?

“Yes, incident. But I am curious. Why didn’t you report it?” He asked, still seemingly calm and somewhat nonchalant about this entire conversation. Ah yes, Vanessa asked you the same thing when you begged her to keep quiet.

“Because” You began, trying desperately to keep the slight shake out of your voice. “He was just doing his job. Unless scheduled, human staff aren’t allowed to stay after hours, and for all he knew, I was simply an intruder.” Despite the straightforward answer you gave, something in you compelled you to open your mouth again. “Besides,” You added. “He’s my friend.” You never really did know when to shut up, did you? Regardless he hummed as though he was considering your answer.

“Well, regardless of the incident, we’ve noticed a vast improvement in the behavior of the daycare attendant! It is suspected that this improved attitude and behavior is directly connected to your influence on them.” He pauses as if thinking for a moment before continuing. ” Both of them. It’s because of this that we would like to test this theory and see if consistent interaction with you could continue to benefit them and their performance.”

“So, uh” You chime in, slowly, still unsure about how real this all was. “What position would I be promoted to?” You ask, still trying to wrap your mind around this entire situation. This seems to be the correct question to ask as he suddenly smiles, for the first time since you entered his office.

“You’d be promoted to an animatronic handler. Specifically, the Daycare Attendant’s handler.” His smile remained, and somehow you feel as though he has you right where he wants you.

“What’s a handler? I’ve never heard of that position before.” Your eyes flit back down to your file sitting on his desk. You briefly notice the ‘notes’ section of the file where there seem to be comments from your managers.

“Well that’s no surprise, we haven’t really had a need for them at this location. When you work with AI this advanced in a company with a history like Fazbear’s, you want to take some extra precautions to make sure the animatronics don’t go all wonky.” He explained, but you still didn’t quite follow. “ A Handler’s job is to take care of the animatronic their assigned to. Simple stuff like weekly tune-ups, reporting any defects or malfunctions so they can get repaired, and keeping them company. That sort of thing. Think of it as a robot babysitter of sorts.” He leaned back and opened a drawer on his desk, pulling out a stapled stack of papers before handing it to you. “This contract details everything that will be expected of you should you agree to take the position. We’ve been thinking about this for some time, but we’re offering it to you now because we heard you’ll be taking some time off from school, and it’s gonna require you to work full-time to start.”

You began to scan over the details of the contract, skipping over the standard Fazbear NDA stuff to get to the good parts. Just like he said it requires you to work the position full time for at least 3 or 4 months, making daily and weekly reports on their behavior and customer reception. The contract lists a few other tasks you’d be required to do, like ordering and managing supplies for the daycare and approving all requests from the daycare attendants themselves. Once you got to the part about your new hourly wage and benefits you felt your mouth fall agape. The pay raise was honestly, quite substantial. A little ridiculous actually. You were also pretty shocked at the fact that Fazbear even offered full coverage. He seemed to catch on to what part of the contract you were staring at as he suddenly spoke up again.

“I should warn you, accepting this position comes with a series of risks. Like I said before, I’m sure you’ve heard of the rumors surrounding this company, and the daycare attendant. We want to make sure you’re being compensated properly for putting yourself at risk like this.” He waited patiently as you continued to read over the contract.

Honestly, this sounded amazing. Not only would you get paid to spend time with two of your favorite workplace friends, but you would also get a crazy good pay raise and some great benefits. It all looked pretty cut and dry until you reached the end of the prerequisite requirements for the position.

“Mechanical repair training?” You looked up at him after mulling over what that could mean. “What’s that?”

“Ah, that. We’re using you as a bit of a test round for an animatronic handler program. If things go well with you, we’ll hire a few other staff members to handle the other animatronics. Since you’ll be dealing with them daily it’s imperative a handler knows basic maintenance and repair for the animatronic they’re in charge of. So we have a couple of the fellas in parts and service ready to train you in basic mechanical repair for all the animatronics in the pizzaplex should the need ever arise.” He explains cooly as if he was ready to address this like it would be an issue. That notion alone had you feeling a bit nervous.

“I guess that makes sense” You mumbled, eyes returning back to the paper in your grip. You weren’t going to mention how you had seen both Sun and Moon repair minor damages on themselves for the sake of avoiding proper maintenance.

“Unfortunately, unlike the other animatronics and potential handlers, you and the daycare attendant are a bit of a special case.” He eyed you carefully, trying to gauge your reaction as you peered back up at him curiously. “I’m certain you’re well aware of the daycare attendant’s disdain for parts and service, which has caused it to become a bit worn down and poorly maintained. We have some much-needed upgrades on the way for all the main animatronics in the pizzaplex, the daycare attendant included. We need someone who would be able to either coax them down to parts and service or perform the upgrade procedure on them in the daycare if they refuse to go down for the process.” Ah, now it made sense. They also wanted you to be able to coax them to go play robo doctor. But you have to admit, you were also very curious about what kind of upgrades they would be receiving. “In order for you to be qualified enough to handle the entire upgrade procedure though, you would have to be completely trained as a Fazbear mechanic.”

“Wait, wait, wait. So I would have to be completely trained as if I were a new mechanic? How long would that even take?” You were now starting to see why they sweetened the benefits of this promotion so much. Having to learn all the ropes of a mechanic was going to suck. You didn’t know the first thing about machines, or robots, or coding… Your brain seemed to freeze on that thought, as some other gears in your head began to turn and a plan began forming in your mind.

“It would take a month or two at most. Instead of working your usual shift, you’ll be in parts in service to receive your training, fully paid mind you. We even have a special project lined up to help your lessons move along faster!” You set the contract on his desk as your mind began swirling with your forming scheme. “I understand this is a big decision to make, so if you’d like some time to consider-”

“I accept.” You cut him off, holding your hand out in a silent request for a pen. Honestly, you probably should have thought about it more, a lot more. But you had that thought, that tiny realization that this gave you a few ways to make your friends' lives just a little bit easier. Maybe a lot easier if it all went well. Not to mention that fuzzy little feeling you got at the idea of spending even more time with the celestial duo you’d come to know and love. That fuzzy feeling came back to seed itself in your stomach as you thought about it now.

The meeting involved you and your boss talking over a few more details about the position, and you left the office in a much better mood than you had entered it in. It wasn’t until you were about halfway to the daycare giftshop to tell your friend Monnie the news, that you realized a rather important detail you had forgotten. You also had to tell Sun and Moon the news. Which meant telling them both that you had known them both for quite some time, which was not bound to go well.

You hadn't realized you had zoned out until Moon poked your forehead, humming your name. You shook your head lightly as you came crashing back to reality. The entire reason you had been trying to get Sun and Moon to introduce you to the other is so you could play it off as a bit of a surprise, but honestly, you were running out of time. Especially if either of them found out about your promotion.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a moment there." You gently scrubbed the sleep from your eyes, missing the way Moon’s eyes flashed black for a moment. Man, when did your eyelids start feeling so heavy? "Sorry Moon, but I gotta say Pass on this one. Boss said to keep it hush hush" You could tell he was annoyed without even looking. You also knew that with orders from the boss, he wouldn't push it too much. Always such a stickler for the rules, this guy. "Now for my turn. Why won't you introduce me to Sun" You finish rubbing your eyes, blinking up at Moon whose unmoving grin twitches further into what you know is an annoyed scowl.

"Pass" He shoots back rather quickly. Well, that's an interesting response. You can kind of understand Sun is so hesitant for you to meet Moon, given his reputation. But you still can't quite figure out why Moon is so against you meeting his sunnier counterpart. You didn't have time to speculate on his answer for very long as he was suddenly standing up straight, scowling down at you with his arms crossed. "Why are you so desperate to meet Sun anyways?" Aw damn. You couldn't really answer that without telling him about the promotion, which would also entail telling him about how you've already met Sun. But knowing him, if you skip this one, he's gonna hit you with the question he really wants to ask. The serious one he always holds until you've used up both of your passes.

Sure you could try lying about why you want to meet Sun, but you hate lying. Not even accounting for how Moon could somehow always tell when you were lying. Honestly, you'd think he has a built-in lie detector or something. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Pass" You sigh out, averting your gaze once again to your shoes. If looks could kill you'd probably be dead. You could practically feel Moon's stare boring into you. He wasn't saying anything. Why wasn't he saying anything? Oh, right. It's your turn. A question. Question. Gotta think of a question. Anything to end this awkward silence."Why don't you like parts and service?"

You wanted to slap yourself. You hadn't even fully thought about it before it just slipped out. You knew it was a touchy subject. One you always actively avoided. Yet here you are, never knowing when to shut up. You were about to apologize and pick a different question, but Moon's quiet response came before you could.

"Pass." He spoke so softly it was almost like a whisper. The usual growl in his voice wasn't there, making him sound so quiet and so utterly defeated. Your eyes snapped up to stare at him, only to be surprised again to see his eyes lidded, and tired looking. But what really shocked you about it was the fact that his red eyes turned light blue. You had never seen his eyes turn blue before. As quickly as it was there, it was gone, as he blinked and his eyes returned to normal before landing on you. Uh oh. He looked serious.

"Moon-" You began, only to be cut off by him for what felt like the millionth time tonight.

"You've been having trouble sleeping lately" It was a statement rather than the question you expected. You were fully prepared to deny this and assure him you were fine, until he placed his palm on your cheek. The cool silicone felt nice against your cheeks with quickly flushed with the heat rising to your face. "You've been tired for a long time. I let it slide because you told me you were fine, but it's been getting worse." His thumb began idly stroking your cheek, and you resist the urge to lean into his touch as you relax into the feeling. Feeling so relaxed and comfortable brought on a new wave of exhaustion and you lose any will to fight the obvious slouch in your body.

"Yeah?" You mumble after heaving a tired sigh. "What makes you so sure?" You tease, knowing he'll probably list off the signs anyways.

"Well, You've been consuming a grotesque amount of coffee lately. And then there are these bags" His thumb gently rugs at the dark circles under your eyes, tsking softly as he looks closely at them. "You get headaches a lot. And you're oh so very moody all the time" You felt a smile tug at the corners of your lips. Now he was just teasing you. "My question for you is, why? What's been going on?" His voice is still that soft whisper from before, but with his usual rasp. It's odd, to see him go from playful and mischievous, to soft, quiet, and concerned. It's sweet. Even though he'd probably deny it if you ever brought it up again.

"Hey, that's two questions! Cheater." You jest, enjoying the unamused look he gives you in return. Another sigh makes its way through you as you grapple for a way to explain this without sounding childish. "Do you remember the night we met? When I stayed past lockdown because I got lost?" Moon simply hums in acknowledgment, probably actively ignoring the memory of him chasing you down. "Well, before I, uh, got lost I was in the west arcade, cleaning."

Memories of that night have long since faded into a fuzzy blur. All you remember was using a fazcoin you found while cleaning which you later put into an odd game you had found. You're not sure why, but something about that game just stuck out to you. It was like it was begging you to play it, and you did. You honestly did pretty decently for a first-ever attempt at playing it, but eventually, you lost and got a game over screen. The arcade cabinet gave you a rather hearty zap, making you stumble back with a yelp before clutching your tingling hand.

That's where it all starts to blur, as you can't recall if you passed out, or what. All you really remember is an inky black darkness stretched across your field of vision, with only a soft golden glow casting a small area of light around you. You remember shifting, dripping, shadowy figures lumbering towards you, with glowing crooked eyes and mangled bright teeth, gnashing, chattering, and reaching for you. Reaching and trying to pull you into the darkness. Then suddenly you were standing somewhere else. You were stumbling around, light-headed and confused, in a hallway that very much was not the west arcade where you had been moments before.

Since that night, you got an uneasy feeling anytime you get anywhere near that game. It hadn't been a big deal, just a bad shock. Until one night your dreams became flooded with that same, swirling darkness. Soon all your dreams were haunted by those horrible, ghastly creatures. Most nights the thoughts and memories of it alone were enough to keep you up, but whenever those monsters swarmed your dreams you had such a horrible feeling of dread when you woke up, you never could properly fall asleep again after. Somewhere along the way, as you recounted all this to Moon, the two of you began slowly walking towards the daycare again. You two walked in silence for a few moments as Moon processed what you had told him.

“Hmm” Moon hummed in thought, his usual playfulness nowhere to be found. “I don’t suppose telling you I eat nightmares would help?” It was a joke, but not one meant to make fun of you. It worked, and you felt a soft chuckle pull from your chest.

“As fun as that idea sounds, I don’t think it works on adult nightmares.” You smiled warmly at him, feeling a bit lighter after actually talking about your sleep struggles with someone. “I don’t even have them all the time anymore, but just knowing they could happen makes it hard to sleep.” You weren’t being entirely honest. They actually have been happening more frequently as time goes on, but Moon didn’t need to worry about your sleep more than he already does.

“Maybe you need a protector” He spoke casually, but the way he was looking at you out of the corner of his eyes made you think he had something specific in mind.

“What kind of a protector?” You decided to humor him, wanting to bring things back to a lighthearted note.

“Well, the kids in the daycare had all kinds of protectors. Some brought blankies, others brought stuffed animals, a few even brought bags and hats that made them feel safe.” His head did a couple of full rotations before resting back into its usual position. You couldn’t help but scoff. A blankie? Really? You, a fully grown adult, were being told you need a blankie by a robotic clown. What even is your life at this point? “What’s that look for? I’m very serious! These aren’t just run-of-the-mill comfort items you know!”

“Oh? By all means, then, enlighten me!” You found yourself smiling again as the two of you stood outside of the daycare. Moon leaned forward as if he was about to say something, but instead grabbed your wrist and pointed at your fazwatch. Looking at the time, you realized the lights would come back on soon.

“I would love to starlight, but I’m afraid I must make my dramatic and mysterious exit. But don’t fret, I’ll be back again at the top of the hour! In the meantime, it might be best for you to go rest up in the nearby employee break room. You look terrible.” He snickered at his own theatrics and teasing before calling down his cable and disappearing above the daycare walls.

Actually, a quick trip to the staff breakroom by the theater might not be a bad idea. A couple of months into the job and you were smart enough to learn to bring in a coffee maker for the breakrooms you frequent most, which included the one by the daycare. There should be enough time to pop in and brew a small batch of coffee before the lights come on. So you quickly shuffle your way over to the breakroom and do just that. Unlike the more frequented breakrooms, instead of a full-sized fridge, this one only had a mini fridge, which was fine by you. So long as it was big enough for coffee creamer and a few energy drinks you were set. You vaguely recall leaving a small container of blueberries in there that one of your coworkers had given you that they didn’t eat at lunch. A little brain food couldn’t hurt.

Once your blueberries were consumed, and your coffee brewed and mixed just the way you like, you quickly trotted back over to the daycare doors, eying the time the entire way. With only a minute or so left you quickly gulped down the last of your coffee, slightly burning your throat in the process. Sun was just as bad as Moon was when it came to your caffeine consumption, and after the heavy conversations, you had with Moon you really didn’t feel like receiving a lecture from Sun. You quickly tossed the empty coffee cup into the nearest garbage can, just in time for the lights to flick back on.

After giving them a few moments to get situated after switching out, you stepped up to the daycare door and gave your usual rhythmed knock to the tune of shave and a haircut. Right on cue, the doors to the daycare fly open and you’re quickly pulled inside into a large bear hug as a familiar cheery voice calls out in welcome.

“Well hello there Sunshine!” Sun shouts as he spins around with you held tightly in his grasp!