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Dayton's eyes kept wandering to the doors, and out the glass windows surrounding the daycare, a jaunty tune blared over the speaker system, but her stomach kept doing flips. It was near closing time, and it was time to clean up, Sun taking on most of the tasks as she idled, flipping toys around mindlessly in her hands several times over before actually putting them away.
The deed didn't go unnoticed though, her unease bleeding its way not only into her actions, but her expression. There were no kids to keep up the energy for, except for the gangly robot who had the energy of at least one hundred kids. For now though, he was a little more subdued, trying to gauge what had his friend so preoccupied. Gently, large hands covered significantly smaller ones, plucking the soft Freddy Fazbear toy out of her hands with what was a surprisingly quiet chuckle.
"You're going to give little 'ol Mr. Fazbear a tummy ache with all that spinning around! Is something the matter, Friend Dayton?"
Pulled from her thoughts, Dayton craned her neck upwards in surprise. It was hard to miss such a big guy, but somehow he'd managed to sneak up on even her. Dayon’s mind still catching up with her, she stuttered slightly as she tried to process his question.
"I'm fine! No, wait- I mean, nothing is wrong." She said, though the tone didn't quite sound right when it hit her ears. She was fine, she really was, just a little startled. Not by Sundrop, but events prior that lead her to be lost in her own head to begin with.
Dayton had run into Officer Vanessa earlier that evening on her break. She was just coming in for her night shift, fumbling around in one of the storage lockers. Dayton wouldn’t consider the two of them the closest of friends; acquaintances really, they'd interact every now and then, but today was different. Vanessa seemed tired, more tired than usual, irritated, and a little cold. When they met eyes, the security guard spoke up, just about glowering at Dayton for a moment.
"You know, you shouldn't be sticking around here overnight." Vanessa had suddenly warned her, and almost as if she thought she couldn’t hear her, muttered as she slammed the locker shut. “If you know what’s good for you.”
An odd sentiment, considering Dayton had yet to say two words to the woman (--what, no hello?) Not to mention the fact that she seemed to have been fine with it before. Or at least ignoring Dayton's presence during the evenings. Sundrop and Moondrop loved to make her late to clock out, to persuade her into sleepovers, and Dayton couldn't help but indulge them from time to time. Of course, she knew she shouldn’t, but Dayton stayed out of the way, stayed in the daycare more often than not. She rarely ever ran across the security guard during her prolonged visits, so she had to wonder if management had perhaps spoken to her and chewed her out. Why they wouldn’t just speak to Dayton directly if they had a problem with it was beyond her, but the near threat in Vanessa's voice set her on edge, and she ended up just nodding and ducking her head down before heading back. Her break was over, and she left the irritable security guard behind.
Dayton wouldn’t want to tell Sunny that though. It wasn’t his job to fix work relations and patch together two co-workers. So she pressed on, shaking her head, and bringing a smile back to her face. It wasn’t the biggest one, but it was still there, and ringing genuine. She was just glad for his company, and as long as she focused on that and the tasks at hand, instead of practically being scolded, Dayton would be fine.
“But-”
Sundrop started, but Dayton interrupted.
“It’s okay, let’s just get this place cleaned up! I still have to clock out, you know. If I don’t make it on time, I can’t stay, remember?”
Clean up eventually finished, though maybe in less than record time, and Dayton deigned to clock out on the Daycare computers before scrambling down to the locker rooms to change clothes before the lights dimmed, and then inevitably shut off. The locker rooms were uncomfortable no matter what time of day, but were extra spooky when you could barely see the benches in front of you; some showers were still dripping ominously, running up the building's water bill little by little, and adding just a little more to the eerie ambience. Thankfully, unlike with putting away the toys, Dayton had been a bit faster about getting out of her work-appointed clown suit, so now she just needed to find her way back to the daycare itself without running into the security grouch- er, guard in the dim lighting.
Out of the locker rooms, through the kitchen, the smell of grease and pizza still lingering in the air after a long work day. The mop bots and a few security bots were encroaching the space now, as her job finished, their jobs began. She gave a brief nod to one of the security bots, much more malleable in demeanor, as she weaved past large cooking machines. Long having phased out many of the chefs, at least where pizza was concerned, she tried not to stare, especially when it came to a machine labeled “not meat”. She didn’t want to think too long to wonder what it consisted of, as she soon stepped through the employee dining area and then back into the actual entertainment area of the plex. Holograms of the Glamrocks waved and rocked, bidding farewell to any possible stragglers--herself included, and she surveyed the area. No Vanessa, no wandering glams, home free. She just needed to get to the elevator and-
“Out of order?” She mouthed, catching the sign.
Well so much for it being fast. She placed hand on the doors, as if that would will them to cooperate somehow. Eyes closed, she huffed, until she heard the sound of giggling. Opening her eyes again, she could have sworn there was a shadow hovering over her when she did; she wasn’t the tallest by any means, but it towered intimidatingly, and she spun on her heel quickly. Thankfully (thankfully?) no one was there.
A frown tugged at Dayton’s lips, as she looked up and took a moment to listen. No bells, no music box, no red eyes peering at her from the highest points of the pizzaplex. No, that shadow didn’t look like Moon. It almost favored… a rabbit? Shaking the thought away, she moved to walk down the turned off escalators. There was a buzz in the air and it made her almost nauseous.
“It was a trick of the light, why are you getting scared?” She scolded herself quietly. If she thought anyone was there, she’d just have to tell Officer Vanessa. Ugh, as much as she loved the thought of that. Maybe a security bot could relay a message. Uh-
Thoughts stopped in their tracks as she realized she was airborne, going downwards, something having pushed her near the bottom of the steps. She braced herself as she hit the floor, the jingle of her blue bell bracelet that she had forgotten to remove ringing along with the giggles from behind her. And then she heard her assailant speak.
“Are you having fun yet?”
Rolling over onto her back, she eyed the stairs quickly, seeing the remnants of what seemed again like that rabbit silhouette. What the heck? Ouch, that kind of hurt. Okay, so maybe it wasn't a trick of the light. Someone was definitely still in the building, and that was terrifying. Hopping to her feet, she didn’t try to pursue, just hurried down the stairs and back to the daycare. The intruder would have to face eight feet of animatronic, if they dared. Bursting through the daycare doors, Dayton closed them with purpose, the lights still on in the daycare thankfully. When Sun saw her return, he skipped over eagerly, only to freeze seeing her expression.
“F-Friend, is everything okay?”
“A creepy rabbit pushed me down on the escalators, and I-” Dayton looked up, before catching something in the reflection of the daycare windows. It was the rabbit again, waving in the window. She flinched, pointing. “There! It’s out there!”
Sun turned his head towards where she was pointing, however…
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see anyone. Besides that, there is no rabbit in the pizzaplex, not any more.” Sun announced.
Dayton turned to give Sun an incredulous look, before looking back to the window. The rabbit had skipped away by then, nowhere to be seen. Was she going crazy? Hands flew to her face, sliding down them slowly, frustration forming. Sun took them away though, taking them into his own and turning them slowly. “You said you fell down the escalator? Are you hurt, friend?”
She eyed her own hands the same time as he did, she didn’t see any bruising yet, but her wrists did feel sore, her knees too. Nothing was scuffed however, and she hadn’t fallen hard or far enough to have hit her head.
“Mmm… More embarrassed than anything I suppose. I did sort of fall three or so steps down, but nothing’s broken.
Letting her hands go, and wiping his non moving brow, he gave a sigh of relief. “Phew! Well, that’s good! So then, what do you want to do? If you think someone is in here… Security will most definitely definitely take care of them lickety split as soon as they find them!”
Dayton thought on it for a moment, he may have had a point. But still- She shot another glance out of the window. No more rabbits, just ominous halls.
“You’re right, but can we go up to your room this time for the sleepover?” Dayton asked.
“Of course we can! Let’s go!”
Scooping her up into his arms, she heard the zip of his cord as it came down. He attached it securely before letting it tug the two of them up into the air. “Oh, oh, this is going to be so much fun, I know it! Ooh! We could watch a movie, if you want, we still have the phone projector up there!”
Dayton nodded, a movie sounded nice actually. And with it being after hours, any movie goes. “The choice is yours, just anything but Alice in Wonderland, please.”
No more talk of rabbits for her tonight.
She would have to investigate that all later. At least for now she could take a brief comfort in knowing that it was the hardest thing to get into the daycare tower without being able to fly.