Chapter Text
“I don’t like that you’re doing this.” Vincent’s voice barely carried across the room, the whir of machinery coming to a slow halt as William pulled away from what he was working on.
He sighed behind his welding mask, spinning his chair around to face Vincent’s back. Vincent didn’t dare turn back, pretending to be too absorbed in making notes on the lazy sketches he made earlier. “And what, exactly, am I doing that you don’t like?” William questioned.
His notes turned more into scribbles as he scratched the pencil against the paper. “Everything? I just don’t really think you should be working right now…”
William’s eyes narrowed behind his mask. “You sound like Bella.” He accused, and Vincent could hear the sneer in his tone.
“Well, maybe she has a point then…”
“Are you seriously taking my ex-wife’s side, and not mine?” The wheel’s of the swivel chair skittered, and Vincent heard it bump into a wall behind him. “Vincent this is my fucking pizzeria. I’ve dedicated my whole life to this shit, I’m not letting some- some little hiccup-”
“Little hiccup?!” Vincent spun his own chair and immediately leaned back as William’s mask only stood a foot or so away. His words caught in his throat, and despite being unable to see his brother’s face he knew it couldn’t have been anything but furious .
William clenched his fists so tight, Vincent could hear the leather squeaking together. “It was only a hiccup, Vincent. You understand that, right?” He questioned, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly.
“William…” Vincent’s tone went softer, and William’s shoulder twitched like he was trying to repress a swing. “It- I know you haven’t been taking it as well as you-”
“I’ve been fine! I’ve been taking it great, Vincent!” William shoved an accusatory finger to Vincent’s chest, growling each word directly at him. “It’s people like you and Bella that can’t just understand that this is how I cope! It’s people like you that are always trying to take me away from the things I care about!”
Vincent shrunk away, stuck against his own desk. “William, please, you know that-”
“Oh, cut the fucking act, Vincent! We both know how you really feel about all this.” He hissed, the ends of his welding mask dripping with malice and spit. “You just want to take the only shit I have left away from me. You always are, God forbid I have anything you want.”
Vincent pursed his lips tightly, furrowing his brows together. “That’s not true.” He protested weakly. “I really am just worried about you, William.” He insisted, trying to meet William’s eyes through the dark visor.
A short broken laugh bordering on hysteric escaped from William, and the sheer force of it sent him stepping back in surprise. “Worried? You’re worried about me? Oh, like Bella’s ‘worried’ about me? Fucking Christ, Vincent.” William shook his head, basically stumbling back back to his chair. “Get out, Vincent. We’ll continue this another time.” He flopped back into his seat, spinning around to focus back on the metal contraption from before.
Vincent blinked, stumbling up from his seat. “Hold on, wait, my shift isn’t over yet. Are we ending early today or-?”
“No.” William snapped, a small snort following as he shook his head. “If you’re so worked up about me, clearly you have your own shit going on.” He reasoned, his tone icily cool. It reminded Vincent of the ocean, seeming calm at first, but the second you got too close, it surprised you with a freezing bite or a crushing tidal wave.
“William, I’m not leaving you here alone…”
“You’re not leaving me here alone.” He mocked. “Not like Bella, not like my-” William choked, gripping the edge of the desk.
Then he laughed, his shoulders trembling even before he started. “No. No…” William laughed, shaking his head. “It’s fine, Vincent. It’s all fine. Just head on out, it’ll be fine.” He insisted.
Vincent scowled, getting up towards the other. “Seriously, William, I don’t want you to do something-”
“Do what? What do you think I’ll do, Vincent?”
“Something you’ll regret…”
There was a sharp click, and Vincent watched as William’s mask slid back onto the top of his head. “Get out.” His voice came out sharp and freezing, halting Vincent immediately. “Now.”
Vincent stalled for a moment before quietly leaving the room, ignoring the crashing metal that followed the second he closed the door.
✖
‘Don’t show up to work today. We’re closed.’
Vincent scowls at the text, it wasn’t like William to close the place randomly. Especially not after Vincent pleaded with him to do so.
‘is everything alright??’ Vincent texted back quickly, trying not to panic too much as he dragged himself up out of bed.
Normally, William took hours to respond, but today it only took a couple minutes. Ten minutes and thirty four seconds, to be exact.
‘Everything is fine. Don’t get your panties in a twist. I can come by if you’re about to freak.’
The building nerves slowly ebbed away as Vincent rolled his eyes, responding a bit more calmly. ‘I am not about to ‘freak’. This just isn’t like you.’
After thirty minutes passed, Vincent had slowly begun to forget about his text with his brother. Instead, the man focused on the little chores he needed to tend to around the house. He let himself relax a bit, getting lost in the mundanity of life.
He wasn’t really expecting a response at nine pm, but after he received it, it was all he could think about for the rest of the night.
‘Then what is ‘like me’? How well do you know me, really?’
✖✖
The next day went as smoothly as Vincent expected.
William said nothing about anything, and acted like he didn’t just call a random day off and do nothing but send cryptic messages all of yesterday. As much as Vincent wanted to call him out, he said nothing.
He’d grown accustomed to William’s cold and often strange behavior over the years. It’d become almost comforting in some ways. Really, it was the most reliable thing about him.
He didn’t even blink when William randomly grabbed his shoulder while they were in the middle of entertaining children. Vincent just smiled and passed a small balloon bear down to the child in front of him. Spring Bonnie seemed just as friendly as always with his brother’s cold voice seeping from its creaky jaws.
“I need you to stay a bit longer after your shift ends.” It wasn’t a question, and the second he finished speaking, Spring Bonnie was off to take another photo.
It wasn’t a question, but it wasn't exactly a demand either. Vincent knew he could very well just not show up and William wouldn’t mention it in the slightest. Only Vincent would worry, and William couldn’t torture the man anymore than he would himself.
It always tugged on Vincent's heartstrings a little to say goodbye to the last kids still at the establishment. They were often hidden behind the presents and prizes they received throughout the day, leaving only memories of eager waves and high-pitched giggles.
Some put up more of a fit than others, wailing as their parents tried to pull them along. Still, Vincent managed to find those kids just as endearing. It was nice to think how much this place meant to kids, even if they didn’t show it the best way. Promises of a swift return always just seemed to give him a sense of ease he found difficult to find in other things.
Vincent just finished cleaning up after one of these more rambunctious kids when he noticed a lurking in the corner of his eye.
Spring Bonnie watching him curiously with a tilted head. It took him a minute before he realized it to be William. It was quiet enough for him to hear each lock and mechanism click and shift as William raised a hand to wordlessly gesture him towards the dark hallway.
Vincent rested his broom to the side before stepping forward. He raised a brow as William immediately stepped back to disappear into the hallway, letting the shadows consume him until only a yellow claw gesturing Vincent closer remained.
He followed without much thought, squinting in the dark, but not daring to flick the lights on. William got fickle about little things like that often, never do more than asked or risk ‘ruining the game’.
Vincent was going in blind when he was suddenly grabbed and yanked into the security room. He was practically shoved into the only chair in the room and immediately blinded by the lights of the security office being flooded in with the doors shut.
Vincent covered his eyes, trying to at least protect them from the assault with a pained hiss. “William? What the hell?” He grumbled, desperately trying to shake the unease of the situation off.
“Shh.” William’s voice hissed from Spring Bonnie’s slack jaw, despite Vincent barely making as much fuss as he thought he should be. “Look at the cameras.” There was an odd lilt in his voice, something Vincent wasn’t sure he heard from his brother before.
Vincent frowned, not certain he really liked the change before following William’s instructions. The camera’s buzzed dully, reflecting nothing but black and white static that Vincent had seen a million times in better color.
“William, I don’t understand, what am I supposed to be seeing exactly?” Vincent began to look back to the other when he roughly grabbed the top of Vincent’s head with one hand and used the other to point at one of the cameras.
“There.” With the word came that same tone from before and as Vincent squinted at the box, a faint dread began to settle overhead.
“Fredbear isn’t supposed to be there.” Vincent noted dully, attempting to look back again but finding it futile with the giant animatronic’s hand keeping him facing forward. “Did you-?” His question died in his mouth as the screen suddenly went out, turning to fuzzy static before returning. This time with Fredbear looking straight up at the camera. Much closer than before.
William slowly removed his hand from off of Vincent’s head, but even then, the man couldn’t move too busy staring at the animatronic in shock.
“William,” Vincent pushed himself out from the chair, just stuck standing and staring at the monitors before he swiftly turned to his brother. “How- this is- there’s no way!” He stepped towards William with wide eyes, his hands trembling in front of him as he tried to piece everything together. “I thought we…”
William pulled the mask off with a delighted laugh. “You thought we don’t have the funds for this type of technology? Well, we don’t! But I figured it out, my dear little brother!” As Vincent met his brother’s expression it hit what the foreign tone was before nothing but complete childish glee.
William began pacing, his own hands splayed in front of him in a way that matched Vincents. “Do you have any idea what this means? Fuck, man, we won’t need to fight for our damn life to get these suits on and pray a kid doesn’t roughhouse a little too much with the rusty nail bucket!” He beamed, pushing his hair back as it began to immediately fall into his face.
Vincent laughed along with him, though a tad disappointed at the prospect of not being able to goof around in the suits as much. It was always a little funny to startle the kids when they thought the animatronics were empty. Though the disappointment was instantly washed away with the relief of finally having a safer environment for everyone.
“Is this compatible with the prototypes?” Vincent asked curiously, unable to help his grin from matching William’s.
“Already on it!” He boasted, crossing his arms proudly. “God, wait until Bella gets an ear of this…”
“Oh yeah, you got your animatronics to walk around remotely without being hooked up to the stage, I’m sure she’s gonna be back to drooling all over you.” Vincent rolled his eyes, earning a light shove to the shoulder.
William snickered, raising a hand to try and cover the wheezy noise. “Absolutely! You know, that’s what the ladies really love, an innovative man.” He hummed, tugging at the purple bowtie attached to Spring Bonnie.
Vincent laughed, savoring his older brother’s good mood for a moment before gently prodding on the question. “So, how did you get them to move on their own?”
William shook his head, lounging an arm across Vincent’s shoulder causally. “I wouldn’t worry myself over details, Vinny boy. You know what I just realized?”
Vincent blinked, completely thrown off for a second from the nickname. “What’d you realize?”
“I could finally let you go.” William hummed thoughtfully.
Vincent immediately tensed, frowning before a furry finger was being held up to his mouth. “Or well, maybe just cut back your hours.” William snorted, pulling himself away. “What I really meant was you could finally actually take some time for yourself.” He offered, leaning against the wall and looking down at Vincent carefully.
Vincent took on a slight frown, tilting his head. “I take time for myself.” He insisted.
William gave a half-hearted shrug. “Yeah, I know, but… I’ve been thinking about our argument from the other day, and I feel… I’m sorry, Vincent.” He stated, glancing downwards. “That was really out of line for me to say… I know you’ve wanted your own family for a long while but because you’re always so busy helping me out over here…” William trailed off, before shaking his head and looking back up to Vincent. “That shit was out of line, and I want to apologize for it. Seriously.”
“Oh.” Vincent blinked, his eyes feeling just a tad wet before he quickly blinked them away. “Thank you, William. Of course, I forgive you, I understand that tensions have been really high lately but this…”
Time has always been a factor in why he could never settle, they had their fair share of part timers but it had always been William and Vincent running the pizzeria together. If Vincent was going to have a family, he wanted to actually be there for them after all. Unfortunately, time wasn’t the only problem that had always prevented him from that dream. Not that Vincent would ever tell William that.
He shook his head. “This is really impressive, William. But, I wouldn’t mind keeping my hours the way they are for a bit longer. Especially if it shows me how the master himself works on projects like this.”
William snickered, a warmer soft undertone taking over his words. “Of course. You’re just gonna follow me around until the end, huh?” William teased, reaching over to ruffle the younger man’s hair.
Vincent laughed, not even bothering to fight against the other. “Uh-huh, sure. Seriously, though, this is amazing, William. Thank you for showing me.”
He pulled his hand back with a smile. “Of course, Vincent. You deserve to be a part of this as much as you want, and that includes pulling back as much as you want too. Don’t ever feel obligated to stick this shit more than you want, you’ve already done so much for me.” William insisted, sauntering past Vincent towards the chair he abandoned. “Just think about it some more, okay? Head home for the night. I got the night shift covered.” William offered him a broad grin, showing off his signature chipped tooth that made his smiles so rare.
Vincent looked over William, holding back the dozens of questions running through his head. None of them were worth the risk of ruining his older brother’s good mood. “Alright, William, call me if you have any problems.” Vincent returned his smile warmly, focusing on that feeling instead.
He could ask questions later, for now, all that mattered was that his brother was happy.
William chuckled under his breath and nodded. “Of course, Vincent. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Vincent nodded back, stepping out the security office and walking out the dark building. He paused by the Parts and Service door, where he knew Fredbear was sitting in. Something swelled in his chest, a bright excitement threaded with twisting anxieties. He really wanted to see what William had done. Just how he did it.
William wasn’t ready to talk about it yet though, maybe he didn’t trust Vincent completely, but Vincent trusted him. So he turned away from the door and continued out the building. Just quietly taking in the dead silence of the night as he drove home.