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it wasn't often Gregory had the time to visit the Afton's, they were all frequently busy with their 'jobs'.
for example, Michael is still thoroughly convinced he could never truly rest until his father was truly, truly gone, insisting on cleaning up his fathers mess and freeing every single lost soul his father had unjustifiably killed. C.C had the more complicated job of convincing Cassidy, or who was often referred to as 'the Vengeful spirit', that they needed to let go and just leave William alone; much to C.C's dismay, Cassidy did not want to rest. Elizabeth was probably the least busy, having been rebuilt Circus Baby and her whole crew, she was practically back up and running.
and so naturally, Gregory was surprised that Glamrock Freddy had mentioned the Afton's had invited him to a movie night as they called it. at first, Gregory was hesitant. but then Glamrock Freddy had started persuading him and telling him it would make him 'most happy and overjoyed' if he would spend some time with his non-robot friends.
"it'll be good for you, Gregory. robots such as us make formidable companions; but none can truly touch the heart like a human can." Freddy had told him, to which he sighed exasperatedly as he tried to not snap at the animatronic. Glamrock Freddy was the closest thing he had to a father, he did not want to hurt his feelings. or whatever was the closest thing to feelings a robot would feel.
"and what makes the Afton's my best option? I could go with Cassie or Vanessa." Gregory reasoned.
"the Afton's have a remarkable history—"
"the Afton's are dead." Gregory reminded the bear animatronic rather helpfully, Freddy looked at him dead in the eyes. it was more unnerving to have an expressionless robot stare at him than to have Vanessa chasing him around with that murder-ready look on her face. so naturally, to save face and sanity, Gregory sighed and finally relented.
besides, the Afton's were not at all that bad; in fact, he quite liked those three siblings. they were dysfunctional, just like he was; broken beyond repair. it was easier coping knowing they were mostly chill with their own fucked up ballad of events caused by their father. which.. they don't elaborate much on either, now that Gregory thought about it. whenever William's name was brought to conversation, there were never any pleasant words that came from his own flesh and blood.
Freddy, Gregory thinks, was not amused by his choice of words, Gregory would try to guess his expression; but something tells him he'd rather not.
"superstar," the bear chastised, he reminded Gregory of a mother hen, "don't be like that, it'd be nice having actual human friends wouldn't it? you know the younger Afton's are fond of you."
Glamrock Freddy didn't exactly say anything directly, but Gregory caught his implication; he frowned.
"I'm perfectly human, too." he murmured quietly, it was disguised with an exhale. but Freddy caught on quick, those sensitive artificial ears be damned.
"I had not said otherwise," Freddy's tone sounded rather upset, Gregory admittedly felt guilty. Freddy was always so nice to him, the least he could do was return the kindness.
finally, he relented.
"fine," the boy exasperatedly said, as if that one word was the heaviest thing for him to say all day, "but only for a while, Michael creeps me out." 'because he's a literal corpse' he wants to add, but he bites his tongue.
Freddy seems to agree, to an extent, he gave a small chuckle. though, to Gregory it didn't sound like such, "he's responsible, be on your best behavior. Michael will come get you soon."
and of course, as if on a perfectly timed cue, Michael does in fact call Gregory on that Faz-Watch of his. Gregory frowned slightly as he glanced at Freddy, who only gave him a pointed look and turned to the watch. with a heavy inhale, Gregory picked up with a solemn smile on his face.
"hello?" Michael's voice was slightly muffled, but Gregory could hear him well nonetheless; so he greeted the man back, "good, you can hear me. listen; I would come inside and get you, but Elizabeth and Evan are with me and they refuse to stay in the car, I can't take them inside either because they also refuse to go anywhere remotely close to the animatronics. think you can manage to find us in the parking lot? I'll see you in five"
this was, believe it or not, nothing new to Gregory. if anything, the boy grins. C.C and Elizabeth had always been an odd pair those two, related trauma to animatronics yet adore them all the same (in one way or another, Gregory isn't patient enough to learn by heart).
"yeah, what color is your car again?" Gregory asked with a teasing lilt to his voice, coy smile and smug posture. because out of everything that anyone could ever ask Michael-walking corpse-Afton, the worst thing is the color of most of the Afton's possession.
his satisfaction only grew as he heard Michael groan and let out a long breath, "purple, do not test my patience."
okay Mr. Snappy pants, no fun at all.
"yeah, no problem. see you in five."
Gregory had an absolute fun time avoiding those damned daycare attendants, or more specifically the moon counterpart; heaven forbid he runs into him. of all the animatronics he'd basically conquered in his pizzaplex conquest; Moon was the only animatronic who refused to cooperate and listen to him. world be damned if he has to look at that dust eating grin again one more time he will explode the whole daycare.
he sighed patiently, closing the door of the very much neon purple car belonging to none other than the Afton's. two out of three smiled at him, the other just looked at him warily.
"Gregory!" Elizabeth cheered as she threw herself onto the boy, who tried to get away but was eventually squished between the two youngest Afton's. "hi, hello! you haven't visited in so long! candy?"
that was the funny thing about Elizabeth in Gregory's opinion; she always sounded like she's on a sugar rush, she speaks quick and acts quicker. like a child given a whole bucket of candy. it's almost impossible to tell she's dead without her telling you directly.
"can I have one too, Lizzy?" a more polite voice asked, Gregory turned to C.C, amongst the three, Gregory had always been much closer to C.C; not for any particular reason, Michael was just too old and Elizabeth was.. Elizabeth.
speaking of Elizabeth, she shook her head. "I only brought one for Gregory, get your own!" she pouted as she handed Gregory a candy bar; it wasn't as small as he thought it would be. so he thanked Elizabeth kindly and patted her head a few times. once she was content, she smiled and moved to the front seat beside Michael, who was driving.
between the two of us, Gregory might or might not have broken his candy bar in two and gave the other half to C.C, whether it's true or not? perchance.
by now, they had covered a pretty good distance, and only under the moonlight did Gregory notice something about C.C
"am I hallucinating or are your eyebags darker than usual?" he inquired softly, pointing under his own eyes in emphasis. the boy being asked frowned, subconsciously hovering his hand towards the under of his eyes, "no, don't get me wrong. it doesn't look back, I was just curious.."
the Crying Child did not answer his queries.
Michael, bless him, answered instead.
"the little rascal hasn't been sleeping properly," he chided, earning a glare from the youngest son, Michael only shrugged. "what? he did ask, no?"
Michael received an exasperated groan. which seemed to have satisfied him since he turned his eyes back to the road. Gregory thinks its a miracle no one has pulled them out, imagine the terror of seeing a rotting corpse, two worryingly pale children, and a wanted (missing) child all in the same car in one night. enough to send anyone to a seizure.
but back to the point at hand,
"and how long has it been since he'd last slept, exactly?" Gregory poked at the younger, who scowled and attempted to bite his fingers. Gregory pulled his finger back with a startled yelp, "hey, no biting! your teeth are sharp, genius!"
the Crying Child only rolled his eyes, "a few weeks. I don't know when to be specific, I just.." he let out a yawn, "I feel sleepy, but I can't sleep." he mutters as he continued, exasperatedly as if its the worst thing in the world.
in his defense, Gregory supposed it is.
"well, we can always play games to pass the time." Gregory murmured as he got a revelation, turning on his Faz-Watch and looking at the available offline games, "do you like 'Help the Helpy'?"
the Crying Child's eyes brightened up significantly as he shuffled himself closer to the Gregory, to the point his head was on the other's shoulders as he watched the older boy play the game.
the results? well, the Crying Child, miraculously, fell asleep on Gregory's shoulder.
Michael prayed for patience when he had the choice to either wake up or carry three problem children inside the house.