RUBATOSIS | William Afton x Reader

VI. EYES

"That should do it" he stated as his hands retreated back to his sides, stepping back and standing to watch over your shoulder for you to complete your task. You swallowed the spit gathering in your mouth and continued to twist the screwdriver. Sure enough, his budge had been just enough to knock the pesky screw loose. You breathed a sigh of relief before fully removing it and adding it to a nearby box of corresponding screws.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it, love."

The rest of the disassembling went by without a hitch, even though you were just a mere puppet to execute the actions William asked of you. You didn't fully understand every function or what it was doing, but you figured you would learn in due time. Unfortunately, the reassembly proved to be a bit more challenging. After a while of struggling, William decided to fully step in and take care of things. You couldn't complain, you were far too afraid of setting something up wrong and busting the whole thing for its turn to perform tomorrow. That, and you weren't exactly willing to frustrate William further with your pathetic struggling. You simply took a step back and flipped open your notebook to start jotting away, as always.

Typically, he would playfully banter with you over his shoulder while he worked, it was something you'd come to look forward to from him. However, today he was just... quieter. Looking back, he'd been rather on edge the last time you'd been here too, but he'd warmed up by the time everything was over. You held out hope that his playfulness would return as it had before, but he remained stiff and somewhat frigid. There wasn't any small talk, just brief facts and explanations.

    He finished assembling the mascot with the smallest frown and turned to you, indicating your time there was over. You took the hint and shyly headed for the door with William following behind. He'd always leave with you, escorting you to your car before heading to his. Today, however, he stayed put right at the exit. You eyed him, noticing him lingering by the doors.

    "You go ahead, darling. I've still got some... things to finish up here."

    "Oh... Are you sure? I can wait for you, if you want. Is it anything I could help with?"

    "No," he shook his head at you, "that's quite alright, sweetheart. You've done plenty today. Drive safely now."

    You stood there, fumbling awkwardly. You were glad he was still feeling well enough to keep using those terms of endearment, but another part of you figured it might also just be a natural habit of his. You nodded towards him and pushed through the doors, hearing William lock them behind you. Admittedly, you were disappointed. You always looked forward to his charming goodbyes at your car before he would watch you drive away, but today you would have to do without that. It was strange that he was staying behind, no other employees were there. What did he need to do so badly? Maybe it was paperwork or something equally boring and tedious. Maybe that was why he seemed so frustrated, because he knew he'd have to deal with some stupid mundane task. It still felt odd, but you gave him the benefit of the doubt as you headed to your car all alone.

    Driving past the building, you glanced towards the doors. You didn't know why you expected him to be there, watching you from within the building. You also had no idea why you were so disheartened when you saw nothing but darkness behind the glass doors. Even the windows were a stark black now. You drove home with a frustratingly heavy heart in complete silence, only to arrive to an unforgiving and empty house.

    You waited for what felt like ages for Thursday to come around. Even just the one day without William felt to be too much. If you weren't with him, you were with your own thoughts. And you could only distract yourself from those for so long before they started tearing you down.