"Heya, Y/N!"
You jolted back a bit. You didn't expect Freddy to pick up so quickly on your presence.
"Oh, calm down! I think it was just a mouse!" The small voice of Bon Bon replied. You stepped into the animatronics' line of vision. "O-Oh, never mind, then! Hi, Y/N! You get enough rest?" Bon Bon asked.
"Yeah, I seemed to be well rested before I came. You're too sweet sometimes, Bon." The rabbit held his hands up to his cheeks, recreating a bashful expression.
"Wait a minute," Freddy pondered. "Am I scheduled for maintenance again today? I thought you had me last night?"
"Yeah, I do. And I didn't have you yesterday, either. I was only there to restart the power, remember? Also, I doubt I would've actually gotten the job done if I did have you for maintenance." You smirked, knowing Freddy wasn't one for sitting still.
"Hahahaha!!" He laughed. "That's true." His eyes shifted upwards as if recalling past workers' efforts. "So, if you don't have me for maintenance, then why are you here?"
"Umm...." Now that you had to admit it out loud to him, your words were a lot less confident and more....scrambled. You tried to grab a hold on your wording. "Bon Bon...I was..hoping...to talk to Freddy alone for a bit." You practically strained your words from your throat.
"Oh," Bon Bon let a bit of surprise slip through his expression. He didn't expect that answer to come out of you. Before the rabbit could pause to ponder your request, he replied, "Sure!" And with that he hopped away.
Once the rabbit slipped through the crack of the heavy parts and service door, Freddy's eyes glued onto your skull.
"W-What..what seems to be the problem, Y/N?" There was a slight quiver in his voice.
"Freddy, I...look, you know we're friends, right?" You started yourself over.
"Yeah!" Freddy beamed. He had taken you by the hand, leading you to sit next to him on the conveyor belt. "Go on..."
"I've had a lot of thought about our...would you say, past experiences? And I just thought I'd need to get some of that cleared up."
"...yes..?"
You noted the awkward tone he took and rubbed your forehead. "Sorry, I just...I want things to stay the way they are but it's been bothering me for a bit, you know...? And...I thought this would help me feel better but now I think I feel worse just talking about it."
"No, it's good that you're talking." Freddy replied. "To me, about this. Better than holding it all in." You gave the bear a small smile and inhaled.
Man, this is gonna be awkward, I can already tell.
A/N: That line, right there, the thought above this. That is my warning to you.
"So...how do I say this...what we had back at the house. Sure, we had parts where we were normal friends. But there were a lot of parts where we were in...what humans would call a.. 'romantic relationship'." You were starting to struggle with your wording and worried about the impression it'd have on Freddy.
"Wait, did we...did we have that kind of relationship? What is in a romantic relationship?" Freddy tilted his head and you gulped.
"Well-uh-" you stammered. "It's like...stuff....cuddles and that stuff are included but they aren't as serious, I guess. That was the majority from us. There were just a few romantic...comments? And moments. That were bothering me as well...."
"I think I know what you're talking about...." Freddy's head slowly drifted off to the side. He stared down at the ground in your peripheral vision. "And they still bother you?"
"Yep....those memories have been coming back recently. I do remember we had a couple talks about boundaries, but those didn't really help...." You trailed off, pushing down a mental cringe.
"Because I didn't know how to control my feelings just yet." Freddy stated bluntly. "I don't think you remember, but....when I first met you, at the house, it sparked something inside that I wasn't very familiar with."
You sighed. "Lemme guess, you're gonna come up with some cringy line about the power of love?"
"No—well, yes. Technically, no." Freddy raised his hand up to the back of his head. "I'm sure you know by now that we aren't your regular animatronics."
"No, duh." You snickered.
"I'd explained this to you before that....we....we're built to do unspeakable crimes." Freddy sighed, holding his hands out in front of him. "I have more blood on my hands than I could know. It's just in our programming. But with every kill I can recall..well, the fact that I could recall it would be proof enough. I gained more and more of a consciousness, I could make my own choices. Then I started to feel things. I could express myself through my own voice and actions."
"Aaaaand, I'm guessing this is where this 'newfound emotion' comes in." You air quote reluctantly.
"Yep. But I HAD felt it before, with a mechanic named Sammy. She was the best--that is, until I got scrapped." Your sudden flash of worry faded away. "She described the feeling to me during one of our talks. I got so excited when I felt it again with you that I might have taken it too far..."
You raised a mocking eyebrow.
"Yeah, I did some questionable things." He rushed, looking off to the side with fidgety pupils.
"I hope not," you elbowed him in the side. "Maybe I didn't really know how to deal with that, liking an inanimated object."
"Inanimate," Freddy corrected you. "And you admit you liked me!"
You huffed. "Whatever. I'm a bit older now and I have already been in a healthy relationship now."
Freddy was silent. You probably shouldn't have let that slip out of your mouth.
"It was short lived!" You blurted. "It was for less than a year, I swear we didn't get very serious." You waved your hands out in front of you as if you were trying to get his attention. But clearly you had it. But there was still part of his expression that implicated that he'd zoned out a bit. He came back to reality and raised an eyebrow.
"You sure? He didn't...hurt you, did he....?"
Oh, crap, I also need to bring that up....
"Yes...he...didn't hurt me. Nope, not at all." Freddy leaned in closer and your cheeks heated up a bit from how close he was getting.
"Why was that answer hesitant?"
"B-Because..." the stuttering clearly wasn't helping your case. "I'll tell you later, but I am sticking to my very word that the person DID NOT HURT ME IN ANY WAY. We broke up because things just...didn't work out." Your eyes wandered to the side to avoid Freddy's calculating gaze. "Sorry, this..this conversation was just dumb."
There was a pause between you two before Freddy leaned back.
"No, a part of me is grateful you brought it up. I still feel guilty for just approaching you out of nowhere like that. Now that I understand social standards, I was a total creep. I don't know if the care you showed me was out of fear or actual love."
"Well..." it was your turn to be the upbringing one. "..I did care about you. Sure you terrified the crap out of me at first. But who wouldn't be scared? Once I was adjusted to your presence, I did develop and recognize some feelings."
"Go on..." Freddy leaned over again, a smug look glazing over his face. You nudged your hand off his cheek, pushing him away.
"Oh, shut up! I'm not taking any of that back, by the way." You crossed your arms and stuck out your tongue in a childish manner. "Well, I totally got that conversation out of the way. Maybe."
"Hehe, yeah. We can keep having talks, you know. If you ever need to get something out, or if you just want company. I know I don't get many visitors, so I'm free. Kinda lonely."
"AHEM!!" Bon Bon huffed in the distance.
"...fine, we're kinda lonely." Freddy deadpanned in the direction Bon Bon's voice came. "Just feel free to stop by."
"Will do. But I'm afraid that talking isn't the only reason I stopped by..."
"What do you mean...?" You raised up the toolbox that had been set by your feet. "NOOOOOO!!" Freddy hopped off the stage and ran into the hanging wires. You heard some banter between him and the hand puppet, followed by a bunch of metal thuds. You rolled your eyes.
"FREDERICK, YOU GET BACK HERE!! YOUR MAINTENANCE IS REQUIRED!!!"
End of a very questionable chapter that has not gone over very much editing.
I also have the plot so far a bit more planned out and the story will be longer than first expected 😅🥲👍