Chapter Text
"Hey, just a heads-up. The kids were a little more unruly than usual today." Vanessa informs you, leaning against one of the storage lockers as you change into your work uniform.
Your car had given you some trouble starting due to the cold weather, so you're just relieved she wasn't coming to berate you for being a few minutes late.
"Routine maintenance isn't scheduled until the end of the week, but if you find anything that needs to be addressed sooner, let me know."
"Will do, thanks." Is your curt reply.
You like to keep things brief with Vanessa, especially since learning that she'd been the culprit of the power outage last week.
Apparently, it was her way of seeing whether or not you'd be able to handle Moon and keep him in line.
You don't appreciate her forcing your hand like that, especially considering she'd sent you in with no forewarning whatsoever.
But, whatever.
You'd let bygones be bygones, for now.
You weren't about to let Vanessa ruin your mood, not when a certain animatronic was eagerly awaiting your arrival.
Sun immediately perks up at the sight of you, barreling over to you with such haste that he knocks over an entire stack of toy blocks in his path.
You can't help but snicker at how clumsy he can be at times.
How he hasn't accidentally trampled a child is beyond you.
" Sunshine, I've missed you!" He states gleefully, sweeping you up into a hug with such force it knocks the wind out of you.
"You were four minutes late. I was starting to get worried. But you're here now, so everything's fine!"
You wheeze, patting his arm in an attempt to gain his attention. He takes the hint that he's hugging you too tightly and eases up a little.
"Missed you too, Sunny." You reply, wriggling yourself out of his embrace just enough so that you can get a proper look at him.
"What's that on your face?"
"Hmm? Well I don't have a mirror, silly. But the kids ran out of arts and craft paper, so I let them give me a makeover instead." He chirps, giving your face a quick nuzzle before setting you back on your feet.
Now that you can get a look at the entirety of him up close, it's blatantly obvious that you have some serious work to do.
There were stickers everywhere. Not to mention glitter glue, paint, mod-podge, and God knows what else.
"Okayyy- well, before we deal with the play area, let's see if we can get you cleaned up a bit. Sound good?"
The animatronic nods amicably, awaiting your direction as you contemplate the best way to clean a seven-foot-tall animatronic.
"Give me a minute to grab some supplies and we'll get started. Mind sitting on the floor for me?"
He does as he's asked since it goes against his programming to refuse, but even so, you always phrase things as a request, rather than bark orders at him like Vanessa.
He still deserved to be treated with respect, even if he wasn't human.
Your train of thought must have been written all over your face, Sun tilting his head at you in a manner that shouldn't be half as adorable as it was.
" Something on your mind, Sunshine?" He queries gently, opening his arms in invitation. "You know you can always tell me if something is bothering you."
Arms full of cleaning supplies, you set them aside on the ground next to Sun and plop yourself into his lap, burying your face into his chest plate.
You feel him gently set his chin atop your head (it had taken quite a few prior attempts to not poke you with one of his rays, but through some mildly painful trial and error, you'd eventually worked it out), arms wrapping around you in a comforting embrace.
"It's just-" You sigh. You don't even quite know why you're so upset if you were being honest.
" I don't like how disrespectful some of the staff act towards you. It's not okay to treat you like that."
" Awww! You're worried about me?!" Sun states gleefully, nearly hugging the life out of you again. " Well, there's no need! I'm perfectly happy as long as I have you. I don't care how anyone else treats me."
You feel your face go a bit red at that, your heart fluttering in your chest at such an endearing statement.
No one had ever placed such value on your friendship before, and to know that he did made you incredibly happy.
"Thank you, Sunny. That means a lot." You grab a microfiber cloth and set to work cleaning his face, hoping to distract yourself before your own gets any redder. "But I promise I won't let them disrespect you when I'm around."
Sun can only nod, growing increasingly squirmy under your persistent scrubbing (glitter glue was a bitch to remove) the reason for which had you quite perplexed until a fit of giggles eventually escaped him.
"I-I’m sorry. I'm t-trying my best to stay still, b-but that tickles-"
You blink.
"You're...ticklish?" Interest piqued, you abandon the rag to experimentally tickle at his sides.
The animatronic falls into a fit of laughter under your ministrations, confirming your suspicions, hands playfully trying to swat your own away.
With a giggle of your own, you finally relent and give him a moment to recover.
You see a gleam of mischief in his eye and promptly shut down any brewing thoughts of retaliation.
"Don't even try it, mister." You muster a half-hearted glare at him and resume your task of removing the last of the glitter glue.
"Hey, Sun? Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course you can, silly. I'm an open book."
You've been wanting to inquire about something for a while now, and you figured now was as good a chance as you were going to get.
"You don't have to answer if the question makes you uncomfortable. Why do you dislike Moon so much?"
As expected, he starts wringing his hands together, a telltale habit whenever he grows anxious, and you pat his head reassuringly.
If he wasn't ready to talk about it, you weren't going to press the issue.
"B-Because he's so mean! One of these times he's going to hurt you just like he does everyone else!"
You release yet another sigh, waiting patiently for Sun to finish his rant about all the reasons he couldn't trust his other half.
You're pretty sure you don't get paid enough to play therapist to a pair of animatronics, but you'd give it a shot.
"Sunny… have you ever tried considering Moon's feelings? Think of how lonely you get as soon as the children go home for the day." You tell him sternly, the animatronic pouting as he takes your words into consideration.
"Moon spends the majority of his time all by his lonesome. And he can't help it if he seems a bit intimidating at times. It's his job to keep an eye out for intruders and make sure this place is safe. He's not going to hurt me; if anything he's trying to protect me." You pat his shoulder comfortingly, seeing that he was evidently torn by your perspective.
"Do you see where I'm coming from, Sunny? Could you try to have a little more faith in Moon, just like I have equal faith in you both? Please, for me?" You give him your best puppy dog eyes and Sun can't resist, nodding slowly.
"Okay, Sunshine. I'll try…" He grumbles, tucking you back against his chest. He murmurs something else, but can't quite make it out.
"Hmm? What was that, Sunny?"
"Moon… appreciates what you said… no one's said anything like that to us before."
Hold the phone.
Moon could hear all of that?!
You withdraw yourself from his chest, earning a small whine from the animatronic, only to be caught off-guard as you grab his faceplate, staring at him intently.
"Wait… so you two can communicate with each other? Like, you can hear one another's thoughts and stuff?" You're completely perplexed by this development.
It made sense in a way, but that wouldn't explain why Sun seemed to have no recollection of your interactions with Moon, especially the first night you'd met.
"Yes, and no." Sun squirms in your grasp, so you begin tracing gentle circles over his rays. After a moment or two, he relaxes into your touch and continues his explanation.
" If one of us is really insistent about it, we can watch what the other is doing, even if we aren't the one in control. But I don't like to see what Moon does, so I go to sleep. He tends to nag at me during the day, especially if it's about you. Normally I'd try to ignore him and push his thoughts away."
"That's really neat, Sun. Thank you for being honest with me. I know you don't really like talking about these things." You tell him softly, kissing him on the cheek.
His internal fans kick on, steam coming out of the joints on his neck, a garbled sound of delight coming from his voicebox.
"Y-you're w-welcome… S-sunshine. W-Was that a….k-kiss…?"
You hide your face in your sleeve to stifle your laughter that such a simple gesture had him almost on the verge of overheating.
You can only manage a nod in response.
Sun's gaze shifts to his lap, and if animatronics could blush, you're sure he'd be red as a tomato.
"C-can I have another?"
"Of course, you can, Sun." You beckon him to lean down so his face is level with your own and as soon as he complies, begin peppering his face with kisses.
Neither of you had kept track of the time, and as such, you'd neglected to recall that Moon took over at the end of the hour to do his first patrol of the Pizzaplex.
Needless to say, you wind up planting your next kiss right on Moon's nose.
You freeze, eyes struggling to adjust to the dark and trying not to be intimidated by the set of glowing red eyes staring back at you.
"Don't stop on my account, little bird." He purrs, hands snaking around your waist to keep you from scrambling off his lap. " By all means, please continue…"
You thought that perhaps you were crossing a line with your actions, but he certainly seemed perfectly smug waiting to see whether or not you would dare continue your actions.
You were never one to back down from a challenge of wills, so you grab him by those stupid frills around his neck and plant a firm kiss right over his mouth.
“Now go make your rounds, you big softie. We still have the entire daycare to clean.”