Chapter Text
If there did exist a word to express how excited you were today in the English dictionary, it still would not be strong enough to express your feelings. A bundle of buzzing excitement and nerves, you fiddled with your little bowtie in the full-length mirror to make it completely straight and perfect. Everything had to be perfect. Hairs sticking up at angles because you only woke up about fifteen minutes ago? Flattened with ferocity. Wrinkles in your shirt because even though you did remember to iron it, you accidentally left it in an awkward position? Straightened out with tingling fingers.
Okay, maybe you felt a little silly being so excited about something as mundane as a first day at a minimum-wage job, but to you, it wasn’t just any minimum-wage job to get you through university. It was working as an all-rounder at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza . In recent years, you had been spending more and more time at your local Freddy’s as the chain grew and you with it. You had become a bit infatuated with the place, from its fun and poppy aesthetics to the bubbly environment of family fun surrounding you. Then, there were the absolute marvels of technology that were the animatronics. They mesmerised you, and you weren’t even particularly a tech nerd or anything. It was just so fascinating to see life breathed into something so solid and mechanical in the form of the cutest animals that you’d spend all your time sketching, sat in a booth near the back to observe. The animals could move around the restaurant and interact with families and kids all by themselves and it fascinated you to no end.
You were really going to be late for your new job if you kept daydreaming about how amazing said job was going to be. You checked yourself one last time in the mirror, smoothing everything out, and finally left for your first day. The drive numbed your excitement only a bit, but by the time you had arrived, it was back in full force, buzzing through your veins. You took a deep breath before you went in, though. You had to at least pretend to be normal.
It was an afternoon shift so the restaurant was already lively as ever with kids running from corner to corner and the sound of energetic music filling the air from the animatronics. Naturally, your attention was drawn to the animals first, currently up on stage enthusiastically performing for just a few cheering kids. Suppose the rest of them were too juiced up on sweets to appreciate them. Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica were all dancing proudly, and you checked them all off mentally. Next, your eyes searched for Foxy in his secluded stage a little distance away. Instead of the typical drawn curtains however, you saw Foxy sat on the edge of the stage with his head slumped down. Besides him and knelt on the floor, a man was laser-focused on Foxy’s circuitry in his hooked arm. You couldn’t see much of the man from the back, but you did immediately recognise him. A handful of times while you had been absent-mindedly sketching in the restaurant, an animatronic had malfunctioned onstage or on the floor and this man had emerged from some shadow somewhere or another, retrieved the malfunctioning animatronic, and retreated to the shadows with the character in tow. After some time, he would return and set the animatronic back in its place, working like new. You knew it couldn’t have been a contract technician, it had to be someone who permanently works there, because the events you remembered were spaced fairly far apart over the years. You had never seen him speak to anyone or even acknowledge anyone else’s existence apart from the occasional employee. Odd.
Suddenly, you hear your name called out over the ruckus. You snap out of your gaze at the man fixing Foxy and turn to see your new manager calling from the staff-only doorway to the kitchen. You quickly skip over, nearly being knocked down by two kids playing tag, but manage to keep your cool in front of your new boss thank god .
“Miranda! Sorry I got distracted, I haven’t seen an animatronic being repaired on the floor like that before.” You admit. You had already gushed to her about approximately half the extent of your love of Freddy’s and she’d given you the job heartily. Miranda smiled and began leading you through the kitchen and into the small manager’s office. She was a taller woman with brunette hair pulled into a tight ponytail and you would place her around mid-forties. Her smile was impossibly contagious you’d found.
“Yeah, me neither, and I’ve been here a while. You should’ve seen it though; Foxy had a crazy emergency breakdown earlier. Didn’t hurt anyone, but he couldn’t be moved to Parts and Service for a repair ‘else he’d break again. I think he’s about fixed up now, though.” Miranda informed you. You reached the office and automatically went to smooth down your uniform and hair again. She turned to face you. “Alright, first I’m going to get you shadowing one of your coworkers serving on the floor. After that, we have the owners themselves in for a debrief today, so I’d like you to meet them. The owners won’t be in everyday, because there are quite a few locations around so they rotate around the ones in the area. Lastly, I’ll get you on kitchen duty. Sound good?” Miranda was fast-paced and firm but the structure of your shift felt good. You nodded eagerly. She picked up a clipboard from her table and parsed through a few pages. “It looks like today you’ll be shadowing …” She grimaces but quickly schools her expression. “...Michael. Look, he’s a bit younger than you, but he’s very experienced. He can have a bit of an attitude though, so just don’t take it personally. I don’t really have anyone else to give you.” You raise an eyebrow a bit at her talking about another employee, but it almost gave the impression that she was stuck with him somehow, and now you had to be too. She clapped you on the back and began leading you out.
Standing at the staff-only door was a very grumpy looking teenager with brown shaggy hair and a menacing glare. Miranda introduced you two quickly with your name and Michael’s, and left you to his care. Or lack thereof. Without saying much of anything, he began to just go about his duties almost ignoring your presence entirely. That was fine, because all you had to do was watch. His customer service voice definitely needed work, but you managed to grasp the gist of what he was doing fairly quickly. After about an hour of ignoring you while he worked, he suddenly turned all his attention on you.
“Alright. Your turn. Do that table there.” He grunted, throwing his head towards a table with arms crossed. You nodded and copied the algorithm of what he’d been doing, but hopefully with a lot more cheer and enthusiasm considering you were genuinely feeling it. Where he had been bored and dry, you tried to be light and bubbly, and you felt the family from the table you’d been assigned had appreciated your energy. After moving from between the table, the kitchen, and back to the table, you returned to Michael.
“How was that?” You asked earnestly. He huffed and literally rolled his eyes at you.
“Whatever.” He said, and directed you to another table to serve. Before you could though, you were snatched back up by Miranda to meet the owners. Nerves bubbled inside you like nobody’s business. These were the people who had started Freddy’s from nothing, who had pioneered the amazing technology that made the robots move and mesmerise you. These were the people who had induced this infatuation you had with a children’s restaurant. Maybe don’t phrase it like that in front of anyone. It was so exciting you nearly skipped alongside her to the kitchen where your eyes fell upon two men.
The first was a tall and heavy-set man with dirty blond hair and square glasses pushed right up against his face. The entire bottom half of his face was covered in beard, but you could see it tilt up in a warm smile as you approached. He was dressed in a more mechanic-like outfit and even had a few black markings on his clothes and skin. He might have said something like “nice to meet you” and stepped forward, raising his hand to shake yours, which your body must have reciprocated on autopilot because your attention was entirely stolen by the other man in your presence. The man that you had seen fixing Foxy earlier stood before you, steel-grey eyes locked onto yours and holding your attention hostage. He was taller than the first man, but far slimmer, his purple button-up shirt hanging off him a bit. His hair appeared to have started the day neatly combed, but the result of fingers being pushed through it several times had made it a bit tousled, showing off the flecks of grey throughout a soft ocean of dark brown. His features were finely aged and his expression was one of absolute neutrality as he held eye-contact with you. Without breaking it, he spoke sharply.
“Henry, your hand is covered in oil.” The man said in a very strong British accent. His voice was deep and velvety and just like the rest of him, aged like fine wine. Your body was already so overwhelmed with admiration and excitement that you completely skipped over the fact that you were finding your boss who was definitely at least double your age attractive. Extremely attractive. The man who had been addressed as Henry jumped back.
“Gosh, sorry about that! Don’t want to be serving customers with oil-slicked fingers that’s for sure. Henry Emily, at your service–or I guess you’re at ours.” Henry chuckled awkwardly. Still entirely focused on the second man, you watched him finally break eye-contact to raise an eyebrow through a side glance at his partner, and then hold out his hand to shake.
“William Afton. Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.” You met his hand eagerly now, free from whatever black magic spell he had you under with his eyes. His touch though threatened to put you under an entirely new one as he clasped your hand briefly, your skin burning where his skin had made contact. You managed to hold your sanity this time, however.
“Where fantasy and fun come to life, right?” You joked, desperately trying to make your recovery from being so awkward. Thankfully, Henry chuckled heartily.
“A sense of humour, fantastic! We’re very happy to have you on board.” Henry beamed, and you reciprocated, expanding your attention to both men now.
“I’m very happy to be here! I’ve loved Freddy’s for years and I’m so excited to be working here, especially near all the animatronics, I think they’re absolutely amazing.” You gushed. Henry’s smile grew wider, if that was even possible. William appeared thoughtful for a moment.
“Hear that, Will? A superfan on staff!” Henry nudged William. He had no idea , you thought, but kept it to yourself. William took an extra moment analysing you before speaking.
“Yes, well, they are marvels of technology and engineering, and adored by many. I can obviously see why you would adore as well.” He said, expression still unchanging. He then seemed to go back on himself. “As long as you’re not spending all your time ogling the animatronics instead of doing your job, I see no problem here.” William said, deflating you only a little. His attention on you either way made you feel a bit fuzzy inside.
The two men excused themselves shortly after that and you were shuffled by Miranda to the kitchen. It didn’t take a lot of instruction to get going on the mountain of dirty dishes and very soon you had found a rhythm back there, leaving you to your thoughts. Specifically, thoughts about your handsome boss. It had caught up to you now how messed up it was to be attracted to not only your boss, but your boss that was a lot older than you, and you worried at your lip as you thought it through. Yes, it was weird and wrong, but the fuzzy feeling in your stomach he gave you by existing in your presence felt amazing. You felt excited in a way very different than you had been feeling all day, because this heady excitement was laced with fear. Something about him not only enthralled you, but scared you, and you could not for the life of you point to what it was. Maybe it was his steely disposition? Maybe it was his hardened glare and unbreaking eye-contact? Maybe it was that you felt in yourself a side of you unexplored and frightening rear its head at the mere sight of him? At the end of the day though, if all you wanted to do was be nearer to him, or talk to him more often, how is that wrong or dangerous? You can be friendly with him as your boss, not cross any lines, and get the feeling back that you had suddenly found yourself craving. There was nothing wrong with that and he’d never know.
Kitchen duty passed quickly and before you realised time had passed at all, Miranda was tapping you on the shoulder, breaking you from a trance you’d found yourself in.
“It’s seven–I’m clocking out, you’re free to go too.” She said, wandering over to the time punch-clock. “Everyone’s left but William, but he usually stays late when he’s here. Busy man, I guess.” She added absent-mindedly, but your ears pricked at that. Before you could even finalise the thought, the words had left your mouth.
“Is it OK if I finish up what I’m doing first? Maybe give the floor a fix-up before tomorrow?” You asked, innocently enough. Miranda chuckled a bit.
“Absolutely you can, love that fresh-faced go-getter attitude, I’ll abuse that while you have it. Just don’t be out too late, get home and get dinner, yeah?” She said, a hint of maternity slipping into her voice. You smiled gratefully. You nodded and waved her off, finishing your task before moving out onto the floor. There were quite a few things to be tidied so you got to work. You did find yourself however, prioritising areas closer and closer to the back of the main area, closer to that room at the end of the hall with the light bursting from underneath the door. It was harmless if you just wanted to stick around in case you saw him again. If he was here too long, you could just leave, no harm done, and the floor would be cleaner tomorrow for it. You got back into a rhythm tidying the main area and after about forty-five minutes, you were in your own world doing a final sweep of the night, admitting to yourself he would be here longer than you wanted to be.
Until you smacked right into his chest.
“Watch where you’re going idiot–Oh, it’s you.” From being knocked backwards, William’s gaze softened only marginally upon realising it was you. “What are you still doing here?” He asked bluntly, and suddenly all words escaped you.
“Uh, I was just–um… making sure everything was good… for… tomorrow.” You clambered together the sentence, refusing to meet his eye and instead focusing on his eye-level chest. He nodded a little uncertainly.
“Right. Well, I’m leaving so you have to leave, too.” You accepted quickly and raced to put the broom away and grab your things, not wanting to lose a second of the fuzzy feeling. Returning to his side at breakneck speed, you saw the ghost of a smile on his face. One day you wanted to make him smile for real. He began walking out, seeming to know you’d be at his heels, because he started speaking to the open air. “How was your first day, then?” He inquired.
“Amazing, I do really love this place and it was honestly really fun being on the other side of things. I liked being busy all day.” You said cheerfully, looking up at him as he kept his gaze level and distant.
“I infer from that you come here often?” He asked, fishing the restaurant keys out of his pocket to flick them in his hand.
“Yeah, a bit. I like to hang out here in my free time. I like to, um, draw the animatronics a lot.” You said the last part a bit quieter, hoping to not say the wrong thing and scare him away. You had reached the exit door at that point and with one hand on the doorknob, he paused and turned to meet your eyes. Those damn steel eyes again, boring into your soul. His gaze was extremely analytical, how you’d imagine he’d look at his robots, trying to problem-solve. You could see the mechanics in his mind whirring and humming and you desperately wanted to know what he was thinking about. He turned and took a step toward you.
“That’s quite impressive, they’re very complex. I’d like to see your art sometime.” He said. It came across with a hint of genuinity, but mostly like he was testing a hypothesis. It sounded very experimental. His eyes were trained on you as you looked at the floor with a flush and an awkward giggle. When you raised your head to stutter out a thank-you, he had become a step closer to you, completely disregarding your personal space now. All the air left your lungs as your eyes trailed up his body, past his broad chest, to his eyes, looking more analytical than you’d seen them yet. He was so close to you and you felt the former fuzzy feeling spread into a vibrating thrum throughout your entire body. You didn’t dare move a single muscle under his gaze, scared to break the dream and lose the warmth emanating in every single cell. He moved slowly, beginning to raise a hand from his side. Your eyes immediately darted to it and feverishly followed its agonisingly slow movement upwards and towards the side of your head. Your eyes still locked on his hand, he leaned right into your space in one swoop right down next to your ear, making you gasp and nearly choke on the air you were already on short supply of. As soon as he was there, he mumbled “You’ve got a piece of confetti on your face.” He rubbed his thumb along your jaw to remove it and backed up from your form like a vacuum had sucked him all the way away from you. You felt strikingly chilled as soon as his body heat was removed from you. You quickly slammed your jaw shut so you weren’t gawking at him like a fish. What he was wearing now was close to a smirk, but still not the smile you yearned for. He turned and opened the door, letting in the cool night air onto your burning skin. Before walking away, he turned his gaze over his shoulder.
“Goodnight.” He closed it out with your name, and vanished into the night.