Work Text:
The smell of raw dough and of sugar was always familiar to you and the stain ridden countertops were more familiar to you than your own home at this point. Your job as the only human baker at the plex had been taking most if not all of your time away from you, leaving you with little time at home besides to sleep.
The hours were long and at times ridiculous, but the plex was a big place and sold a lot of treats and pastries to the customers that crossed its threshold. Coming into work at 4am every day sounded crazy to you when you first started but after seeing the long and extensive list of things you would have to make daily, the early mornings started to seemed more reasonable, giving you at least somewhat of a chance at having it all ready before the plex opened its doors to the public, but that didn’t mean you enjoyed the early starts, most of the time the comfort of your blankets were almost too hard to resist.
Almost.
If money wasn’t an issue, you’d never leave the comforts of said blankets, but unfortunately bills needed to be paid, adulting wasn’t as fun as it had seemed to you as a kid, the freedom to make your own choices was such a little reward for all the stress and bills that came with it and there were so many bills.
Other than the hours the job was pretty good and paid a decent amount, pretty high compared to other jobs like it, but that was the plex for you, all jobs that came from the plex paid highly, tempting anyone stupid enough to sign the very scary amount of wavers, you pretty much had to sign your soul away to the company in exchange for employment.
The amount of things that could go wrong at the plex were high, more common than things ever going right, something that seemed to be common with anything that shared the Fazbear name, bad luck seeming to follow the company like a shadow.
Regardless of the warnings, of how the company basically hired you without an interview, you still took the bait even after watching many employees leave the doors, expressing that what they’ve seen and had to deal with in the plex was just too much for them to handle, yet you stayed, mostly because of the pay, actually it was just because of the pay, that and you also enjoyed baking, it was one of if not the best job in the plex, you just remaining in the background out of sight of the customers and the robots that littered the plex, minimum risk of an accident, besides the kitchen catching on fire.
The kitchen in question, was actually very questionable, the wiring definitely faulty somewhere, many times had you almost started a fire, the counters had many questionable stains on them, that never went away, no matter how hard you scrubbed them, the stains had been there since before you had showed up and you doubted they would ever leave.
Your equipment if you could even call it that was dodgy and hadn’t been repaired or checked over by a mechanic in who knows how long, longer than you’d been here that’s for sure, most of the time you’d resort to some good old elbow grease to finish mixing especially after the automatic mixer would just randomly stop working, always at the worst times like it had some grudge against you and was just lying in wait to ruin your day and if you gave it a glare every time you entered the kitchen well no one besides you was there to know about it.
The kitchen itself was small, like a glorified closet, shoved away in the back making it a hike and a half to get to, it was far away from the main entrance and was too confusing to get to via the staff tunnels, too many times had you gotten lost in them and the roaming endos were just too unnerving to you, so you stuck to getting to the kitchen via the atrium even if it took longer, it was better than getting lost in what looked like some scene from a horror movie it even had the distinct feeling of eyes watching you and the creaking and clunking of metal footsteps in the distance, the tunnels for sure were meant to be some type of horror attraction at least that’s what you liked to think.
While the job is alright and the pay is great, the job itself does get a little lonely, a little boring without anyone to talk to.
You were meant to have assistance in the form of some revamped staff bot but the thing had broken down ages ago, and you’d shoved it into the corner after too many unanswered requests to have it fixed, in the end you’d just given up on it letting it reside in the corner maybe it would spring up one day when you badly needed help like a protagonist from a movie.
But even when the bot had worked it was the silent type and not the kind that was more of a listener than a talker no that thing had not a single thought in its head, it just stared, blankly ahead, awaiting instructions.
It was sad especially after you’d seen the other robots, how advanced they were compared to your assistant bot, to the staff bots that roamed the plex who seemed to not even be able to think for themselves, they blindly follow orders, following the track of the trail they’ve been placed on like a train, unable to go off it, stuck forever following the same loop, until they break down.
You had thought your job would be the same, every day like the staff bots, just a loop that never changed, a sad way to live but it paid the bills and kept your shelves and fridge stocked with food.
But that was until a certain bot decided that watching you do your job was the most interesting thing in the plex.
A bot you’d learnt from some quick research was named Moon,
He was the nap time robot for the daycare, but for some unknown reason to you the whole nap time thing had been canceled and the animatronic had been left to roam the plex, you expected the company to give the lunar robot a new job, a different task but for whatever reason they just slapped security on him and called it a day.
But the security was only meant for night time, leaving the lunar robot with nothing to do during operating hours and from the interactions you’d seen involving the animatronic it seemed like he wasn’t very popular.
You’d only witness a very interactions, whenever you had to run out of the kitchen in search of more stock after having run out, something that happened quite frequently and no matter how many requests for extra stock you asked for the amount never changed, but it didn’t matter to you, it was interesting, awe inspiring to see the plex during operating hours.
The colors and lights, the music, were all so attention grabbing to you that multiple times you’d have to mentally slap yourself to get a grip and focus on the task at hand.
And during a few of these runs for extra stock you’d seen, well more like heard the lunar robot, who seemed to enjoy crawling around the rafters of the plex, like some giant rat, but he wasn’t bothering anyone, but you’d still seen and heard customers talking whenever they took notice of the bot, they didn’t seem very fond of him, no, almost disgusted in a way, like they had caught whiff of a bad smell they would scrunch their faces up at him.
Whether this bothered the lunar robot it was hard to tell his face never gave away much, like he’d hidden his emotions and thoughts behind a mental wall, stopping anything from leaking through to the surface.
Though only once had you ever seen him leave the rafters, leave the safety of them, leave the darkness and that was because a child had been crying, scared of the giant robots that towered over them, the noises, sounds and smells being too much for them yet their parents never gave them anything but a side glance before going back to idly chatting with their friends.
The lunar robot had taken noticed of the scene from above, having the best view of everything below him, he had descended down from some wire attached to his back, dropping to the ground not far from the child, he’d hunched down as soon as his feet hit the ground, as to not tower over the child, but before the child could take notice, before the nap time animatronic could even utter a word the mother of the child had taken notice, dragging the child away from the robot, glaring at the lunar robot with distrust before snapping at him, the lunar robot in response shuffles away from them, still hunched over as if to make himself smaller, fiddling with his fingers, his gaze directed at the ground, seemingly lost.
You had badly wanted to approach the robot then, guide him to your kitchen to at least have a place to reside, without the glares and remarks of others, but unfortunately you were running behind and couldn’t stop for long, only being able to stop to pat the tall robot’s shoulder before rushing away.
If you’d turned back even for a second then, you would’ve seen the big red eyes watching you, curiously, before Moon called the wire down and returned to the safety of above.
That interaction, brief as it was may have been the reason the lunar robot started residing in the rafters of the kitchen, you didn’t mind the company even when you’d glance up to see piercing red dots staring down at you, it was just nice to have someone else to fill the void of the kitchen.
Moon never did much, showing up an hour after you and leaving when you would start to pack up, no all he did was watch, like a curious cat, and just like some cats he loved to steal things from you and your counter whenever your back was turned, from spoons, to trays, to the unused coffee machine, anything that wasn’t glued to the floor was fair game.
And whether he gave it back to you or not was another question entirely, sometimes he’d quietly place the item back on the counter before sitting down on the metal beams in the rafters like an overgrown frog, other times he’d grin down at you, eyes sparkling in mischief before he’d scutter out of the kitchen, item in hand.
Yes he did steal the coffee machine, no he never gave it back.
You wonder if he is part crow but instead of taking just shiny things, he takes anything that interests him.
That or maybe he just liked being an asshole.
Regardless, you would talk to him, even though he never responds, the bot forever silent, and you never expected or demanded a response, no it was just nice to have someone to listen to you ramble as you baked, you could tell he was listening from the clicks as his faceplate tilts in question, or how he would jingle the bells attached to the ribbons on his wrist, something you learnt very quickly was his way of expressing that he agreed with you.
You were perfectly happy with just having him watch, but today you had finished early, too early to just pack up and leave, tapping your fingers against the counter, in rhythm to a song you couldn’t remember the name of, you glance up seeing the familiar lunar robot watching you from above tilting his head in question.
Your mind buzzes with an idea and you grin up at the lunar robot.
“Hey Moon, I finished early, wanna come down and I’ll teach you how to bake.” You say gazing up at him as his eyes widen in surprise as if he was never expecting the offer and at first he doesn’t move, seeming frozen in place, not even the bell on his hat swayed as he sat in place and you wonder if you broke him.
Maybe asking the bots if they want to do something that wasn’t in their coding or protocols breaks them, maybe to stop them from doing things they weren’t designed or made to do.
Maybe it was to stop the very expected robot rebellion.
But he slowly starts to move again snapping you from your thoughts,
As he slowly descends from the beams, watching you curiously, yet hesitantly as if expecting, as if waiting for you to snap at him, to shove him like how you’d seen some of the customers do, and it pissed you off, but you held back expressing it, not letting the thoughts show on your face,
Afraid if you do you’d spook him,
No you didn’t even speak nor move, as if even the slightest of movement, the quietest of sounds would ruin it.
Would scare him back up onto those beams.
Which was interesting to you in a way, how gentle you were treating this moment, treating the bot, who was 10 feet tall, who towered over you, who could snap your neck like a twig if he wanted to,
You were acting as if he was made of glass,
And really he kinda was like glass, delicate and easy to shatter, maybe a bit scratched up from the mistreatment, interactions and comments from the customers,
From the things you’d overheard being said from the other workers, it was quite appalling especially compared to how the band members were treated, those four being treated as if they were the rarest of minerals, as if they were like gold.
You thought, that maybe it was just the staff bots, that were treated like shit, still fucked up but no it seemed to have spread further and to the more advance robots, you could feel your blood boil inside yet your expression, your body language on the outside was calm and patient, not wanting to express these thoughts and emotions just yet to the lunar animatronic.
But maybe you could give him something to do, show him how to make things, how to bake, to create, to do something with his hands besides playing with them, now that he was in the light, close to you, yet still some distance away, you could see the paint withered away on his hands and fingers, scratched off due to nerves most likely, and having nothing to do, a bad habit he had picked up.
Maybe if he could feel important, wanted in the small kitchen, with you, maybe he’d stop looking so lost, like a kicked puppy, and really he had been kicked, his whole purpose, what he was made for, designed for, had been stripped away from him, for a reason unknown to you.
And you’d probably never know the reason why, the company wasn’t honest or open to its workers about events that have happened no, they were close lipped around everything and anything, especially if it was bad and if it would damage or taint the Fazbear name and you weren't a mechanic so anything related to the robots was deemed unimportant to be laid upon you by the company.
When he finally touched the tiled floor with his feet and the wire ascended back into the roof did you finally start moving again, opening the cabinets trying to find something easy and simple for the lunar robot, nothing hard or crazy to make, coming across an old and most likely outdated cookie mix you deemed it good enough for his first attempt.
Shutting the cabinet you place the mix on the counter for the Moon to see, who stares at the box in wonder, gazing over it before cautiously reaching over to trace his finger along the picture of the cookies on the box, you watch him curiously wondering if he had ever actually seen a cookie mix before, most likely not, the mix wasn’t something you used, no it had been left to rot in the cabinet from a baker before you most likely.
“Are you ready to make some cookies, Moon?” You ask him, reaching behind you to pull out an apron, handing the clothing to the robot who gazes at the clothing in your hand, then snaps his gaze to your face, searching for something written upon it, after a bit he seems to have found whatever he was searching for, and he careful takes the clothing from you, as if afraid that he if took it too fast you’d get hurt, or maybe he was expecting you to snatch the clothing away from him and you wonder what exactly had happened to the lunar robot to make him so cautious, the robot in question putting the apron on struggling for a few moments to tie it up before gazing at you in silent question in what to do next.
The directions were easy to follow and quite simple, yet the animatronic seemed hesitant, anxious during it, panicking over even the smallest of mistakes, even after you assured him that it was fine, that it could be fixed and that it doesn’t have to be perfect.
But it felt as if there was a glass of water being filled, but the water never stopped and it would soon start to overflow.
The overflowing happened when he dropped the carton of eggs you had handed to him to put back, he watched in silence as the eggs leaked out and onto the floor, eyes wide, fingers twitching as if he wanted to fix the mess but his body was frozen in pure panic, his wide gaze slowly gazing up at you, waiting, as he slowly hunches into himself, and you slowly reach your hand out to him, his gaze now focused purely on the approaching hand, watching in frozen silence, almost flinching as you pat his shoulder, as if he expected the worst, but you smile softly at him and he seems confused at the expression, as if he’d never seen it before, “It’s okay Moon, accidents happen.” You tell him softly, before grabbing a cloth to fix the mess.
Moon watches you quietly as you do, seeming to slowly loosen up from his tense posture.
After the mess had been cleaned and the baking continued did the lunar robot slowly get more confident, and you watch in amusement as the animatronic sits in front of the oven to watch the cookies baked attentioned solo focused on it as if he thought that if his gaze was taken away from the oven for even a second, the cookies would disappear or something would go wrong.
You left him to it as you cleaned up the mess from the preparation, you don’t know how patter got onto the counters on the other side of the kitchen but you weren’t going to question it, but you couldn’t help but snort at the patter smeared onto Moon’s faceplate like paint, said robot turning to face you in question seeming to either not mind the mess or wasn’t aware of it.
You slowly approach him cloth in hand, and he stares at you in question, as you kneel down to wipe the patter off his face, once done, you nod your head in satisfaction the patter now gone and you pull the cloth away and slowly stand back up, the bot watching you with an expression you couldn't quite read.
Once the cookies had finished cooking and were left on the counter to cool, did the lunar robot tear his gaze away from said cookies, to stare at you, a silent question on what happens now, the cookies in question looked pretty decent, a bit lumpy in places but they weren’t meant to be perfect and really when was anything ever perfect.
Seeing the lunar animatronic gaze back at the cookies proudly, even though he himself couldn’t eat them was enough for you.
You help him decorate the cookies, deciding on a moon theme, Moon watching in awe at the cookies once they were decorated in blue icing, with small yellow stars littering the top of the icing, he reaches out towards them before letting his hand gently fall to the countertop seeming to be hesitating on something, an inner fight with himself, before he withdraws his hand away and you gently pat his head watching him gaze at you in wonder “Well done, they look amazing.” You tell him gently and you swear the stars are trapped in his eyes by the way they sparkle with delight.
His eyes go round, like an owl, as he stares at you for a few moments, debating once more before standing up slightly, his fingers twitching and before you can question him he pulls you into a hug, his grip tightening slightly and he nuzzles your shoulder gently with his faceplate, before pulling away quickly giving you no time to respond and scrambles back up to the beams, he freezes for a second on the beams, turning back to look at you, his gaze searching yours, before he smiles softly, an expression you’d never seen on him before he scutters into the darkness.
You smile softly, watching the area that he disappeared into for a bit, before reaching over to grab one of the cookies and taking a bite, snickering at the taste,
It seems when your back was turned he’d put salt in it instead of sugar.
But even with the salt the cookie still tasted sweet.
When you entered the kitchen the next day you were surprised and shocked at the objects that littered the countertop, from toys that had been most likely dropped by customers, to random gifts from the shops, to even a box of some of the overpriced chocolates that one of the gift shops sold.
You shake your head, chuckling already knowing who had left these gifts.
Your attention is caught by a new addition to the bare fridge looking out of place and you smile as you approach it, a drawing hung off the fridge, being held there by a cloud magnet that you knew definitely wasn’t in the kitchen before,
A picture of you and the lunar animatronic, was drawn onto the paper, seeming to be holding hands and hastily scribbled above the two of you was the word ‘friends’ but the word was misspelled and the r was backwards but the picture warmed your heart regardless, and you gently trace your finger over the picture,
Just as your ears catch the noise of the familiar jingle of bells above your head.