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Gregory shivered and stumbled, the weight of his backpack trying to drag him down. The sounds of clanking rattled from it with every hastened step, while he wound around the piles of metal and junk. The muddy ground was slick, but he paid it no mind, rushing onward without a thought. He knew if he took too long to get back, that dumbo of a poodle would come looking for him, or to at least tease him and playfully jump out again. But Gregory didn’t know how waterproof the fluffy dog was, especially since he’d been recently repaired (by Gregory himself, no less.) He couldn’t let that happen.
He stopped to catch his breath, chest burning and tightening. His usually fluffy bangs clung to his forehead, sopping wet. He wiped at his face, which did nothing against the onslaught of cold raindrops striking him.
“Ugh,” he mumbled, sniffing and rubbing his nose. Already, it felt clogged from the bite of the temperature, made worse by the downpour. “Why’d I choose now of all times to get supplies?” He exhaled, finally catching his breath, at least enough to continue. “Well, I didn’t know it would downpour!” he snapped at himself. “Next time, I’m finding an umbrell-” The final syllable of the word dragged out in a scream, when his feet hit a dip in the junkyard. One flew out from under him, and before he knew it, he was tumbling down a muddy hill. Water and dirt flung; everything became lost in a whirlwind of pain and choking water. When he hit the bottom, he groaned and squirmed.
“Stupid hill,” he grumbled, while he tried to get up. The backpack’s weight felt even worse now, and he careened back with a squeak. “Oh come on!” Soldiering up, halfway into doing so, two plush hands suddenly grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet.
“What the- Percy!” Gregory shot a glare over his shoulder.
“Heya!” The weathered animatronic gave his typical grin. “You good? That looked-”
“Get back inside! Go!” Gregory turned to push him, hands sinking into dampening fur. “Dummy!”
Percy grumped, joints creaking and jittering as he stomped his way back towards their makeshift hut, crafted from various sheets of metal hammered together crudely. “I’ll have you know water doesn’t get to me, it’s just- eek!” He stopped, head and eye twitching as a spark came off his neck. “Little…ticklish?”
“Hurry up!” Gregory charged to his back, pushing again. He was able to force Percy back into their home, where he slumped into his seating area, a whole mountain of different blankets perfect for the poodle. Out of the corner of his eye, Gregory watched him while he unloaded his backpack, noticing more twitches than normal from the animatronic. Of course, Percy was never exactly stable. Gregory knew a lot about technology and mechanics (some of the knowledge coming so naturally, though he had no memory of it), but Percy had been in a…terrible state, to say the least. There were still many tears and other issues, particularly around his eyes and in his chest.
Gregory finished unpacking and sorting, then grabbed a rag and wrench, and went to Percy’s side. “Here, let me-” He halted and squeaked, arms shooting up to cover his face as Percy shook himself off. Water droplets went flying from his fur and mechanisms. “Hey! What was that for?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Percy calmly pretended to examine a paw. “I was just drying off.”
“And you chose the exact moment I came over?” Gregory said, voice flat.
“Yes.” Percy grinned.
Gregory sighed, though the sound came out more fond than anything. He had to admit, though he’d repaired Percy on a whim—mostly out of boredom and wanting something fluffy around—he had grown to like the poodle’s company. He hadn’t expected the advanced AI; felt quite like how the Glamrocks were supposed to be, though Gregory hated to think of them. Always caused a strange pressure in his head; those blocked memories trying to resurface, perhaps.
He had no time to think on it, checking Percy and grumbling at him the entire time. He wasn’t the only one with problems though. The rag to rub away any water kept slipping from Gregory’s fingers, which trembled violently. His soaked clothes still clung to his wet body, the coldness of it all increased by the wind that whistled through, accompanied by water droplets on occasion. He tried to ignore it, working the wrench around a concerning area in Percy’s chest, one that sparked faintly. While Gregory did, he could feel the dog’s eyes on him.
“Gregs?”
“Gregory.”
“You sure you’re good? Last I checked, little boys like you aren’t supposed to shake like that.” A soft finger tapped Gregory’s nose, making him go cross-eyed.
“Little boy?” He glared. “Like you’re any older than me!”
“I’m just sayin’.” Percy shrugged, then he tipped his head. “I’m feeling pretty good now, y’know. Why don’t you get changed and warm up? My own fault if I’ve got some water in my system, anyways.” He winked. “You can just fix me up again.”
Gregory opened his mouth to reply, only to shut it, lowering the wrench. His own survival instincts had been tickling the back of his mind for a bit now. He hated being cold. That meant getting sick; being sick meant possibility of, well…he didn’t let himself think on it.
“Fine,” he grumbled as he tossed the tool aside. “You gotta stop leaving the hut though. You’re not stable enough to wander around.” He rose and went behind the curtain in his makeshift changing and sleeping area. “Especially during a freakin’ downpour! What were you thinking?”
“Probably same as you,” replied Percy with a scoff. “Remember, I told you to wait till tomorrow.”
“Whatever.” Gregory huffed, then focused on changing into the warmest pair of pajamas he owned. They were threading in some places, but cozy enough. While he shivered and struggled, he made a fire in their metal barrel, then sat between it and Percy with a blanket wrapped tight. Silence remained, though he once again sensed Percy looking at him.
“I can feel your worry,” mumbled Gregory, which was followed by a sneeze.
“Who said I’m worried?” Percy grumbled, but the droop of his puffy ears betrayed him. “Here, uh, why won’t you come to my super awesome blanket mountain? It’s much warmer.”
After hesitating, Gregory rose. “Fine.” He plunked beside Percy, melting against some of the covers.
Appearing pleased with himself, Percy asked, “So what’d you get?”
“Bunch of food and stuff, and some more things that might help with your glitches,” Gregory replied while he gazed upon the crackling fire and the rushing rain beyond. “Couldn’t find a flashlight, though.”
“Why do you need one?”
“Just in case I end up in the Pizzaplex a while, and things get dark.”
“Pizzaplex? Isn’t that-”
“Yeah.” Gregory’s eyes lowered. “That other place with animatronics.”
Percy frowned, his own eyes flicking to the side. “Why’re you going there anyway?” he asked as his fingers tapped together, almost nervously it seemed. “You find plenty of good stuff around here and the town.”
“Reasons,” mumbled Gregory, shoulders bunching.
“What sorta reasons?”
“Just reasons, okay?”
“Hey, don’t gotta get snappy with me. I just-”
“Look, I just need to find answers!” Gregory snapped with a furious glare. His throat tightened, and he took a breath, anger brewing at the tears that wanted to form.
Percy’s face softened, and his grin flickered out. “Answers for what?” he asked, voice softer than usual.
“Just…stuff.” Gregory stared pointedly at the fire.
Silence returned. He fidgeted and squirmed, stomach twisting. The pressing emotions and distress only made the lingering chills worse.
Percy must have picked up on this, for he piped up, “Hey, why don’t you get closer? It’s much warmer with me, probably.”
Gregory raised a brow at him. “Huh?”
“Just c’mere.” Percy offered an arm to him, ears perking up.
Hesitance made Gregory duck his head, but slowly, he crawled nearer and let himself rest against Percy’s arm. It encircled his shoulders and part of his torso. The plushness of it touched the back of Gregory’s neck, and he shifted his face to feel it better. Even damp, the animatronic felt like what Gregory once imagined a cloud must.
“I think you’re getting sappy, poodle,” he muttered.
“I take offense to that.” Percy scoffed.
Gregory cracked a tiny smile, relaxing in the warmth of the blankets, Percy, and the fire they continued to watch. It still felt so foreign, to have a friend again. Seemed like years since he had any. Unwanted for so long, with that hole in his memories, flitting images of horror and other things he couldn’t make sense of. He just knew it was related to the Pizzaplex.
The smile faded. “Percy?” he mumbled.
“Yeah?”
“I think something bad happened to me.”
“Oh.” Percy tightened his arm around him. “Right, um…” His volume dropped softer. “I think something bad happened to me too.”
Gregory wanted to point out the obviousness of that, given the state he’d found Percy’s remains in. But he held his tongue, watching the downpour, fingers curling into his blankets tightly. “I wasn’t myself, I…I-I don’t think. I have missing memories, but I-I remember not being…me; I remember that really bad stuff happened.” The words hurt to say, but he forced them out anyway. They’d been trapped and twisted for so long. “And I know it had to do with that place—the Pizzaplex.” He inhaled and let it back out in a shaky breath, eyes shutting. “That’s why I gotta go back to it. As soon as I can; I’ve put it off too long.”
Percy didn’t reply for a moment, but his other arm joined the first around Gregory. “I…know how that feels. To not be you.”
Gregory’s eyes reopened in surprise, and cautiously he looked up at the poodle’s anxious, distant expression. “You do?”
“I think.” Percy’s neck creaked as his head lowered. “I don’t remember it all, but…it hurt. It hurt so much.”
Gregory’s chest tightened. “Yeah,” he mumbled, a hand moving to his head. He remembered the numbness; the pain, even if details remained lost in a terrifying haze.
“I wasn’t me. I-I…hated it.” Percy held Gregory closer.
He let him, voice wobbling. “Me too…”
They both fell quiet again, moving nearer to each other. Gregory let himself shift so he was practically in Percy’s lap, cheek smooshed to his torso.
“But, hey, we’re good now.” Percy forced a wary laugh. “We got this cool hut, right? And you can figure that stuff out.” He set his jaw with a firm, determined nod. “And I’m going with you when ya do.”
Warmth spread through Gregory’s chest, and he giggled ever so softly. “Thanks, Percy, but I don’t think another animatronic can just wander into the Plex.”
“Oh.” Percy facepalmed. “Right.” His tail thumped the blanket mountain. “But, just so you know, if you don’t come back quick, I am getting in there no matter what. I’ll drag you out by your ear if I gotta!”
Gregory sighed, but couldn’t help nuzzling his face against Percy. Despite the upbeat, almost joking tone of Percy’s voice, the young boy knew he meant it. And that meant more to him than he could express. So all he said was, “I don’t doubt it.”
And so, boy and poodle stayed snuggled close for the rest of the night, watching the rain together. Happy to finally have someone who understood a terrible thing that happened to both, something neither could remember, but haunted their every waking moment.
Gregory drifted to peaceful slumber surrounded by Percy’s fluff and listening to him mumble an old song from his restaurant. The moment his breaths deepened with sleep, Percy looked upon him with a fond, gentle smile, then nuzzled his snout against Gregory’s head and shut his own eyes to deactivate.
Whatever happened next, he was glad to have a new pal by his side.