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lunarmoves · 11 months

Text

these summer nights (chapter one)

pairing: DCA sun/moon/eclipse x reader

mentions: summer camp au, gender neutral reader, alcohol consumption (reader takes a shot), ocs (kind of)

a/n: well it's finally here! and in time for summer too! im so sorry ch1 is such a beast omfg... i tried to split it, but there was no solid point for me to do so, so it ended up over 10k words LOL (<- in agonee). check out the masterlist for more info on the fic (tags & summary). hope u guys enjoy! :D

word count: 11.8k+

masterlist

ao3 link

You’d found the job listing in a Craigslist ad, of all places.

Because who even used Craigslist nowadays anyway? You, apparently, in your boredom and desperation to get a summer job. Your semester was about to end and you’d found yourself looking at a very uneventful, money-less summer. You’d completely forgotten to apply to internships with the whirlwind of work and studying you had to do while school was in session. Which inevitably led to you scrolling through all manners of websites and flipping through newspapers in an attempt to find a job at the last minute that you could possibly do. You needed the money, you had to admit. Bills didn’t pay themselves and the on-campus job you had during the school year unfortunately didn’t carry over into the summer.

At first your eyes had glanced over the ad in the dreary haze that’d come over you due to hours of mindless scrolling. Then you did a double take when you saw the pay. Thirty-five dollars per hour. Thirty-five. What the hell?! That was significantly more than the minimum wage you were earning through your university. If you did this job, you’d be cruising for a bit during your final year in school. It almost made you think it was a scam.

You quickly skimmed through the job’s small blurb. It was for a full-time summer camp counselor at some place called Camp Fazbear. Three months in the woods with a bunch of kids. Hm. You opened a new tab and did a quick search for ‘Camp Fazbear’. Links to an official site popped up. It seemed legitimate—that was good enough for you. Closing the tab, you returned to the job listing and skipped right down to the requirements.

You didn’t really have any experience with children on your resume, but that pay was seriously no joke. And they covered lodging and food for you? Holy shit, it was a steal. It wouldn’t hurt to apply. You might as well, honestly, especially with how unsuccessful you’d been with getting any responses from other internships. A few clicks later, you’d submitted your resume and reference letters through the website’s portal. Your hopes weren’t too high, but you’d be dumb to not at least attempt to get an interview. What was that saying about missing all the shots you didn’t take? Yeah, that.

A few days later, you got a response email asking for your availability for a phone interview. And suddenly, things seemed to be moving a bit too fast for your tastes.

You’d nailed the “interview,” apparently, for you were sent a bunch of papers to sign. Waivers, background checks, contracts, housing agreements. You had to watch some trainee videos, take a drug test, and do a joint CPR and first aid course. And as soon as you were done with your finals, you packed up your things into a large suitcase, settled the sub-leasing for your apartment for the summer, and drove your way down to Camp Fazbear.

It was a bit of a long drive, going from the small city your university was in to the middle of the woods. You watched as concrete and brick buildings were replaced by wide, open fields and vibrant green forestry. You got lost a few times, made a few wrong turns and got off at an exit that you swore was the right one, but eventually you found yourself passing under a large arch over the road that said Welcome to Camp Fazbear. There was some drawing of a bear on it, but you didn’t get a good look at it. Probably the camp mascot or something.

You eventually came up to a security checkpoint. The guard lounging around in the little cabin flashed you a lazy grin and checked your I.D., cross referencing it with a list he had. Then he lifted the gate arm, waved you in, and returned his gaze back to the small T.V. on the desk in front of him. You eased your car back into motion, cruising down the road until you had to make a turn onto a dirt pathway. Not too far now—you were close. Sure enough, a large, wooden lodge appeared as you rounded a corner, surrounded by trees and bushes.

There was an area in front of the lodge that looked like a small parking lot with all the dirt packed down and uniform. There was another small, silver car positioned by a bush. You parked your car in front of a tree with a small parking sign nailed to it, killed the engine, and unbuckled yourself so you could step outside. Immediately, the fresh smell of leaves and grass, wood and earth, invaded your senses. You inhaled deeply and exhaled it all in a deep sigh. The air here was much fresher than the city’s. It made you feel lighter. You closed your car door behind you and clicked your keys to lock it. You didn’t expect anyone to try to rob you all the way out here, but still, habits.

Dirt crunched under the soles of your sneakers as you made your way up the few stairs of the lodge to its entrance. But before you could rap on the door, it swung open of its own accord, a tall, blond-haired man beaming a smile at you.

“Ah, you’re here early!” he said brightly, stepping to the side to wave you in. “Saw you pulling in on the cameras. Come in, come in!” You thanked him and stepped into the air-conditioned room. You recognized his voice as the man who did your phone interview.

“You must be Mr. Emily?” you asked as you spun around to watch him close the door behind you. He was wearing a pair of blue overalls over a white shirt. He nodded and confirmed your own name, then began to walk across the room. It was a small reception area, by the looks of it, with a desk to the left and a few chairs and couches to the right. Potted plants decorated the corners of the room. Fairy lights were strung up over the entrances. Cute.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” Mr. Emily asked you as he led you through the reception area and into a larger room with more seating arrangements that had a rather tall ceiling. A chandelier hung elegantly in the center of it. Interspaced doors lined the wall to your right. Glass windows let in golden sunlight that bathed the area in a warm glow. There was a staircase that led to an upper gallery to the left with more rooms connected to it. Directly across from you was a large set of glass doors that led further into the camp, from what you could see. “I imagine the drive must have been a bit of a long one.”

“I’m fine, thank you. It wasn’t too bad,” you told him, still looking around at all the decor and furnishing. There were some bright stuffed animals sitting on a few of the sofas and loveseats. A wooden smell permeated the air, likely due to the strong oak the building was made of. Mr. Emily led you into one of the rooms along the rightmost wall. It was his office, from the looks of it, with a large L-shaped desk tucked in the far left corner and a few chairs positioned in front of it. Pictures and drawings lined the walls. Most notably, though, were the blueprints he had, either along his desk’s surface, or pinned to the walls.

“Excuse the mess,” he said hastily as he began clearing away some of the blueprints, rolling them up to shove to the side. You couldn’t really make out what was on them, but the ones on the wall looked like… robots? Kind of cool. “I hadn’t expected you to be here so soon! Not an issue, of course. Better early than late!” He shot you a smile that you mirrored as you sat down on one of his chairs.

“Sorry, traffic wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.” You’d left pretty early, too, just in case. You scratched the back of your head and found yourself looking at a little bear plushie that sat on one of the shelves above his desk. Aw.

Mr. Emily waved a hand at you in dismissal as he sat in his desk chair across from you. “All good. Now. I’ve received all your paperwork, of course. Let’s see…” he trailed off as he rummaged around and pulled out some papers from within one of his desk drawers. He started leafing through them. “You did the required training and got your certifications. Good, good. Contract has been signed, a direct deposit has been set up… Excellent.” He mumbled to himself a bit as he clipped the papers together and shoved them into a manilla folder with your name on it. He then set it to the side and looked up at you. “Right! So, since you’re here a bit early, I’ll have one of our more senior counselors give you a tour. I’m waiting for the others to arrive so I can get introductions and the small orientation out of the way.”

You nodded, fidgeting slightly with your fingers. “And the kids haven’t arrived yet, right?”

Mr. Emily shook his head and bent down slightly to grab at something under his desk. “Oh no, no, they’ll be here in a few days. We need to get a few more preparations done and get all the new counselors ready for their duties.” He straightened up and lifted a small tote bag into the air to hand over to you. “Here! Your uniform and a few other things!”

“Thanks.” You grabbed the bag from his hand and looked down at the design on it. There were little suns and moons all over it. Peeking through the top of the bag, you saw two collared orange shirts tucked inside along with a little nametag and a water bottle. There was also a keychain and some stickers. Your gaze softened. How nice! “I’m assuming I have to wear the shirt every day?”

“Yes,” Mr. Emily confirmed. “It makes it easier for kids to locate their assigned counselor. You’re allowed to wear any sort of pants with it, be it jeans or khakis or shorts.”

You bobbed your head alongside the information you were receiving and opened your mouth to ask a question. But before you could get it out, there was a knock at the door.

“Enter!” Mr. Emily called out, and you turned around to see another man walk into the office. He was rather tall, with light brown hair that appeared even lighter in the sunlight, tanned skin, and dark blue eyes that immediately landed on you. He gave you a smile. Mr. Emily clapped his hands together. “Ah! Michael! Perfect timing.”

“This one of the newbies?” Michael asked with a bit of an English accent, quirking an eyebrow up at you as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans.

You introduced yourself. “Am I gonna be known as a newbie for the entire summer?”

Michael grinned at you. “Pretty much. But hey, at least you’re not the only one.” You sighed to show your reluctant acceptance.

“Michael here will give you that tour I’d mentioned,” Mr. Emily told you as he stood up from his desk chair and started gently ushering the two of you out. You stood up and patted your pockets down to make sure you still had your phone, keys, and wallet. You did. “Go on, I still have much to do. I’ll contact Michael once the others have arrived so you both can come back here. Off you go!”

“Alright, alright, see ya Henry.” Michael waved a hand as he exited the office with you trailing behind him. You gave Mr. Emily a farewell, your tote bag slung over your shoulder, and jogged to catch up to Michael while he walked towards the exit leading to the rest of the camp.

“He seems nice,” you mused out loud, stepping outside into the warm sunlight and slight breeze wafting through the air. Ah, this was nice.

“Who, Henry? Yeah, he’s great,” Michael replied with a faint smile. He made his way down the stairs of the lodge and started leading you across a wide, open space. “Crazy smart, too. He could be doing anything, and yet he’s here.” There was a moment where Michael looked thoughtful, but then he shook it away. “Anyways. Welcome to Camp Fazbear, where happiness and fun come to life, yadda yadda. This is the main pavilion area.” He waved his hand across the large space you were in. There were hardly any trees apart from the ones lining the pavilion’s perimeter. A couple campfire pits were spread out here and there, surrounded by massive logs and a few chairs. There were some picnic tables as well.

Michael pointed to another large, wooden building to the left of the space. “That’s the main mess hall. It’s where the kids go for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Err… oh! There’s a map over here if you wanna check it out.” He walked over to a large board to the side of the mess hall that had a map on it protected by glass. You stepped up closer so you could observe it.

“Man, this place is huge,” you commented as your eyes raked over the map. A ziplining area, lake, pool, field, rope course, bathhouses, and a bunch of other miscellaneous buildings were just a few of the things that greeted you. Shit, you hadn’t expected it to be this big. It was kind of scary, but also very exciting. You’d give anything to be a kid staying at this place for the summer—it looked like it would be a hell of a time.

Michael snorted. “Yeah. Makes it a pain when you have to walk everywhere.” He gestured at you to follow him and the two of you continued your way across the pavilion and onto a path lined with more trees. There were a bunch of other workers milling about, likely helping to get the camp ready for opening in a few days. Most of them looked busy, but a few offered you and Michael a smile or little wave in greeting. At least the people here were nice.

“So… you’re a college student, right?” Michael asked you after a moment of silence interrupted by the occasional crunching dirt or snapping twig under your shoes.

“Yeah, going in the final year for my Master’s program.” You couldn’t help but let your gaze drift about, taking in the way the honey-colored sunlight filtered through the green canopies above you. It was gorgeous. Very scenic. You could get used to this.

He hummed. “I’m a fourth year grad student. A lot of our counselors are college aged, if not most. ‘S why we have a kinda high turnover rate. People graduate and go off to do other things.” Grad student? You wondered what he was getting his PhD in.

“Makes sense.” You paused as you remembered one of the questions you had. “Actually, what do you guys do when it’s not summer? Close down everything?”

Michael shook his head and watched a bird fly overhead through the leaves. “Nah. Well, we close for two months, but then we reopen as a winter resort kind of thing. We get a lot of snow over here. Then we close again for another two months and open back up the summer camp.”

“That’s pretty cool,” you admitted, thinking about all the work that must go into switching from a camp to a resort. “Seems like a lot to do, though.”

“Oh for sure”—Michael shot you a grin—“but we have hardworking people, so it works out.”

It’s a minute before you both emerge into another open space, this one with brightly colored cabins positioned around it. You recognized the characters on some of the cabins as being the same as the stuffed animals you saw in the first lodge.

“Who are all those characters?” you asked, pointing to one of the cabins that had a white and pink chicken painted on it that matched its similarly-colored decor. “Are they all camp mascots? I thought there was only the bear.”

Michael gave you an odd look and stopped in front of the cabins, where there was another small fire pit with benches around it in a circle. “Mascots? No? Those are the main counselors.”

You gave him an odd look back. “What.” You thought you were the main counselor—or one of them, anyways.

He stared at you. You stared at him. “What do you mean ‘what’? Didn’t you read the job description?”

At that, your look turned slightly sheepish. “Um, I may or may not have skimmed it and any paperwork Mr. Emily sent to me.” Embarrassment crept up your neck and into your cheeks. Maybe you should have read through things more carefully…

Michael’s look turned incredulous. “Okay, first of all, ew, call him Henry, he’s not that old. Second of all, did you really accept this job without fully researching it? Did nothing about the animatronics pop up during your interview??”

“Listen, I was desperate,” you half-heartedly argued. “And no. It wasn’t much of an interview, honestly. He just confirmed my information and asked me about my availability and background.” Animatronics?? What did you get yourself into?

Michael blinked slowly at you, then raised a hand to his forehead. “Incredible. I’m actually impressed. I don’t know how you dodged this information.” He shook his head slowly and gestured to the cabins. “Those characters are the main summer counselors. They’re all robots with self-learning A.I. Your job is as a counselor, sure, but it’s mainly to support them and act as a handler of sorts for who you get paired with.”

Self-learning A.I.? You knew robots were a thing that was slowly becoming more integrated and accepted in society, but you didn’t expect a summer camp of all places to have them. “You’re joking,” you said flatly. Michael gave you a deadpanned look. “You’re not joking.”

“Nope. I told you Henry’s a genius.” He shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at the cabin with that familiar brown bear on it.

“How did parents even agree to this type of thing?” you wondered. You could see how sending kids to a three-month long camp where most of their supervision would come from robots would seem rather… extreme. Especially for those with less progressive perspectives.

“That’s the thing,” Michael replied, “not all of them were entirely comfortable with it. And the government got on our arses for all-robot counselors, so we had to hire human handlers. It’s worked so far.” He gave you a shrug.

“That’s fuckin’ crazy, dude,” you finally blurted out after you took a few moments to process everything. “Robot counselors. I feel like I’m in the future.”

Michael let out a deep laugh that made you perk up slightly. It sounded nice. “I’ve gotten used to it by now. They’re honestly no different than working with people—maybe even better.” He pointed to the cabin on the far left decorated in red, purple, and gray with a wolf painted on it. “That’s Roxanne, Roxy for short. The next one is Chica’s.” Oh that’s who the chicken was. Made sense. His finger moved along. “Then Montgomery, or Monty.” The alligator’s cabin was painted with greens and purples. “Freddy Fazbear himself.” At least now you had a name for the bear and his orange and blue cabin. “And finally Sundrop and Moondrop. Sun and Moon for short.”

That last cabin was half painted in yellows and oranges while the other half was in grays and dark blues. You raised an eyebrow at the two animatronics painted on their respective sides—they looked like polar opposites, though they both had a crescent moon across the same side of their face—and turned to give Michael a confused look. “Why does that cabin have two of them?” It was a sharp contrast from the others.

“Oh, Sun and Moon are one animatronic. Sun comes out during the day, and Moon comes out at night. It’s a cool light sensitivity mechanic,” Michael explained to you, causing an ooohhh to escape your lips. You had to agree; that was pretty cool.

“So where are they now?” you asked, your eyes looking about as though you could catch a glimpse of the animatronics, wherever they were. Now that you knew they were part of the camp, you were excited to meet them—if a bit nervous.

“They’re in rest mode, charging up for later.” Michael took that moment to glance at his watch. “Speaking of which, we should move on if we wanna hit everything before Henry radios.”

You nodded and followed alongside Michael as he guided you past the cabins to point out the bathhouses (“Your cabin room has your own bathroom attached to it, so you won’t have to share with the kids,” he told you amusedly after spotting the less-than-pleased look on your face) and additional storage buildings. He took you practically around the entire camp, leading you past the lake and its boathouse, the pool, a giant field for miscellaneous activities with a playground tucked in one corner, and the ziplining area. You were certain that you would get lost in the first few days—maybe even weeks—of being here, but at least you wouldn’t be completely alone.

As you were both slowly making your way back around to the main lodge, Michael told you about some of the security measures Camp Fazbear had. He pointed out a few of the hidden cameras in the forestline in addition to the more obvious ones perched at the top of the solar-powered lamp posts. There sure was a lot of security. You wondered why. “There’s a cutoff point in the woods where kids can’t go past. It’s obvious where it is, since there’s a bunch of signs and cameras around the perimeter, but we usually don’t have issues with kids wandering past it by accident.”

You hummed, eying the blinking red dot on one of the surveillance cameras as you both walked by it. Michael continued, “The animatronics are connected to the cameras anyways, so they’ll be instantly alerted just in case, but they can’t really cross the boundary line unless one of the exceptions in their protocols are reached.” He paused for a moment and scratched his head. “Henry’ll probably go over all this in the orientation. Sorry, I know it’s a lot of info.”

“That’s okay, it’s kinda interesting,” you admitted. “I didn’t expect Camp Fazbear to be so… high tech. I thought it was a regular old summer camp, y’know? Like, ‘no technology for three months’ type of thing.”

Michael chuckled. The two of you stepped off the pathway through the woods you were following and back onto the main pavilion. There were more uniformed people bustling around here, carrying boxes of this and that. “Well, with robot counselors it was kind of a given that the camp would be a bit atypical.” You gave him a look that practically screamed oh really? He snorted, then added, “Besides, we still confiscate phones, so it’s still kinda no tech for the summer.”

“Aw, really?” you complained lightheartedly, one of your hands covering the pocket your phone was in defensively. “Counselors too?”

“Yeah”—Michael tossed an apologetic look your way—“Have to set an example for the kids, after all.”

“Booo, hissss.”

“Yeah, yeah, complain all you want— Oh! I forgot to point this out earlier. That’s the maintenance building over there.” Michael pointed to a slightly smaller building hidden past the large mess hall. You hadn’t even noticed it. “At the end of every week the animatronics need to do a maintenance check. Just a scan to make sure all their systems are working properly. So it’ll be up to you to make sure they’re functioning as they should.” Oh man, this was a lot to keep track of.

“I should make a checklist or something,” you murmured, more to yourself than Michael, but he laughed anyway.

“Yeah, that’s what I did when I first started out.” There it was again, that same thoughtful expression on his face. It was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. You wondered what he was thinking about.

Just then, the walkie-talkie clipped to Michael’s waist—that you realized had been partially hidden under his shirt this whole time—gave a little bzzt before a familiar voice floated out of it. “Henry to Michael.”

Michael unclipped the walkie and held it up to his mouth. “Yo.”

“Everyone’s here, right on time. Head back to the lodge, over.”

“On our way, over.” Michael glanced at you as he reclipped the walkie to his jeans. “We timed this perfectly, it seems. C’mon, it’s orientation time.”

It was a short walk across the pavilion back to the lodge. Michael led the way up the small set of wooden stairs and through the doors, aiming for Henry’s office. He’d left the door open, and once you and Michael stepped through, you were able to see the three other people crammed into the space around Henry’s desk. They all turned around to look at you and Michael. The sudden attention made you plaster a polite smile onto your face. You held onto the shoulder of your tote bag and said a quiet “Hello.” You got a few nods in response.

“That was fast!” Henry said cheerfully from his desk chair. He gestured at the two of you to step in closer. “Come in, let’s get you all introduced. Close the door, Michael.” A quiet creak preceded the click of the door shutting. You shuffled as close as you dared to the backs of the chairs two people were sitting on and looked at Henry as he started speaking again. “Okay! We can start with a little icebreaker.” Aw man, you hated icebreakers. “Name and favorite summertime activity. I’ll go first! My name is Henry and I like to hike! Who’s next?”

The five of you remaining all glanced at each other before Michael decided to be the first victim and take one for the team. He cleared his throat. “Name’s Michael. I like drive-in movies.” He nudged you in the side and you took that as a sign that it was your turn. You introduced yourself and gave your favorite activity. Then you looked expectantly to the man standing to your left.

“Vincent,” he said in a drawling voice. He was a dark-skinned brunet with long hair that was pulled in a tiny ponytail at the back of his head. Black eyes swiveled around the room in disinterest, arms crossed over the purple shirt he was wearing. “I like… fuck if I know. Swimming, I guess.” He gave a half-hearted shrug and pointedly looked at the man sitting on the chair in front of you.

“M-My name’s Jeremy,” he introduced himself with the slightest of stutters, his fingers fidgeting with each other. Jeremy looked like a small thing, sitting in that office chair. He had wavy, blond hair messily scattered upon his head and hazel eyes that darted away quickly once they made eye contact with someone else’s. His skin was a light brown shade, and he was wearing a plaid shirt that matched his eyes along with some dark jeans. “I like… staying inside, mostly. Playing video games.” That was so valid of him, you thought to yourself.

The last person to go was a blonde woman with vibrant green eyes that looked sharper than a pro chef’s kitchen knife. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail underneath the cap she wore. Lightly tanned skin poked out from the long-sleeved shirt she had on; you wondered how she wasn’t absolutely sweltering in it. She sniffed slightly. “I’m Vanessa,” she said flatly. “I guess I like the beach.”

“Excellent! Wonderful to have you all here,” Henry said immediately after Vanessa got her last syllable out. “Vincent, Jeremy, and Michael are our three veteran counselors, so that makes you two our newbies for the summer!” He looked at you and Vanessa, then offered a wink. “Don’t worry, you won’t be known as the newbies for the entire summer!”

“Only most of it,” Vincent added with a smirk. Henry gave him a look that wasn’t all too serious, then continued on with his little spiel.

“Anyways,” he continued pointedly, “I’ll spend the next hour or so going over basic orientation things. I will supply you all with packets you can use that will contain the most important information. It’s a lot to take in, so it’ll be good for you to study it in the next coming days before the children start to arrive.” He said that last bit mostly to you and Vanessa. You both nodded to show you were listening and understood.

Henry passed out said packets from a pile in one of his desk drawers, then started off the orientation. He was right—it really was a lot of information to take in. What your days would look like, how you’d keep track of the children, what to do in the case of an emergency, who to contact if you needed help… just your general camp guidelines. You found yourself losing focus halfway through and had to pinch yourself to keep aware. A quick glance at the others showed that they were also either completely tuned out (Vincent) or raptly listening (Jeremy). Thank god all this information was in the packet. You’d definitely have to study it later.

Then, Henry started talking about the animatronic counselors. This—for obvious reasons—immediately piqued your interest.

“The main counselors are connected to a secure database with all the children’s information on it,” Henry explained, making small gestures here and there with his hands. “They have facial recognition software, so they can easily keep track of whoever they are assigned to. They have sensors built in the backs of their heads and are able to tune in to the right radio frequency to communicate via the walkie talkies. They can also access the security cameras. There are charging stations located in every building in the event that they must rest and recharge.”

He flipped through a few files on his desk and pulled out a picture. You and Vanessa leaned closer to peer at it. “This is what the stations look like.” It was a large, dark orange tube with a lightning bolt on it that looked like something straight out of a futuristic movie. Weird. You wondered how much electricity it required to power it.

He then went on to explain the maintenance checks and how they are carried out—just like Michael said he would. Apparently, you also had to help wipe them down at the end of every day to ensure none of the children would get sick from germs and to get rid of any dirt that may have accumulated from being outside all day.

“You will each get assigned to one of the animatronics for the summer. Your job will be to assist them and ensure things are going smoothly, though keep in mind that they are the main ones in charge,” Henry informed all of you, though honestly, this was all likely more for your and Vanessa’s benefit. “If you look at the bags I have given you, you will see a specific design on them. This design matches with the animatronic you will be paired with.” A quick glance at everyone else showed that they were indeed holding onto similar tote bags. But before you could see who had what robot, Henry started speaking again. “I already called them over a bit ago. They should be waiting for us outside my office.”

Your eyes snapped over to Henry as he stood up from his desk and started making his way over to his office door. “Wait— we’re meeting them now?” That bubble of nervous excitement was starting to rear its head again.

“Of course!” he replied cheerfully, pausing momentarily just before the door. “Nothing to be worried about! They’re rather nice!” With that, he threw open his door and bustled through, not waiting for the rest of you to gather your things so you could follow. Michael and Vincent were already long gone by the time you had stuffed your packet into your tote bag. Vanessa and Jeremy had already gotten up and moved around you to leave, seemingly not an ounce of nerves in their steps. You took in a deep breath and followed after them, immediately locating the animatronics hanging around the seating arrangements in the middle of the large room.

The first thing you noticed was their heights—even with some of them sitting around on the couches. They were fucking massive.

Vincent had strolled right up to Monty and was giving him a sharp grin that was mirrored right back at him as they grasped each other’s hands as though in an airborne arm wrestle. Vincent was a pretty tall guy, but standing next to Monty, he looked kind of short. “Looks like it’s me and you again this summer, huh big guy?” Vincent smiled in a mischievous way that just spelled out trouble. Uh oh. Before you could hear Monty’s reply, Chica sprang up from her seat and rushed over to Jeremy, calling his name out loudly.

“You’re here!” she squealed as she immediately latched onto him for a hug. Jeremy stumbled a bit; he was only able to stay upright due to Chica holding onto him. “Oh we’re gonna have sooo much fun!!”

You smiled at their interaction, then noticed Michael was talking to Freddy and Henry in a corner. The animatronic bear practically towered over them. At least Chica was shorter, you noted as you eyed her again. Not by much, but at least she didn’t loom over Jeremy.

Your eyes then found Vanessa as she trailed over to Roxy, who was still sitting on one of the couches, inspecting her nails. Vanessa stopped somewhere near Roxy and then they seemed to just look at each other. Awkward. You didn’t envy that interaction. You tore your eyes away so you could look around some more at the conversing pairs of counselors.

That just left you and—

“Helloooo!!! New friend!!”

You turned to your left and immediately had a mini heart attack as your gaze darted up, your head soon following until it was almost craned back.

Sun was fucking tall.

If you thought the other animatronics were big, that was nothing in the face of Sun. His gangly body and limbs seemed to make him appear even taller than he actually was. You were practically swamped in his shadow. He leaned down closer to you once he noticed you’d stepped back to increase the distance between the two of you—if only to ease the muscles of your neck. His face was just inches away from your own. Oof. You tried not to cringe back. His head spun slightly to the left in a way that was not natural for a human, and there was a moment where his wide, white optics briefly flickered blue pupils into view that traversed up and down your body. You blinked at him in confusion, but didn’t say anything.

“Scan complete!” he chirped after a moment in that peppy voice of his, eyes returning back into that bright white. Scan? What the hell? “Oh, new friend, we are so excited you’re finally here! We’re going to have so much fun this summer! We’ll be the best of friends by the end of it!”

“Y-Yeah,” you agreed—the right thing to say, if his excited wiggle was any indication. The large grin on his face seemed to stretch wider, blinding you with its brightness. He had ribbons with bells on them attached to his wrists, and they gave a little jingle as he moved to clasp his hands together. It was amazing how human-like he seemed. Henry really was a genius.

Speaking of Henry—the man clapped his hands together to gather everyone’s attention. You turned around to look at him, a silence befalling the room just before he began to speak.

“Okay guys, now that you’ve all been introduced to each other, you can head over to your cabins and settle in. Today’ll be a bit of a slow day, but tomorrow I’ll need all hands on deck for preparations. Just take it easy for now. You’ll get your radios and keycards tomorrow.” Henry turned to look at Roxy to address her, who raised an eyebrow in question. “Vanessa will need a tour after she’s unpacked, so you can give it to her. But other than that, you’re all free to go.”

“Finally,” Vincent groaned, his hands crossed behind his head as he turned around to make his way back to the reception area of the lodge. Monty trailed after him with a wicked smile and clapped the man so hard on the shoulder he nearly tipped over.

“Guess me ‘nd you got some catchin’ up to do, huh?” Monty laughed—a rough, mean-sounding thing—when Vincent shot him a halfhearted glare. They seemed pretty tight; it made something twinge in the pit of your stomach. The feeling would pass, though, you were certain. A quick glance around the room showed that Michael, Henry, and Freddy were discussing something together as they headed towards Henry’s office. Camp logistics, probably. Vanessa and Roxy had both disappeared in the direction of the main pavilion, likely to get that tour started. Meanwhile, Chica had grabbed Jeremy by the wrist and was dragging him after Vincent and Monty to join them in the reception room. Everyone just seemed to jump right into things—together.

Before you could ruminate on the relationships between the older counselors and their robotic partners, something stepped into your line of sight. You looked up from staring at Jeremy’s retreating back to see Sun, who gave you a bright grin as he leaned back down into your space. Again. This time, you shifted back slightly. He was awfully close. Did he have a concept of personal space? “New friend,” he started eagerly, “allow me to accompany you to our cabin to help you unpack!”

You blinked at him once in surprise, then gave him a smile. “Sure! Lemme just go grab my stuff real quick.”

“Right-o!” Sun straightened up and gave you a salute that was more endearing than you thought would be possible from a seven and a half foot robot. You stepped around him and started making your way over to the entrance of the lodge, where your car was still parked outside. Directly behind you was the sound of heavy footsteps. A quick glance over your shoulder showed that you’d gained a shadow: Sun happily followed you, practically bouncing with each step. Alright then.

As you passed through the reception area, you saw that Jeremy and Vincent had the foresight to leave their belongings by the desk so they wouldn’t have to go back outside to the little parking area. You guessed they were just used to it by now. You breezed by them as they hoisted bags over their shoulders and passed suitcases over to their robot partners. Stepping through the front door, you immediately noticed the addition of two new cars of varying sizes and colors crammed into the space in front of the lodge. You wondered if some of your coworkers had carpooled. Seemed like it.

The steps creaked under your shoes as you beelined for your car, taking your keys out in the process to unlock it with a beep beep. You pulled out your backpack from the backseat first and folded up your tote bag as much as you could so you could stuff it inside. It just barely fit. You slung the backpack over your shoulders, closed the door, then walked to the back of your car to pop open the trunk and heave out your suitcase.

It wasn’t until you’d slammed the trunk shut that you finally glanced to the side to see Sun patiently standing on the front porch of the lodge, hands clasped behind his back as he watched you with that wide grin. You thought he would have followed you all the way to your car, but you guessed not. Like this, you were able to properly take in the sheer height of his figure and what he was wearing. Puffy, sun-patterned pants covered his legs while his skinny torso was bare and on full display. His rays spun around slightly as you locked your car up once more and dragged your suitcase over the dirt to step back into the lodge.

Once you’d reached the bottom of the small set of stairs, though, Sun leaned forward without stepping away from his spot and reached out a hand to grab your suitcase from you. “Let me help you with that, new friend!” he said cheerfully and lifted it up towards him. He held your suitcase by the handle on its side, not bothered by the weight whatsoever. You marveled at the robotic strength in his lithe limbs. Fascinating.

“Oh! Thanks, Sun!” You beamed at him and hopped up the stairs so you could follow him back through the lodge. By now everyone had disappeared, likely to their own cabins. “You didn’t have to! I appreciate it.”

“Anything to make your transition into Camp Fazbear easier!” He turned his head down to look at you as you followed his strides at his side—to the best of your ability, anyways. Man, he had long legs. He slowed down slightly for you and you gave him a quick thankful grin. You both exited out onto the main pavilion and started making your way across it. “Have you received your tour of the facilities yet?”

You nodded, hoisting your backpack up so it sat better on your shoulders. “Yep! Michael gave it to me already. I got here a bit early.” You raised one of your hands up to shield your face from the sun. It was bright out.

Sun seemed to droop down in an almost dramatic manner—a motion that made you glance up at him curiously. “Aww, that’s a shame! I’d wanted to give it to you!” Was he disappointed? The robot was disappointed. You gave him a consoling pat on his arm.

“It’s okay, dude. You can give me a tour of the cabin.” At your words, he sprang back up easily—rejuvenated. It was kind of funny. You suppressed a smile.

“That’s right!” he beamed and bounded forward. His head did a complete 180 so that he was looking back at you as he skipped ahead—an action that took you by surprise, but well, he was a robot with a rather spindly neck. “Come, new friend! Race ya there!”

“Wha— Sun! Wait up!” you called out as you gripped your bag by its straps and jogged after him, careful not to jostle your belongings too much.

It was no doubt that Sun—with his long limbs unbothered by the weight of the suitcase he was carrying—beat you by a long shot to the cabins. You huffed out a breath of air as you skidded to a stop next to him and leaned down to brace yourself against your knees. “You’re— pretty fast,” you puffed out. Sun grinned down at you, patiently waiting for you to collect yourself. You straightened up and wiped some sweat from your brow. “That was hardly much of a competition!”

His sun rays spun around his head in a flair that made you suppress a little laugh. “I’m sure by the end of the summer you’ll have me beat!!”

“Doubt it,” you snorted and gestured at him to go up the stairs of the yellow and navy cabin you’d be staying in for the summer. He bounded up to the wooden door—it had a crescent moon inside a sun carved into it—and opened it with a dramatic flourish as you trudged heavily behind him.

“After you!” he chirped with a bow, his arm across his chest.

“Why thank you!” you replied with a grin, charmed by his politeness. You stepped past the open doorway and let out a small whistle once you swept your gaze around the interior of the cabin. “Wow! It’s big!”

It really was—the outside of it made it seem much smaller than it actually was, especially with how high the sloped ceiling was. The cabin, similar to its exterior decor, was painted gold with red stripes on the left and navy with yellow stars on the right. There were bunk beds lined along the walls with sheets that were a sky blue and had puffy clouds on them. A quick mental calculation lets you know that there were ten bunk beds total, each with their own little dressers next to them. That made it, what, twenty kids tops? The idea of being in charge of so many was a bit intimidating, but you supposed you could handle it with Sun’s help.

“Welcome to our humble abode!” Sun announced as he stepped inside after you and closed the door. He walked further in until he was in the center of the room and brandished his free hand about. The bell tied to his wrist let out a small jingle with the movement. “Here is the main room with all the kids’ beds! Shoes are allowed inside, but not on top of the beds and sheets. Every Sunday, we do a weekly cleaning of the cabin to get the children used to tidying up after themselves and to ensure the floors don’t get too dirty!”

You nodded along with the information and followed Sun as he made his way further into the cabin. There was a door tucked in a far corner along the left wall. He opened it and gestured for you to go inside. As you did so, you noticed it led to another, smaller room. There was a bed to your left that had a small nightstand next to it, along with a wooden armoire to your right. A window with its curtains drawn across from where you stood allowed warm sunlight to filter across the polished, wooden floor.

But what really caught your attention was the large, orange tube positioned in the far right corner, by the window.

“Uh,” you started eloquently as you pointed to the charging station that looked as though it was currently off. “What’s that doing in here?”

“Hm?” Sun ducked into the small room after you, walking over to set your suitcase down by your bed. The ceiling in here was much lower than the one in the main room, so he had to stoop down a bit. But even then, the tips of his sunrays brushed against it. He retracted them further into his faceplate, then looked to see what you were pointing at. “Ah! Yes. That’s our charging station!”

“I know that,” you said gently, wondering if your question hadn’t been clear enough for him to hear or something. “But what’s it doing in… my room??” It was a little… strange. You didn’t think you’d have a roommate, albeit a robotic one.

Sun fidgeted with his hands, swaying gently side to side in an animated motion that you wondered was programmed into him. “Oh! It used to be out in the main room. But! It was distracting for the children, especially when we recharged at night! No, no, it was better to put it in here! More privacy as well!” He gave you a smile that was thin at the edges. His fingers twitched slightly, then he was back to giving you a bright, beaming grin and that thinness was gone like it had never been there in the first place. “Think of it like a slumber party, new friend!”

You stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. How bad could rooming with him be? You doubted you’d spend much time in here anyways. “Alright then.” Your words seemed to ease some invisible tension in him, for he slumped down, then bounded right back up. He nearly hit his head on the ceiling, but managed to stop himself just in time.

“Great!” he exclaimed. You gave him a smile, then looked around the room once more. There was another closed door to the left of the one you’d just come through. You supposed that was the bathroom Michael had mentioned to you earlier. But before you could walk over to it to inspect the shower (hopefully it was clean), Sun started talking again. “Take all the time you need to unpack! I would advise against lying on your bed, though! We need to wash the sheets—as well as the ones in the main room. There’s a small laundry room over there!”

You followed his finger as he pointed out of the open doorway that led into the main room. Directly across from you, against the right wall of the main room, was another closed door. In-unit laundry machines were a blessing, though you supposed with twenty-something kids also using them, it would get messy pretty fast. You sighed.

“Well…” You walked over to your suitcase and set your bag down on your bed, resigning yourself to the arduous task of unpacking. Sun’s gaze followed you, his head spinning in an inhuman way to track your steps. You stretched out your arms and shoulders, then settled your hands on your hips. “Best to get started then.”

Later that evening—after you’d unpacked your bags and resheeted your bed once they’d been properly washed—there was the sound of your cabin’s front door banging open as someone loudly called out your name. Who the fuck could that be? You paused and lifted yourself from your bed, where you’d been aimlessly scrolling through your phone and internally bemoaning the fact that you’d have to part with it in a few days. After a few seconds of staring at your open bedroom door, you eventually jammed on some flip flops and shuffled to the door to check it out.

“Yo! Newbie!” Vincent grinned at you once you’d walked out of your room to see who it was. Well, that was a bit of a surprise. You raised an eyebrow at him as he lifted up a hand at you in greeting. “You busy?”

“Not really,” you responded after a moment of contemplating if you had anything major to do. Sun had left a bit ago before it got dark, chiming out something about having a few tasks to get done, so you’d been left alone for a while. Your head tilted to the side. “Why?”

Vincent pointed behind him at the open doorway that led outside. “Everyone’s hangin’ around the firepit if you wanna join. Kind of a tradition we have before all the kiddos roll in.”

Oh? You perked up. “Sure! Sounds fun.” You’d take any chance to get closer with everyone else.

“Awesome, c’mon then.” He waved his hand at you and turned on his heel to make his way back outside. You stuck your phone in your pocket and followed, pulling the door shut behind you before you walked down the cabin’s wooden stairs. By now the sky had taken on a midnight gradient, the last vestiges of burnt mandarin light peeking just above the woods’ canopies as deep navy and purple swept across everywhere else. You took a moment to appreciate the twinkles of white, red, and yellow that filled the sky—the nebular clouds that looked as though they’d been delicately painted there. Living in a city never allowed you the chance to see just how gorgeous the night sky was, and you knew you’d spend all the time you could while you were working here to look up at the stars.

You followed Vincent as he made his way over to the fire pit in front of the cabins. By “everyone” you soon realized he’d meant the rest of the human counselors, for you couldn’t see a gleam of metal anywhere. You wondered what the animatronics were doing—recharging, maybe.

You took a seat on one of the stone benches around the fire pit, next to Michael who greeted you with a small smile. On the bench directly across from you sat Jeremy and Vanessa. They’d already gotten a fire going, and you watched as hazy smoke curled up lazily towards the dark sky from the flickering flames.

“Right!” Vincent exclaimed as he sat down on the bench to your left and started rummaging around in a black bag that had previously been placed there. “We’re all college-aged here, yeah?”

You were sure he was asking just to confirm if you and Vanessa were. You both nodded and watched as Vincent pulled out a tall, glass bottle from the confines of his bag. Shades of orange and red from the fire gleamed across its surface, reflecting the dancing flames. Uh oh.

“Bro, Ciroc? Really?” Michael groaned as he reached out a hand and curled his fingers at Vincent so he could pass the bottle over. Once the container was in his hands, Michael turned it around so he could read the label. “And coconut-flavored too? You know this tastes like shite, man.”

“What? You prefer the Malibu from last time?” Vincent bit back at Michael, rummaging around in his bag once more so he could pull out some red solo cups and another bottle of juice. Michael made a face and that was all the response Vincent needed. “We gotta initiate the newbies somehow.” What.

“Huh?” you eloquently asked, eyes widening slightly when you noticed Vincent had taken back the bottle of Ciroc and was pouring a shot into two of the solo cups. No mixer either? Fuck.

“...Do we have to?” Vanessa asked in a surly voice. “Vodka’s nasty.”

“Yes,” Vincent said at the same time Michael said “No.” They both looked at each other.

“You don’t have to if you really don’t want to,” Michael said quickly—his gaze flicked between you and Vanessa—before Vincent could get a word in. The other man rolled his eyes, but nodded his head in agreement.

“But then you’d have to do something else,” Vincent added and extended both his arms towards you and Vanessa. He wiggled the solo cups within his hands at you. “C’mon, one shot’s not that bad. I’m going easy on ya.”

“If it’s any consolation,” Jeremy piped up, making your stare move from the cup to his face, “I refused to take a shot of Vincent’s Jungle Juice once and he made me do a polar plunge into the lake.” You gave him a sympathetic look as Vincent started to roar with laughter.

“Oh man! That was a good night! I still say you should’ve taken the shot!” he managed to get out through his laughs. Jeremy gave him an incredulous look.

“I-I’m pretty sure that would have killed me!”

After hearing that… you’d honestly rather just take the shot and get it over with. You didn’t even want to entertain the idea of what else Vincent would make you do as an ‘initiation’.

“Fine.” You sighed as you leaned over and grabbed the cup from Vincent’s hand. “At least it’s just one, I guess.”

Vincent grinned at you as you settled back down in your seat. “Yeah, see? You get it!”

Looking over at Vanessa, you saw that she too had decided to just take the shot and get it over with. You raised your cup into the air at her in a cheers, then tilted your head back so you could swallow the shot in one go. Immediately, you felt the vodka burn at your mouth and throat—all the way down to your stomach, where it settled in hotly like it was lava. God, that was foul.

You spluttered a bit and waved your empty cup at Vincent, trying not to breathe in too deeply just yet. “Juice! Juice!”

“Alright, alright!” he snickered and took your cup from you so he could fill it with a generous amount of juice. He handed it back to you. “Hey, good job, newbie!”

You gulped down half of your drink to chase away the lingering taste of alcohol and coconut. Something patted you on the back and you peeked to the side to see it was Michael. You gave him a grateful look and finally lowered your cup. “Thanks, I hated it.”

“Surprisingly, that was better than some of the other shit I had back in college,” Vanessa noted. You looked up to her to see her looking down into her empty solo cup, just as unbothered as before, if not a bit bored. Seemed like she had taken it better than you had. Vanessa, you decided at that moment, was cool.

Vincent gave her a smirk that was just lined with mischief. “Up for another one, then?”

“I’ll pass,” she immediately declined and set her empty cup down next to her.

Vincent only shrugged and started pouring some more of the Ciroc into three other cups along with some juice. “Suit yourself. Who knows when we’ll be able to have drinks again once the kids move in.”

“Knowing you? Sooner rather than later,” Michael scoffed as he rolled his eyes in good nature. Vincent gave him a sly smile, but didn’t say anything else.

As he passed out the drinks to Michael and Jeremy, you piped up again with a question that’d briefly been on your mind earlier. “So… what are you guys all majoring in, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Not at all! I’m studying robotics,” Michael said once he’d taken a small sip of his drink. He made a face and gestured at Vincent to pour him some more juice. “I already told you, but I’m a fourth year PhD student.”

“I’m in my third year studying game design,” Jeremy chimed in. He then shrunk into himself a little. “Which is, uh, sorta obvious since I like video games and all.” You gave him a small smile at that.

“I’m in my last year of getting my MechE PhD,” Vincent announced proudly, “and I’m fuckin’ dying.” He downed half of his drink right after. Your heart went out to him in sympathy.

“...Comp sci Master’s,” Vanessa spoke up after a short moment. You turned to look at her. “I’m planning to graduate in December.”

“A semester early?” you asked and she nodded. “Nice!” You then told them what you were getting your own degree in before settling them all with a thoughtful look. “I guess the robot counselors really called out to you guys then, huh?”

“You kidding?” Vincent blurted out, waving his cup in the air. The drink within it sloshed around a bit, so he reeled his arm back in. “Getting to work with Henry is a blessing! The man’s incredible at robotics and A.I. development! It’s every engineering student’s dream!”

“Does he give you guys more… technological responsibilities with the animatronics then?” you asked curiously. “Since you have the education?”

“Oh yeah,” Michael answered. “He’s surprisingly lenient with that sort of thing. Let us do what we see fit when it comes to maintenance or looking at his blueprints.”

“That’s pretty nice of him,” you commented, thinking about how much of a resume boost it would be for them. This would probably count as a project of sorts, right? That was cool.

Michael smiled warmly, lost somewhere else. “Yeah, he’s great.”

“How long have you all been working here, anyways?” Vanessa suddenly questioned, her gaze directed to the three veteran counselors. Vincent hummed.

“I’ve been here for about four years, I think,” he said thoughtfully, one of his fingers tapping lightly against his chin. “Michael’s been here longer than I have, though.”

The man in question nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a while for me. More than five years for sure.” He looked contemplative for a second, staring into the fire as it crackled and sparked before him. Then the look was gone, as though it had never even been there in the first place.

“I-I’ve only been here for two years,” Jeremy said, both his hands clutching at his cup. “So I’m uh, relatively newer in comparison.”

“I see. So you’ve all pretty much stuck around for a while,” Vanessa mused, more to herself than anything, but it made you tilt your head at her. She seemed to notice the unstated question that lingered in the air, for she added, “Oh, I just wanted to see how often people returned. I was only planning on staying for this summer.”

Michael nodded. “Understandable, yeah. People come and go all the time. Life just catches up to them.” He shrugged, then turned to look at you. “How ‘bout you?”

“Bit too early for me to say, honestly,” you responded after a moment of thought. You shuffled your feet a bit, feeling your flip flops slide against the compact dirt they were resting on. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. Have to see if I like working here first. Actually— while we’re on it, what’s it like working with the kids anyways?”

“Fucking exhausting!” Vincent groaned, throwing his head back. “Especially once it gets hotter! The tykes have endless stores of energy, I swear.”

“That’s why we’re technically assistant counselors.” Michael snickered and leaned back slightly on the bench, propping his arm up behind him. “The animatronics are able to handle everything just fine.”

You hummed. “Yeah, I suppose they don’t really run out of energy, huh?”

“Other than when they need to recharge,” Jeremy added. He then scratched his head. “Well, I guess they all have solar technology, so that’s not much of an issue either…”

“Solar technology?!” you blurted out incredulously. “What the hell??”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Vanessa remarked dryly.

“Oh yeah,” Michael grinned, apparently delighted at how stupefied you and Vanessa were, “they got upgrades like you won’t believe.”

You raised your eyebrows as you turned your head to look at him. “How did Henry even get the money for that??”

“Actually it was—” Vincent started, then cut himself off with a quick glance at Michael, who was suddenly staring resolutely into the fire before him. It was so subtle you would have missed it if you hadn’t already been looking at him. But before you could question anything, Vincent continued as though nothing had happened at all. “—all the funds from the government and the parents, you know? This place isn’t exactly cheap.”

You exchanged quick looks with Vanessa. She had definitely noticed the slight hiccup as well. Part of you wanted to press, but well… A quick glance at the three veteran counselors showed that they likely didn’t want to discuss it further—they avoided both your and Vanessa's gazes, either by taking a sip of their drinks or staring into the tangerine flames. So you let it go for now.

“I bet it isn’t,” you said lightly and an invisible tension seemed to melt away from the group at your words. “That thirty-five dollars an hour deal was what really hooked me in.”

“Ayo, you too? Up top!” Vincent cackled and raised his hand up for a high-five. You leaned forward and slapped your palm against his with a grin.

It was fun, hanging out with the other counselors as you all slowly made your way through the bottle of Ciroc. The stars overhead rotated across the sky, the flames from the fire pit died down until they weakly licked at ashy logs. It was starting to get a bit chilly, but you were too busy enjoying yourself to notice the goosebumps that decorated your skin. You exchanged stories all evening and into the night—from your college days and from their adventures working as camp counselors. It made you excited, you had to admit, hearing about all the things they’d done. It sounded like this summer would be a fun one and there was a warmth in your chest that’d sparked to life upon getting to know your coworkers better.

“And then—” Vincent choked out, lifting a hand up to his face so he could wipe away a tear. His cup sat on the ground next to him, forgotten. “—And then this asshole dropped the fucking oar into the lake! We were stranded there for hours, man!”

“I-I’d told you guys it wouldn’t be a good idea to go rowboating that late!” Jeremy snorted, his cheeks a little rosy from the two drinks he’d consumed. You giggled into your hand when Michael let out a loud groan in response.

“We were drunk and on a mission,” he told you and Vanessa, his ears slightly tinged red.

“He was so shitfaced he couldn’t even hold the oar properly!” Vincent nearly yelled. He got punched in the arm by Michael and gave him an offended look. “Hey!”

“How did you guys not get caught?” you asked before they could start tussling again. Vanessa snickered when Vincent reached back over and punched Michael just as harshly on his shoulder.

“Oh no, we did. Moon got our asses once he noticed we weren’t in our rooms,” Michael said somberly, rubbing at his shoulder with his opposite hand. “He won’t let us live that shit down to this day.”

“What was he doing outside anyways?” you wondered aloud, rubbing at your chin. “Seems kinda hypocritical to me.”

Vincent turned to look at you. “Did no one tell you?” he asked, squinting at you slightly. Or well—not at you. Honestly, you couldn’t tell where he was looking at, just that it was in your general direction. “They free roam at night.”

“‘Free roam’?” Vanessa repeated, tilting her head to the side slightly. You turned to look at her and noticed she was staring at something over your head. But before you could turn around to see what it was, she continued speaking, her eyes darting back over to Vincent. “For why?”

Michael answered in his stead. “Security purposes.” You raised an eyebrow at that.

“And also so their servos don’t lock up or whatever,” Vincent added and you noticed he was staring at you, a wide grin on his face that revealed basically all of his pearly teeth. You gave him a confused look. Why was he looking at you like that? His grin only got wider.

“Why are you—” you started to ask, then immediately froze when something behind you gripped at your shoulders—tight and cool.

“Boo!” A voice rasped right into your ear. You yelped and jumped forward, your heart pounding in your ears as you abruptly spun around to see a tall, gangly animatronic hunched over where you’d been sitting. Spindly fingers wiggled in a wave at you, a grin with sharp teeth glinted in the dying flames of the fire pit.

“Whaddahell!!” you wheezed, hand clutching at your chest. You hadn’t heard him approaching at all! Everyone burst into laughter at your reaction, filling the quiet night air.

“Oh my god the look on your face!” Vincent practically shouted, slapping his hand down repeatedly on his knee.

Jeremy wiped a tear from his eye and gave you a sympathetic look—or as much as he could manage between his laughs. “He does that to everyone, don’t worry.”

Moon snickered when you turned back to him to give him a halfhearted glare. His red eyes were upturned into crescents, and he bounced from one foot to the other in delight. Like Sun, you noticed as you took the moment to observe him, Moon had nothing covering his chest while puffy, navy pants decorated his legs. They were adorned in golden stars and small specks—just like the fluffily-rimmed nightcap that sat on his head. The bells tied around his wrists let out an occasional jingle as he hopped about.

“You have just made yourself an enemy tonight,” you told Moon seriously, crossing your arms over your chest to make yourself appear as intimidating as possible. He seemed amused by your words, if anything, for he let out another sly giggle.

“Careful,” Vincent warned you suddenly, “you’re dealing with a real shithead over there.”

Moon’s head spun around to face Vincent at his words. You watched as he slouched over to the man so he could loom over his head with his terrifyingly sharp smile. Vincent just looked up at him, unamused.

“Drinking on the premises?” Moon tsked, the bell attached to his nightcap jingling lightly as his head rotated to the right in an unnatural way. His fingers wiggled again in a wavelike motion, his hands raised in the air by his shoulders. “Naughty, naughty.”

“Oh fuck off, guy!” Vincent batted at Moon’s nightcap and sent it swaying back and forth. “You know there aren’t any kids here.”

“Language!” Moon chided, then reached down to snatch up the bottle of Ciroc by Vincent’s foot. There was about a shot’s worth of liquid left in it. Vincent let out an indignant “hey!” and raised his hand to grab at it, only for Moon to pull his hand up and away—out of Vincent’s reach. “It’s bedtime. Go to sleep~”

“Moon— give that back!” Vincent jumped up to his feet and stretched his arm up further, but Moon unfortunately was much taller and simply dangled the bottle just over Vincent’s head.

“Beddy bed! Bedtime!”

Michael sighed and got up from where he’d been sitting to stretch out his arms. “He’s right. We should head to bed. Lotsa things to do tomorrow.” He bent down to grab his cup from the ground. You nodded and walked back over to your seat so you could grab your empty cup, the others standing and dusting themselves off to help clean up as well.

It was quick work to douse the fire pit and collect your few belongings. Vincent spent a few minutes grappling with Moon and spitting out expletives until eventually he managed to snag the Ciroc bottle and stuff it into his bag along with the bottle of juice. Under Moon’s watchful eye, you all tossed your cups into one of the garbage bins near the cabins and made your way to your respective rooms, calling out goodnights that echoed across the open space.

You trudged up the stairs of your cabin and looked behind you once you’d opened the front door. Moon watched you, standing stock-still by the darkened fire pit. The lights of his eyes shined brightly through the darkness. You shivered slightly—from the cool air or the creepiness of being watched by a robot, you would never know.You held up two fingers to your narrowed eyes, then turned your hand around to point them at him in an ‘I’m watching you’ motion. You were just able to see his eyes upturn once more before you finally receded back into your cabin, shutting the door behind you with a quiet click.

a/n: btw, vincent is not actually purple guy. i just took his character as an oc of sorts!! i thought it would be a fun throwback to 2015 fnaf days, where we didn't know shit abt the lore LMAO. i also took creative liberties with jeremy fitzgerald as well!

part two

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