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paigelts05 · 1 year

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Never over [FNAF AR]

Art: https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/Never-over-FNAF-AR-919042189

Story: https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/Never-over-FNAF-AR-919042421

Renegade File Server location: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39594714

Published: Jun 12, 2022

[Takes place after Bloody Magic, and the Adelaide Incident that I keep talking about but am yet to show you.] It had been weeks since Tristan had been mauled by the Magician Mangle animatronic. He had been rushed into the hospital at deaths door, but he had recovered well. All his vitals were normal. But he wasn't waking up. Until Tristan's brother was rushed into hospital. Some of the doctors are not as they seem, and the situation less so. But Nora isn't some mystery solving genius: she just wants this ordeal to be over.

CW: The fic contains:

A line that references Nora's infamous line that could be considered suicide bait. (The line from the emails being "Marketing can go jump off a bridge")

Non-explicit mentions of horrific injuries.

°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°• 🌹 •°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°

[🌹Chapter 1🌹]

Tristan lay comatose in the hospital. Nora didn't know when he would wake up, or even if he could wake up.

He had been like this for weeks.

The doctors said his vitals were steady, but there was something weird about his brain waves. This was enough for Nora to convince herself that something unnatural was keeping Tristan asleep. The same unnatural thing that kept him alive then was keeping him comatose now. Was it a kind spirit, or a malevolent one. What reasons did it have.

She sat and red stories out loud, hoping that Tristan may be able to hear her, as she always did. Reading out of a book of fairytales, short stories so that she'd be able to complete them. Short stories with happy endings. Happy endings that she never had.

Reaching the final few pages of this story, she turned the page to read the next happily ever after. But something interupted her.

Doctors rushed into the room with a bed. The patient on that bed was downplaying the seriousness of one of his ribs literally being torn out and having used said rib as a weapon, so how bad could it be, and that it was no big deal that his organs were exposed. Even though the patients hair was matted with blood, Nora recognised her boyfriends brother anywhere.

"Dan?" Nora seemed shocked to see him in the hospital. What had happened? Did an animatronic attack him? Was everyone over at CK maintenance ok? She opened her mouth to speak when Tristan shot up.

Tristan opened his mouth to speak but only a agonizing scream poured out. He tried to take deep breaths, but only wound up hyperventilating as he looked around the room before locking eyes with Dan. "I'm too late, aren't I?" Tristan sounded defeated.

"Too late for what?" Nora asked, shaking like the earth was quaking under her.

"That, I guess," Tristan said, angling his head slightly as if to point towards Dan. "As I was working on the mangle, another blueprint came in, but I didn't see it. I just heard a voice tell me that Dan was... he was due to... to..."

"Die?" Dan finished, knowing that his brother didn't like talking about the prospect of dying much.

Tristan nodded, and Dan seemed to think for a bit.

"Well, shit went down," Dan continued, "one of my colleagues was posessed, two were mind controled. They're being seen to in another room - got to make sure they're not hurt or have anything in thier brain or under thier skin that shouldn't be there. You know, the normal stuff that happens when an experienced ghost tries to forcefully control people to produce remnant so she can resurrect herself."

Nora was basically stuck in a state of shock. She had to not only process Tristan waking up, but also this news of a ghost that almost killed all her boyfriend's brother's colleagues.

Despite the shock, she was able to open her mouth to speak, even if it was just a little bit, "is everyone ok?" She asked, her voice quiet.

Dan sighed and replied, "yep. That's all in the past. We're alive, I'm short a rib, most people have fractured bones, but that's about the extent of the damage I think."

Tristan then cut in with a concerned yell "you're missing a rib?!?"

"Yeah."

"You're missing a rib," Tristan repeated, "and think that's fine?"

"Yes?" Dan basically reiterated, "Ness was being used as a way to research efficient ways to create remnant, Adelaide tried to use the Viking blood eagle on me, but didn't get very far before Raha showed up."

"Adelaide?" Nora replied, scared and shocked.

"Yeah," Dan replied, "Adelaide Afton. You know, the wife of the founder of Fazbear Entertainment? They both are dead but somehow still control what goes on in the company. Weird, Hu?"

Nora looked overwhelmed as Tristan just sat there trying to figure out what was going on before something clicked.

"You say Ness was being used to research remnant production, right? She forwarded me some articles on a now missing employee who ran a location back in the 80's and 90's. Same name as you, and had a brother who died that was found cut in half." Tristan paused for a bit, "Ness also sent me some information on how much someone can survive being cut in two."

Dan froze up and something seemed to click.

"That's one of the things Luis told me she searched. Do you think -"

"Probably." Tristan replied, knowing exactly what Dan was going to ask, "But why would I only wake up when around you, and what was keeping me alive? I may have been somewhat in the clear, but I was bleeding out all night."

"No idea, but at least you're alive." Dan nodded.

Before Tristan continued talking, he heard a sniff, like someone was about to cry.

"I .... I thought I lost you..." Nora whimpered as tears formed in her eyes. The shock had finally just about worn off, but she still couldn't think clearly.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going anywhere." Tristan placed a hand on Nora's head and stroked her hair as if she were a cat. This seemed to put Nora at ease, but she was still crying.

With a particularly big sniff, Nora seemed to be able to comprehend things again.

"You said the lady who almost killed everyone at CK maintenance was Adelaide, right?" Nora replied, shaking as if she had just realised something bad.

"Yes." Dan replied.

"That's the name on the blueprint for Arctic Ballora. Charles is in danger!" Nora stood up, but practically fell back into the chair with a pained growl, clutching her head.

Dan knew they needed to act fast.

"Nora," he said, "does your phone have any charge?"

Nora nodded.

"Good." He then turned to one of the doctors and said, "take Nora to the nearest place where she can use her phone. If she forgets why she's out there and not in here, remind her she needs to call Isolde and tell her that Charles is in danger."

Sensing the seriousness of the situation - given the reasoning for the admission of one and the annoyed ramblings of the other - one of the doctors escorted Nora out of the room, muttering "tell Isolde Charles is in danger" to themselves so they wouldn't forget in case Nora forgot.

"Do you think that I was attacked to try and make some kind of mirror of events?" Tristan asked, knowing that the incident of the brother of a former manager of a Freddy's location and his recent (to himself at least) near-death-experience may have been related, as far fetched as it may have been.

"Absolutely." Dan replied, tossing his rib like a drumstick a few times before it was confiscated by a doctor, as it was hopefully going to be reattached, "Isn't everything linked to those assholes intending to mirror something that happened in Utah? Just happens we're back at the very beginning again."

Tristan went quiet yet again and mulled over the information that Ness had sent him the day before he had been maimed by the magician mangle.

"So if we assume William is using Ness as himself and your guys were used as Adelaide and her lab techs..." Tristan seemed to be connecting imaginary lines, unsure as to what conclusion to draw, "who is the new Henry?"

Dan let out an audible hum before being told by a doctor that if he wanted his rib reattaching, then surgery would need to start now. A blue curtain was pulled between the hospital beds of the two brothers, and Tristan was left on his own.

"It can't be me. I need more information on who knew that old manager's brother. But it could be..." Tristan sighed, "they know about the contracts. They warned us about how shady Fazbear Entertainment is. Too much early hatred."

Tristan looked around the room. Nora was out making a phone call. His brother was in surgery. He was alone.

He looked around the room, and could swear he saw something move. He tried to look at the shadow that zipped past the corner of his eyes to be met by nothing.

'It must be my imagination' he thought to himself, not knowing what to think. He had just been through a lot. He was probably hallucinating.

Regardless, the shadows became more prevalent. More snake-like. More fox-like.

Tristan's eyes darted around the room. His heartbeat echoing in his eardrums as sweat dripped from his forehead.

Was it back?

How did it get into a hospital?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and shreiked.

"No need to panic," a rather bewildered doctor said, looking part deadpan, part startled, "your heart rate was increasing at an abnormal rate so I came here to check on you. Now, what seems to be the matter."

"I..." Tristan replied, his head fuzzy and trying to catch his breath, "Thought I saw the thing that put me in this hospital out the corner of my eye."

"I see." the doctor replied in an unenthusiastic manner, "That thing being?"

"A broken-on-purpose robotic endoskeleton of a fox-like mascot." Tristan replied, worried that he sounded crazy.

"Noted. Sounds odd if not fake, but my boss will kill me if I don't take this seriously." The doctor replied, sounding incredibly condescending as if he thought that Tristan was either lying or downright insane, and there was a smear of hatred in his voice, "Since the rise of these 'killer robot' incidents in the 90's things have gotten rather strange. Lucky for folks like you, the paranormal department of Chicago PD is breathing down my neck so I don't pass another so-called victim off as being insane."

"You're a dick." Tristan said.

"Nobody's ever put it that bluntly before," the doctor replied.

"Still a dick." Tristan didn't want to let that doctor have any ideas that he may have changed his mind over some fake humbleness. After all, he was beginning to recognise him from that photo regarding an asylum being busted for illegally obtaining patients back in the 2000's that Ness had sent him before his coma, but that may just be a coincidence. Perhaps the article was a warning and a sign that he should probably hold his tongue around those who resemble the 'doctors' from the article.

Before that doctor could reply, Nora and the other doctor came back in.

"Call made. We've also alerted the CPD's paranormal department to be on high alert for callouts to that address. This situation is as serious as it gets - the 'monstrous lady of science' is not a case I thought I'd have to see for myself, seeing as we've not had killer robot incidents like this in some time. But it's not my first rodeo," the doctor who went with Nora then glared at the 'doctor' who was with Tristan, "and don't you have some paperwork to fill out, mister?"

The 'doctor' left the room and the doctor that was with Nora resumed the checkup on Tristan.

"So how's your arm. Your side? Your eyes? Mouth? Everything ok?"

"I don't feel the pain yet," Tristan said, "but I did swear I saw that mangle out of the corner of my eye."

"Yeah that's expected after going through something like that. Don't know why that guy had to be a dick about it, but at least HR is finally being useful for once and looking into that asshole." The nice doctor smiled, "probably should have asked a decent doctor to stay with you. Anyway, booked you a test to see if you have PTSD from this, it'll be in about six months, it was the earliest slot. If your thing with seeing things persists, just say so and I'll see if I can get you help."

Tristan nodded and turned back to Nora.

"Nora?" Tristan voice was quiet but serious, "Do you know anything about a manager of a Freddy's location in the 80's and 90's called Daniel. He had a brother who died, and I need to know more about this man. It may tell us who is more likely to get targeted next."

"No. Didn't even know he had a brother. but I'll see what Smith&Tea robotics knows. Fritz and PT worked for that guy in the 90's as mechanics. Thier husbands seemed to know a thing or two when they came round to see the aftermath of ... this," Nora gestured vaguely at Tristan, and they knew what eachother meant, "they said they didn't want to say much 'lest they cause panic due to an incorrect conclusion'."

"That's understandable. We should probably talk more now that I'm awake though. I think I learned too much the day before this - ", Tristan gestured to the scars on his body, " happened."

"Alright. This would be easy if we weren't all in the hospital." Nora sulked.

"Not for long," the nice doctor piped up, "As soon as we've gotten Tristan checked for any signs of possession, he can go home. I mean he'll have a bunch of prescriptions, but he's been out cold long enough to have heald. And cos Dan over there is Tristan's brother, I can tell you two that everyone but Dan, Anna, and Steve will probably also be home by the end of the week, unless someone else is hiding a broken bone."

"That's nice to know," Tristan said, glad that it seemed that the majority of doctors actually took the ghosts and killer robots seriously, "the sooner we can get to the bottom of this the better, because I just know this is nowhere near close to being over."

[🌹 Chapter 2 🌹]

Nora didn't like leaving Tristan in the hospital, but she couldn't stay there. She had to go home to sleep and could only stay during visitor hours. But today, she would finally be taking Tristan home with her.

After arriving at the hospital at seven PM, about an hour before Tristan was due to be discharged, she went up the the front desk clerk.

"Hey. I'm here to pick up Tristan. He's being discharged today. Where should I wait?"

"Just over there," the clerk said, pointing too the waiting area. There were a few people there already, some looked like patients, and some looked like they were picking someone up, like her.

"Thank you," she said as she went over to the waiting area and picked up a magazine. She couldn't be bothered to read, so just looked at the pretty pictures. Slowly, one by one, all the other people in the waiting room had left, either being seen to by a doctor, or having picked someone up.

She was the only one left, and it was ten pm, without so much as a mention as to what the delay was.

With a sigh, Nora walked up to the front desk.

"Tristan was supposed to be coming home a two hours ago. Did something happen? Is he ok?" Nora asked, getting slightly worried.

"Name?" The clerk said, not looking up from her computer, clearly tired from a long day.

"Nora. I'm Tristan's girlfriend and colleague? Employee? Ok so he's the co-owner of R&D robotics, and I just work there, but there's not really much higherarchy stuff going on, so everyone just does what they do best and treats everyone like equals."

"R&D, Colleague slash girlfriend... Yep, you're on the can-tell list." The clerk replied, "so they had to run a last minute scan or three. Something about his brainwaves being weird and different after he woke up compared to before."

"Oh, so nothing to worry about then?" Nora replied, relived that it was just a case of last-minute scans.

"Nothing to worry about," the clerk reiterated with a nod. "You know, I was on front desk when he was wheeled in. I've seen some things here, but what happened to him? He looked like he had been torn apart."

"That's pretty much what happened," Nora stated, "He got torn apart by an animatronic we were making. He stayed overtime to finish it, but..."

Nora sniffed a bit and the clerk noticed she looked sad.

"You don't have to keep talking about it if you don't want to," the clerk replied in a panic, "seriously. If it makes you upset-"

"No. It's fine." Nora stifled her sobs and continued talking, "if I don't talk about it, it'll only get worse. If I talk about it now, the sooner I can get over myself."

With a deep inhale, Nora wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes and prepared to speak again.

"He stayed behind to finish it. Us at R&D robotics are contractors, and we have a contract with Fazbear Entertainment. They kept sending emails to us that were meant for thier research and development department. We tried to tell them to eff off, but they just said to suck it up, and threw just enough cash at us for them to basically tell us 'now you have to make it', and cos we can't really do shit to fight a company who got its boss off the hook for over twelve counts of murder, we have to make it." Nora spat, the rage in her voice crystal clear.

"That sounds horrible!" The clerk replied in shock, "although with the amount of thier employees we've had through these doors, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Yeah. Marketing was screeching at me to make this robotic fox spider thing. And then, they had the nerve to ask for a second one with modifications to make it look like a magician." Nora sneered and tears welled up in her eyes again. The clerk knew she was sneering at her contractee.

With a huff, Nora continued talking. "The first one bearly worked. Why they hell did they think this one would go any better. I made the endoskeleton, Tristan helped me with the shell and it's props, and by then it was time to go home. He said he'd stay overtime and put the chip in and you know, add the finishing touches," Nora's sneer turned into a sob, "and as soon as I got home, I fell asleep. Tristan didn't come back and I didn't notice because I fell asleep. We found him in the morning, and the animatronic had already attacked him. It tore his mouth open and tried to cut him in half."

"Yikes, that sounds bad." The clerk replied, trying to be sympathetic but having no idea how to start processing this absolute mess. Perhaps some good news would help? The clerk realised that it was something she probably shouldn't be sharing, but someone who got this cucked over by Fazbear Entertainment better know.

The clerk clapped her hands and stood up straight. "Oh yeah, talking about mangle, that doctor that first responded to Tristan when he had those hallucinations of that robot after he woke up - the, well, less than polite one? He was fired. Turns out to not be who he said he was. Was actually a part of that asylum that got shut down for basically being used as witness disposal for big corporations."

Nora's eyes widened. She knew some people who had been sent there as they were a friend of a friend, but she didn't know what happened to the others. All conversations she had tried to have were shut down over not wanting to bring it up, and to be honest it must have been terrible, and talking doesn't fix everything, so she never really knew what happened to the others. "That place was fucked up. I know someone - friend of a friend - who was thrown there, but I hope the other, umm, patients?, were ok."

"Those that were there at the time the police busted that place were alive. All of them were sent to a real hospital for treatment and therapy - the sort of therapy you get when you get kidnapped and gaslighted. You know?" The clerk shrugged. It was a big deal, but it just felt so odd. Weird things happened in the past, and she wished that these things were just fantasy, but they were real, "The raid happened just in time to stop a surgery. No idea what the surgery was, but it was probably a good thing that it was stopped."

"Definitely." Nora replied, "did you know someone who was put there?"

The room went silent. It was only Nora and the clerk, but the room was noticeably quieter.

The clerk seemed a bit distressed, but knew she couldn't keep putting off processing the past like this.

"Yes. My friend who I went to med school with. She was helping treat a patient as part of her training, and this patient was someone who got shoved in a Freddy suit, which was weird, as it had been years since Freddy's closed down, but new restaurants had been popping up, so that likely had something to do with it." The clerk seemed distant, not knowing what to make of anything anymore, "On her way back from the hospital, she was kidnapped. Nobody knew what happened to her until the asylum was busted three days later."

Nora gasped, "that's horrible? Was she ok?"

"Kind of," the clerk replied, "who knows what they did to her, but she was silent for a few months after. She was ok after therapy, but she's always been super jumpy ever since. She managed to pass med school, but I didn't do too well, but still somehow managed to be a desk clerk here at least. I may not be able to help her in the operating room, but I help in my own ways."

"She seems to have recovered ok." Nora said with a smile.

"Yeah, she's one of the best here" the clerk replied, a lot calmer then before.

"Anyway, to get off this super depressing topic, how long until Tristan can come home?" Nora asked, "He's supposed to be discharged today, but it's already eleven pm."

Glad to move off the topic of the asylum, the clerk replied "yeah, discharge takes a while. anyway, whilst were here, when he gets the bill, you don't have to pay it on the spot. Get in touch with your insurer. Who knows what stupid extra charges that so called 'doctor' Leer added before he was sacked and sent to the slammer." The clerk said the name of the doctor with disgust, and the word 'doctor' with sarcasm. That was definitely the name of the doctor that worked at the asylum, and they were both glad he was found out.

Whilst neither of them said it, they both thought 'another living bit of incriminating evidence against Fazbear Entertainment'.

"Noted!" Nora said with a grin that said it all, "Anything else?"

The clerk then shook her head, "Not really." She said with a bit of a shrug, "You might want to sit down in the waiting area there. I know it's not busy, but you've been standing up for a while. Cos you'll be driving him home right? You'll need the energy."

"That's a point," Nora said before beginning to head off, "oh, and thanks a bunch. I really just needed that chat. Helped me forget about things for a bit."

The clerk seemed rather confused and concerned, and then Nora spoke again. "I wonder whose next. This happened to Tristan, I got hit round the head, Charles's hand got impaled, so Izzy's the only one whose not gotten attacked yet. Hope she's ok."

Nora then begun to walk at a slower pace, as if she was thinking about something. The clerk was on shift the other day too and knew about the whole 'if an ambulance is needed at R&D robotics, to not question the killer robot talk and go immediately as someone may be dying to an actual killer robot'. Luckily, when the call did arrive, the animatronic had been, well, dismantled by a rather shell shocked looking woman, and a man was injured, his hand nailed to the wall with a plastic icicle and he had suffered multiple minor lacerations as well. A major injury that everyone seemed to keep brushing off, however, was the wound in his throat.

"Wait!" The clerk yelled, "Tristan is Charles's business partner, right?"

Nora turned around, a little confused as to why this was being brought up and she begun to forget what she had said and if she had mentioned that yet. "Yes? He's one of the co-owners of R&D robotics."

"It didn't exactly register until now. Sieve brain, I know, but, well", the clerk replied, "he wanted me to tell you that 'if Izzy hadn't have been on high alert, he could have easily been killed by that animatronic.' He wrote it here. He can't exactly talk at the minute, and I kind of want to know why everyone is brushing off the fact he has a wound in his throat in favour of mentioning the wound in his hand."

"I mean, that Ballora was posessed by a mad scientist surgical genius - guess that suit was her backup plan for when her plan with CK failed. She severed his vocal chords and, like, only the vocal chords. Kind of to be expected from her." Nora shrugged, "and I think nobody is talking about it because he'll be getting his vocal chords fixed at the Maid Marion Clinic - insurance reasons -, so it's not worth talking about apparently."

"The what?" The clerk said.

"Yeah," Nora replied, "He's having his vocal chords put back together at a different clinic, so nobody's talking about it here. Knowing Charles he currently would rather be anywhere else right now. Grateful or not, he still lets himself hate things he doesn't like whilst keeping it to himself, and good for him."

"Guess so." The clerk shrugged, "A lot of people come in with problems nowadays that could have been solved if they didn't force themselves to like a thing. And who is this vocal chord repairing genius anyway? I've rarely heard about those kinds of operations going well."

"She's called May Schmidt. Owner of the Maid Marion Clinic. She's had a lot of practice on her brother, whose always getting his throat crushed somehow." Nora replied, "it's a miracle he can still talk after getting his vocal chords broken that many times."

"Well you learn something new every day." The clerk smiled as Nora waved a 'thank you for the chat' and sat down in the seating area.

[🌹Chapter 3🌹]

Nora let herself stay in her thoughts for a bit. Occasionally, She'd talk to the desk clerk again, but she decided she needed to rest. It was nearing midnight, and she didn't want to be tired when she drove home, lest risk putting them both back in hospital.

She eventually let herself drift off.

She didn't know how long it had been, but someone shook her awake.

"Mam," the person who shook her awake said, "are you awake?"

"Hu?" Nora replied, a little bit groggy, "what?"

"Tristan is here. We did all the signing and stuff before waking you up so you two would just be able to go straight home. We know how long you've been waiting, but knew we couldn't just defer this until tomorrow, seeing as you were still here."

Nora blinked a few times before looking around. She was still in the waiting room. A doctor was talking to her, and Tristan was there.

Tristan!

Nora felt a burst of energy as a weight was lifted off her shoulders and she used this to run up to Tristan and give him a hug. She had missed him so much, and now not only was he back, he was also coming home.

Tristan had to crouch down to accept the hug, but even though it hurt his back just a little bit, it was worth it. He had been out cold for so long, and had only recently woken up. He was surprised that he was being let out of the hospital this soon, but all those concerns dissolved as he let himself be embraced by his slightly above average height yet way shorter than himself girlfriend.

Whilst Nora was above average height for a woman, the doctors and clerk noticed that Tristan was freakishly tall. They had only seen him in a hospital bed until recently, and even up until now, he had been hunched over and not standing at full height. He had to be well over seven feet.

Some mumbles of 'now the weight makes sense', and 'he has to be at least eight feet tall' were passed around. These were a nice change of pace from the usual comments that only considered the hight difference between the two of them, and Nora could get used to this.

She also really really needed to get home before she dozed off again.

After Tristan reluctantly ended the hug after saying that his back was cramping up, the two decided it was time to head off. Tristan had to sign yet another one last bit of paperwork and got an offhand comment from the clerk about the cost of "don't think about it today, just call your insurance tomorrow, then start paying."

'That clerk is a good person', Nora thought to herself, and she was glad she got to talk with her today.

After the final final bit of paperwork was sorted, Nora and Tristan waved goodbye and headed out of this area, going towards the lobby. Before they left though, the clerk said "watch your head on the doors on the way out!" with the happiest grin that you could imagine.

Nora chucked a little bit and smiled back. Whilst Tristan was self conscious about his height, Nora had been trying to get him to accept he was a bean pole over seven feet tall for quite some time now, and she was always happy when someone recognised that Tristan is just plain tall and wasn't commenting on her height in the process.

After a few seconds, Tristan also smiled. Presumably because there was no awkward followup about Nora's small-in-comparison height. Just a small joke about how tall he was.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure I duck on the way out." He grinned.

As the two walked down the corridor and towards the main lobby, Nora said "I've never seen you laugh at a joke about your height before. It's cute!"

Tristan went red as he replied, "it's just, you know, people usually just comment on my height to make some stupid statement about how my height makes you look younger than me in compassion."

"Those kinds of comments suck." Nora scratched her nose, "I always assume people are calling me a cougar though."

"Yeah, that kind of reply usually works for us," Tristan replied whilst actually having to duck under a doorframe, "but at least for the first time in ages, someone's finally made a good joke. Perhaps being this tall isn't so bad."

"Mm hm." Nora hummed, looking like she was about to drift off to sleep again.

Tristan placed a hand on Nora's head, almost as if she were a cat, "tired?" He asked, concerned about the fact that Nora was supposed to be driving them back, as he legally couldn't drive for at least a few days due to the various surgeries and medications he had been put on whilst at the hospital.

"Yeah" Nora replied, "I've been waiting for hours."

As they reached the lobby, Tristan looked around. There had to be something. As he skimmed the ocean of closed stores that made this hospital lobby look more like a motorway rest stop, he spotted a single open shop.

"Over there." He pointed to the 24 hour store, "do you have any money on you? We could get you a coffee to wake you up a bit."

"How do you think I paid for parking? Phone?" She joked, clearly having some payment method on her, "I have cash and card, so don't worry. We can get whatever."

"Good. I almost thought we were up shit creek without a paddle for a moment there." Tristan laughed in reply as they walked into the shop.

Upon entering the shop, the duo headed straight towards the drinks refrigerator. Nora needed something to keep herself awake, but couldn't decide between the energy drinks or the iced coffee.

"Tristan, I don't know what to get." Nora complained, "I don't know which one will wake me up more."

"Go with the coffee," Tristan smiled back, "it's easier to drink coffee than an energy drink."

Nora nodded and picked up an iced coffee, making sure it was the type that actually contained caffeine.

By the time Nora had decided what to buy, Tristan had already picked up a bottle of water and had been waiting for a few minutes.

The two of them then headed to the checkout, where Nora paid for the two drinks on card, and they then left the shop with newly purchased drinks in hand and continued through the lobby and out of the hospital.

As they left the building, a cold breeze blew past.

"Whoa that's cold." Tristan said as he shivered in the early morning breeze. He was wearing a change of clothes that were basically an identical copy of his work clothes that had been brought in by Charles, seeing as they were the only clothes in Tristan's size he had at hand, the day after Tristan was admitted, 'just for when he woke up'.

In those first few days of Tristan being in the hospital, Nora was bearly able to function. Weather it was the misplaced guilt she felt or the stress of her best friend almost dying wasn't important; the incident had made her feel like shit. Even though those feelings were present in Charles and Izzy, they all knew it hit Nora the hardest. After a few days, Nora had been able to go into work again, but still felt lethargic.

Now, walking through the hospital car park, Tristan holding her hand, those stressful times were nothing more than bad memories and were washed away by the breeze.

"I thought it was colder in the hospital." Nora joked, although she was the only one with a jacket, and it was a little bit nippy, but then again the hospital air conditioning was ruthless.

Nora continued to lead Tristan to the section of the car park where she parked her car, and the two laughed about how Nora looked more awake now just for being out in the cold. She agreed with a small giggle as she approached and unlocked her car.

"It's like a frezzer in here." Tristan said as he climbed into the car. The passenger seat had been left how it was before Tristan's incident, so it wasn't too difficult to get in and have leg room.

"I can turn the heating on if you want." Nora added, already fastening her seatbelt.

"I'll be fine. I'd rather be cold and have you wide awake than risk you dozeing off." Tristan replied as he fumbled with his seatbelt.

Nora sighed and removed her jacket, placing it in Tristan's lap.

"Thanks!" Tristan finished fumbling with his seatbelt and finally buckled himself in before picking up Nora's jacket and using it like a blanket to cover his arms. Her clothes would have probably fit a normal dude, but he was a few feet above average height, so this was the best he could do.

Tristan slowly sipped at his water, but watched in shock horror as Nora drank half of her iced coffee in a single gulp. After she gave herself a second to breathe, she polished off the rest of the bottle with a second massive gulp.

"Right. You ready?" She asked, starting the car, "buckled in?"

"Yep," Tristan said as he double checked the seatbelts.

"Then let's go home."

The drive home passed by without incident. It was cold, the roads were almost empty bar one or two other cars, and Tristan had turned on the CD player and started playing one of Nora's rock CDs. It was an album from either the late 90's or the early 2000's, but was probably from the 80's in all honesty, and the CD had been given to her by her mum. Nora asked if Tristan would rather listen to something of his preference, but Tristan said he wanted to listen to this.

The CD only got to the sixth song by the time they had gotten back home, and Nora parked in her usual spot and the two walked up to the front door. Nora unlocked the door, almost forgetting which way to turn the key, but she realised she was being stupid and managed to turn the key the right way and open the door.

As Tristan walked into the middle of the living room whilst Nora stepped inside and locked the door behind them, he said "the kitchen light is on."

"I left it on so people would think I was still in." Nora replied, heading straight into the other room and switching the light off.

In response to the house going dark, Tristan flicked the television on. It was only on the blue 'no signal' screen, but the light was enough for him to feel calm. He sat on the sofa, as he was too tired to walk upstairs. Nora also seemed to be just as exhausted as she joined Tristan on the sofa. They may have only intended to rest for a short while, but they instantly fell asleep.

[🌹Chapter 4🌹]

As the sun rose and beamed through the gaps in the blinds, Nora groaned as she tried to open her eyes, the sun making this task exceedingly more difficult than it should have been. However, she didn't need to open her eyes to know that she was curled up on the sofa in a position that was rather uncomfortable for her spine, but she felt Tristan's leg under her back and his arm around her shoulder, so whilst her back hurt and everything ached in general from the long day she had yesterday, she felt comfortable.

It was warm, but not hot, and she couldn't hear the boiler, so it was about, um, what time did the boiler switch off again? Nora didn't remember what the timer was set to, not that she couldn't remember; she was simply just too sleepy to be bothered to actually put the effort into remembering.

She was about to drift off again when something nagged at her mind.

'Work!' she thought in a panic before realising that today was an impromptu day off.

As Tristan had just gotten back from the hospital with her driving him home, only arriving back home in the early hours of the morning, and with Charles now in hospital, and Izzy being the only one left who could really do anything work related, they had to close for the day due to a lack of staff. Apparently there was going to be a new hire soon, but that was not now, so with only one person able to work, R&D robotics kind of had to be closed for the day. Since Tristan's incident, nobody was allowed to work alone, and Izzy could deal with customers remotely so it was no big deal to be closed for one day. Besides, thier other contractees would understand, and if Fazbear Entertainment had the gall to complain about the aftermath of thier own bullshit, well, the fazfucks could go jump of a bridge for all Nora cared.

She calmed down and snuggled her face into Tristan's side, the normal paced heartbeat and normal breathing comforting her.

As she was about to fall back to sleep, she felt tristan shift under her.

"G'morning...." He mumbled, still half asleep as he adjusted himself slightly to what Nora assumed was a more comfortable position on the sofa. With a small hum, he ran his fingers through Nora's hair.

"Morning..." Nora hummed as she felt herself slowly falling back to sleep. Yesterday was a long day, and she felt like she deserved the double lie-in. "I wanna go back to sleep."

Tristan gave an indeering sigh followed by a hum. It was clear he also wasn't planning on actually getting up any time soon as he continued to mindlessly play with Nora's hair.

As Tristan's fingers ran through her hair, she felt like a spoiled cat, the fussing almost lulling her back to sleep. She leaned into Tristan's hands as they scratched an itch in her scalp that she didn't even know she had. Tristan felt a similar way. With Nora curled around him, she seemed more like a very large cat, and as he ran his fingers through her hair, he could swear he heard her purr; he wouldn't mention it though. Part of him wanted to go back to sleep - he sure needed it after the strain he had just been through with his injuries, and Nora too for picking him up at stupid o'clock at night - and for now, he was satisfied with the way things were: he was home, safe, Nora was there now, so he could rest easy.

Tristan kept playing with Nora's hair, being cautious as to not create any knots or pull on any existing lugs as he gently scratched her scalp. This was definitely like petting a long haired cat. He was almost content to fall back to sleep when a slight ache coursed through his abdomen; he hadn't had proper food in a while, so he knew he was hungry. Whilst he didn't want to get up, lest he disturb Nora, he felt that if he waited any longer, he'd become nauseous.

"Nora," Tristan mumbled, still half asleep, "please move. I want to get up now."

Nora huffed and scooted down the sofa a bit. She didn't realize how tangled up in eachother that they were until she found herself having to move very slowly as to not put too much weight through Tristan, or worse, bend something backwards, as she maneuvered down the sofa.

As soon as most of her body weight was off Tristan, he moved from under her and, whilst being careful as to not take her legs out from under her as he moved his own, swept his legs down off the sofa so he could assume a sitting position.

Nora also sat upright, but it took her a lot less time, as not only did she not have to worry as much as to where her legs swung, but she also was able to sit rather normally on the sofa as opposed to how Tristan had to sit with his legs to the side like he was some kind of mermaid.

Whilst Tristan's unnatural height may have been considered something to be achieved, Nora had seen first hand the downsides that her boyfriend had to put up with in regards to being so tall; as whilst she found it cute, having pool noodles attached to the tops of all the door frames and ducking to walk under some bridges were something that she was surprised that people envied, but those few downsides didn't matter much; they were home, where too small doorframes were covered in pool noodle and the rest were high enough. Home was safe. And even though the mermaid sit that Tristan defaulted to reminded her of the minor struggles, those only seemed like microscopic inconveniences compared to what they had just been through.

Nora shook her head, she had to get the memories out of her mind, at least for a few hours. She looked back over at Tristan, who seemed to be trying to figure out if trying to stand up would be a good idea, and decided to scoot up closer to him.

"Hug?" She asked, her voice still croaky with tiredness.

Tristan nodded in response, and Nora put her hands around his waist, pressing her face against his chest. She listened to his heartbeat and his breathing. It was still there. She felt calm as she let her mind wander whilst Tristan wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

Tristan felt Nora leaning into his chest, and held her close, feeling a sense of comfort in her presence. It had been far too long since he had seen her; the time he had spent comatose felt both like it had taken an eternity and instant. He was glad the first person he saw when he woke up was Nora, and that she was here with him now. He ran his hands through her dyed green hair and gently removed the bobbles that were bearly clinging on. He noticed that the brown roots of her hair were more present now than before, and her hair was a bit longer. Evidently, it had been a while since Tristan was hospitalised, but he was home now.

The hug lasted a few minutes, and surprisingly enough, Nora was the first to let go. "I'm overheating," she said as she stood up, stumbling a little bit in the process. "I'm thinking of getting breakfast. What do you want? I'll get you something."

"Toast," Tristan said. As much as he wanted something more flavorful than warm bread, he knew he'd struggle to stomach anything but the most bland and dry of foods. Besides, whenever he was sick, he'd always eat this and it hadn't failed him yet.

"Got it. You rest up, I'll make it." Nora, now a lot more steady on her feet, walked out of the living room, and presumably towards the kitchen. Usually, they'd get thier own breakfast, but even though Nora was tired, she wasn't about to risk having to take Tristan back to the hospital; she didn't want to take note of it before, but Tristan had been shaking ever since he woke up. The house was warm, so it couldn't have been the temperature, so it had to be one thing: fear. She had to remind herself that Tristan had not long woken up from a several week coma, so the emotions that she had to work through back on that day were only just reaching the surface for him.

The last thing either of them needed was for him to be near sharp objects.

As Nora stood in the kitchen, she tried to figure out what to have before opting for buttered toast. Simple, and was a good food for people who don't feel well. Tristan was having the same, so it'd be more efficient too.

There was plenty of bread and there was still half a tub of butter, which was a relief as she hadn't quite been taking proper care of herself when she was alone, but at least she didn't neglect the basics.

She took the freshly cooked toast to the living room and handed a slice to Tristan.

"Thank you," Tristan mumbled with a smile as he received the slice of toast. He was still shaking and had covered himself with a blanket, but they both knew that it was for comfort and not warmth.

Nora sat down besides Tristan and dug into her slice of toast. She finished eating well before he did, but she stayed seated until Tristan was done. He was eating very slowly today, but she didn't expect anything else.

When he was done eating, Nora realised that she hadn't gotten anything to drink. If she was parched, how did Tristan feel?

She bolted into the kitchen and rushed back with two glasses of water.

As they were drinking the tap water, the two then decided that given they had spent the whole of yesterday and last night in the same pair of clothes, that a shower was in order. They also changed into a far more comfortable set of clothes, Nora opting for an oversized sweater and jeans that were a bit too big, and Tristan opting for a t-shirt that was just the right length but far too wide and a pair of shorts that were actually just a pair of jeans that fit on the width, but not on the length, so tristan had taken them up a bit to make a decent pair of knee length shorts.

They then returned to the sofa, not really sure what to do with thier day off. Should they watch a movie? Play a videogame? Reading would be too exhausting, and there weren't really any board or card games that would be fun with two players.

Nora begun to look through the shelves and spotted an old, tacky PS2 title that was aimed at young girls. Whilst the story was predictable and the stages were linear, such a game was probably a good choice, not for the lack of difficulty but for the sheer amount of bugs minor glitches and softlocks she remembered it having.

She held up the box so Tristan could see. "This one?" She asked, "we could try and speedrun it."

"Yeah." Tristan smiled, agreeing with the choice of game, "And isn't that the one that has like, three different softlocks?"

"I've only found one, but maybe we can find more!" Nora proclaimed as she put the disk in the console and booted it up. The start up sound brought a wave of happy memories that she was able to reminisce on as she grabbed both controllers, returned to the couch with Tristan, and passed him a controller all with plenty of the obscenely long load time.

Once the game finally booted up, Nora selected a new game so they could both create their own characters and leave Nora's old single player profile be.

The two then spent hours blazing through the main story, finding a myriad of minor bugs along the way, including the softlock that Nora wanted to show off so badly.

It was a good day, and it felt as if the future would only get brighter from here, as if they could survive the hell that those robots caused, they could get through anything.

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