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littledraga · 2 years

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A Flickering Star

With their power disconnected, Moon was still laying on the floor. Right where they'd left him. Orion had rolled him over to hide the pulled wires. Leaving the animatronic to lay staring lifelessly at the ceiling with dark sightless eyes.

It made Orion shudder to look at him, but they had to. Sitting down on the plush mat, they looked back out to the children one more time to make sure everyone was alright before opening their toolbox. Sitting next to Moon, Orion paused. Moon had tried to kill them. Not just hurt.

Subconsciously, Orion ran a hand over their throat. It hurt something fierce still. They knew it would bruise. They had no idea how they were going to hide that. Their siblings would worry. Demand they find something else. But they needed the money. Savings were already all but gone. Their siblings came first. Orion could take care of themselves. Their siblings were their first priority.

With a little steadier hands, Orion grabbed a screwdriver to get started. Start with the arm if they could, then see if anything was loose in the head. There was no way that was normal.

But before they got very far, one of the kids came over with their own screwdriver. Or at least it wasn't one of Orion's. They double checked. "Need some help?"

Looking up from Moon, they grinned. "Appreciated, but I've got it. You should be having fun."

Kat crossed their arms and frowned, scrunching up the bandage on their nose. "I can help! I'm good at it!"

Orion bit back a laugh, not daring to ask exactly what 'it' was. No point in angering them. Besides, no one needed to be told they couldn't do something. But Orion didn't have it in them to watch the kid work on Moon and the others.

"I don't doubt it. But it's my job to look after them," they explained gently with a smile. "If you did it I might be out a job if they see how good you are."

Kat glared down at Orion a moment. But before they could say anything more, Orion saw something over Kat’s shoulder that made their stomach drop.

Dropping the screwdriver, Orion was quickly on their feet, stumbling and nearly falling down. Pushing up with their hands, they clumsily ran to the jungle gyms. "Hold on!" They yelled as they watched.

Way, Bunn, and Itzy were running along the top of the bars. How they got up there was anyone's guess, not that Orion had time to think about that. Itzy rolled their ankle, arms flailing as they tried to keep their balance before falling off.

Bunn was quick to grab them. He snatched the back of their shirt and tried to dig her heels into the ground. Only there was no ground to dig into, so he went pitching forward.

There was a loud scream as Way grabbed onto Bunn's vest. They fell to their knees but managed to anchor themselves on something. They struggled as the other two dangled, hovering above the ground.

Orion could have cursed. Would have if it was his siblings and not a stranger's children. Itzy was at least in easy reach when they got there.

Now, if only they would let Orion help. Itzy yelled and kicked at Orion. "I don't need help," they gasped, getting tangled in their shirt as it bunched around their neck.

A kick that Orion blocked with the arm Moon had dangled them from a few hours before. Pain shot through their arm, but Orion bit back the yelp of pain, even if they couldn’t keep it off their face as they grimaced and grew paler.

Something that Itzy noticed, and looked worried, despite their own uncomfortable plight. Much to Bunn and Way’s relief, they stopped struggling and let Orion grab them.

One down. With a small sigh of relief, they put Itzy down and gave their head a pat with their good hand before standing on their toes, trying to reach Bunn, or at least be as close as they could get. “I’m sorry I’m not as tall as Sun, sweetheart.” Looking up passed Bunn, they looked up at Way who was struggling to keep their grip. “It’s alright, Way, I got him. Let her go,” they soothed.

Way looked worried, but before they could even make up their own mind, Bunn’s vest slipped through their fingers, and they scrambled to try to grab him again.

But they didn’t have to. It was a short drop into Orion’s arms, and they held Bunn close to their chest to make sure they were alright as they knelt down to put her down. Looking the two over, Orion smiled softly. “Are you two alright?”

They were both silent for a brief moment before bursting out into tears. That was scary!

Orion sighed and opened their arms to comfort them both. “You’re alright,” they soothed before looking up at Way. “Do you remember how you got up there? Can you get down?” When they shook their head, Orion groaned. Kids. “Alright, hang tight a little longer, okay?”

“I want Sun,” whined Way as they sniffled. Sun and Moon could get to them easily.

There were more sniffles and whines as the others started to call out for Sun or Moon. It was only a few seconds before suddenly they were all crying.

The sound was overwhelming, screaming and crying grating and pounding on Orion’s eardrums without mercy. Covering their ears, Orion tried to block out the sound. It was hard when all of their siblings started crying when they were little, but this was too much for them. Taking a deep breath, Orion counted to ten. They couldn’t lose it here. These kids needed someone to look after them.

“Alright, guys. I can’t get you Sun and Moon. But we can still play a game, alright?”

That got some of their attention. They just needed to keep everyone calm. "Why don't we play blanket fort?" Suggested Orion putting a hand on the highest bar they could reach. "Everyone get as many blankets and pillows as you can find and bring them here, okay? Once I get Way, we can build it."

And it worked! There were some stragglers, but they worked together to get the blankets and pillows. Something to do and something soft to land on if this went wrong. Not that they were hoping to fall.

While the kids went looking for everything soft in the daycare, Orion started to slowly climb their way up the jungle gym. Looking up, they smiled for a still sniffling Way. "It's alright. I'll get you down and we can play until your parents come to get you, okay?"

A little nod, and they tried not to cry. Scrubbing their face, Way sat still and waited, still mumbling for Sun, but they didn't cry.

Orion took it one rung at a time, making sure they had enough footing and making a point not to look down. Just a little longer, and it would be alright. They just had to get through this part and it would be easy. Just one more hard part, and Orion could just turn their brain off for a while.

Finally, at the top, they smiled for Way, who was half hiding their face behind their hands.

"Come on. I'm here," they told Way quietly. "I need you to hold on tightly to me, okay? Then we can all build the best pillow fort ever."

Looking up at them sheepishly, they still looked nervous. "Promise you won't drop me?"

Orion grinned and held out their pinkie. "I promise."

Way gave a small smile as they reached out to wrap their much smaller pinkie around Orion's. "Okay." Still holding their hand, they got up to hug Orion.

With a bit of guidance, Orion got them wrapped around them as much as their little body would allow. One arm around Way, they started down the jungle gym.

It was painfully slow, but they didn't want to risk them. One foothold at a time while Way clung to them, face pressed against their chest. Each movement ached, and each breath was labored.

Orion was starting to regret taking this job. Even if they needed the money, there had to be something better than this. But then again. If it had been anyone else, what would have happened to the kids? They thought as their feet finally found the ground. Would they stay to help or just leave them alone? They thought, holding Way closer. Moon wouldn't have hurt them next, right?

When Way started to wiggle uncomfortably, Orion snapped out of that horrible thought and knelt down to put them down.

"See? Just like I promised," they said with a grin. One that widened when they giggled and nodded. "There we go. Much better," they praised.

"Now, I believe I also promised to make a pillow fort!" Orion laughed as the room erupted into cheers. "Alright! Let's see how big we can make this!" They cheered and got to work helping the kids as they flung blankets over chairs and tied corners to the jungle gym.

It would take them most of the time left to finish it. Kids were just filtering in when the first parent came.

Something that made Orion panic. They didn't have the foggiest idea of what to do to check the kids out. But it wasn't like they could keep them forever. There was still work to do.

Dusting off their coveralls, Orion walked over smiling brightly. "Hello! Coming to take someone home?" They asked, trying to keep a pleasant face when they looked them over with a huff.

"Since when do they put people in charge again?" Snapped a mother. "You don't look like a daycare attendant."

"Well, you're not wrong!" They laughed, itching the back of their head. Orion wasn't sure what to say. "The attendant went down and, well, making sure the kids were safe was more important than getting them back up." Not a lie. But it still felt like it on their tongue, keeping what Moon had done a secret.

Another huff and she narrowed her eyes at Orion. "Honestly! Having some grease monkey look after children. May as well have left them alone! Give me my child!"

"Uh, yes ma'am. Who am I getting, ma'am?"

"Adri!" She snapped.

Loud enough the little girl quickly scrambled out of the fort. "Hi, mommy!" Rushing over, she stood next to Orion, looking sheepish.

When Orion looked confused, Adri tugged their sleeve and whispered. "You have to check me out, Orion. Sun does it in his head."

"Oh!" They laughed at that. "Right, that makes sense. Make sure you go with who you're supposed to. Well, I can't do that in my head." They offered a hand to Adri. "Let's go get you checked out so you can go home with your mommy."

Not that she could go behind the counter, but she happily took their hand and followed them to the desk. The mother only got more annoyed.

Which only got worse when the computer was locked.

"Figures," they sighed. It made sense, really, but it was frustrating. Looking around the desk for a password, Adri's mother was getting angrier.

"Let me call management. See what we can figure out." Digging out their trusty flipper, Orion discreetly rolled their eyes when the woman mumbled about an ancient phone. It wasn't that old. Sort of.

When there was no answer, Orin sighed. They didn’t sign up for this. Condemned for doing the right thing, how cruel the fates could be. Tucking their phone away, they smiled politely at Adri’s mother. “Well, let’s see if I can’t brute force it. How many things could it be?”

Orion saw the red growing as she lost her patients. And worse yet, there were more parents coming in, looking confused when they didn’t see the giant animatronic running up to greet them.

None of them were any happier to wait while Orion tried to figure out what to do. Orion was a mechanic, not IT. They knew nothing about computers. At least none of them tried to walk out. Orion was at least grateful for that.

While Orion called again only to be greeted by a full answering machine, a parent walked over after grabbing up his children. Brushing passed Orion, he leaned down and quickly typed in the password, letting the screen boot up.

“Wha-,” Orion looked bereft. Parents should not know the password to the computer full of all the other children and their parents information.

But the father just looked at them with a cheeky grin as Ditzy clung to his back and Puffy held onto his jacket. “Sun may have mentioned it in passing by mistake. A time or ten. I think you just match the ID and the parent.”

Luckily, the program was up, and Orion fumbled through it as quickly as he could, checking out each child one by one. Or that’s what they hoped they were doing. It was either that or purging everyone from the system.

Every child said their goodbyes. Way hugged them tightly and begged Orion to promise to come back soon. Ranch high fived before booking it after his mother. Itzy tried to hit them with their bag, only for Orion to get out of the way in time.

“Gonna have to practice that swing if you wanna get me one on one, buddy. Better luck next time,” they gently teased. But they swore they saw Itzy grinned when they left.

Then finally, Orion was alone. Or at least as alone as one could be with the body of someone that tried to kill you laid out on the floor. Somehow, none of the parents noticed that. Orion didn’t know if that was lucky or concerning. Sitting down on the floor behind the desk, Orion did what they’d wanted to do for hours now.

Cry.

Curling their knees up to their chest and pressing their forehead to their knees, Orion screamed. Tears were hot against their skin as they streamed down their face, falling onto their coveralls. None of this was fair! Sure, they knew they were probably going to be in over their head with work when they signed on, but they never thought it would be like this!

Too much work and not enough time they were expecting. Getting cut or burned was just part of the job with being a mechanic. Orion knew that. Knew there were risks of working with machines. But never did they think they would be fighting for their lives like that.

They gingerly rubbed their neck. It was still sore. Would probably bruise something fierce. Orion was lucky to be alive. Something that scared them to no end. What were the chances of getting so lucky again?

But they needed this job. There wasn’t enough money to make it until they could find something else. They had other people to worry about first.

So, with a shaky breath, Orion got to their feet. Their shift wasn’t over yet, and there was still work to be done. Grabbing their toolbox, Orion started to the lifeless body of the animatronic that had tried to kill them. First thing first.

#fnaf sb #fnaf sb fanfic #Sundrop #Moondrop #(not really here this time)#Orion OC #Lots of lil kids #These are my friends #we are smol

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