Put Your Records On | Fronty

- .... .-. . .

The atmosphere was a little- well, okay- a lot awkward.

The two of have had taken up residence in Monty's room, but ever since they arrived, not a single word had been spoken. There was just... silence, and not the good kind either.

Monty was sitting on his vanity chair while Chica chose to sit on the couch. She clearly wanted to say something, it was obvious since she'd open her beak every so often, but despite that no words came out. There wasn't a time limit, luckily, though the gator was starting to feel his patience wear a bit thin.

"So..." he started, slightly gesturing for her to explain herself. She had come there for a reason, and now she had the chance to fulfill that. Whatever it was.

"Right, right." Chica cleared her throat.

"I actually wanted to... ask you a question. An important one."

Monty nodded, making himself a bit more comfortable now that the silence was over.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead."

There was a brief moment of stillness once again, the quiet not quite gone yet. The only noise audible was the sound of the air conditioning, as well as the soft whirring of their endoskeletons and the tech around them. Though just as soon as it started, it also stopped.

"Have you... been hearing voices lately?"

Chica fidgeted with the fabric of the couch while Monty processed what she had just asked. Her gaze was fixated in front of her, but not on him. She seemed too nervous to make proper eye contact.

"Voices?"

"Yeah, or just one."

He thought for a moment, trying to recall any points in his life where he had heard what she was talking about. But there was basically none.

"...Don't think I 'ave. Why?"

Chica's fidgeting ceased for a second, like she was genuinely debating on whether she should tell him or not. But eventually, she went back to doing it again.

"I just... I just wanted to know, y'know? Things have been a little... odd, recently." She closed her eyes, her voice lowering a little. "I've been having weird thoughts, ones that don't feel like my own, and I just wanted to know if you were too. That's all."

She smiled at him like she normally did, despite the fact that she had just said something pretty creepy not too long ago. Maybe she thought it was normal or something, though her tone betrayed her if that was the case.

"Has Roxy been hearing 'em too?"

Chica nodded, her expression changing to a more unreadable one.

"Says she has for a while."

He wasn't exactly sure what to do with that information, considering how it seemed out of his control, but he still nodded anyways.

"What about Freddy?"

Chica shrugged.

"Haven't gotten around to asking him yet. I don't think I've seen him act any different, though."

And yeah, that did seem true. He had noticed small changes in the others' behavior before, even if he had thought nothing of it. But Freddy seemed to be the same as he ever was, so maybe it didn't affect him?

But what did that mean for Monty?

Chica took notice of the gator's unease, walking over to him and placing her hand on his shoulder. She flashed him another smile in an effort to make him feel better.

"Don't worry about it, big guy. It'll be fine! I'm sure staff will figure out what the problem is. Maybe something wrong with our hard drives."

Maybe.

Though, he doubted hearing voices had anything to do with programming. Especially not when half of the band was experiencing the same thing.

She patted his shoulder comfortingly before approaching the doorway. But as she reached it, Monty sat up from his chair a little, stopping her.

"Chica, wait-"

She turned to look at him, humming in acknowledgement.

"You and Roxy- You're together, right?" It was a stupid question, he already knew they were. But the words sort of just left his mouth. "Does Roxy... hurt ya, at all?"

It wasn't like Roxy was the most aggressive person he had met, but she was definitely not the nicest either. Her narcissism (whether it was just a coverup or not) seemed to get the best of her at times, and he just wanted to be sure that she wasn't taking it out on Chica. Emotionally or physically.

The chicken giggled, making the pressure building up in his chest cease at once.

"Of course not, silly! She and I do fight at times, but she's never layed a finger on me." Chica waved her hand, dismissing his concerns. "Why do you ask?"

Monty relaxed into his seat.

"Just making sure my bandmates are doing okay. Is that a crime or something?"

Chica giggled again, moving to leave the room once again. This time, Monty didn't stop her.

"Not at all. Seeya later, alligator!"

And with that, she was gone.

Her visit had been... well, strange. But, Monty did learn quite a lot from her.

If Roxy wasn't hurting her, despite how aggressive she could be at times, did that mean...?

The fact that he was questioning anything to do with Freddy in that way honestly unnerved him. Like heck he was gonna think of him as any other way than his band mate. Because that's all he was.

And sure, he already knew there was something there. But like he said, or thought, before; it wasn't gonna happen. He didn't want it to, even if he sorta did.

Monty huffed.

This was stupid. He needed to get out, go get some fresh air or something.