𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 '𝐍 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕖

"Little Helper?"

You groaned and rolled away from the massive shadow that was looming over you on the uncomfortable white plastic couch. Thirty seconds. You would have sold your soul for just thirty more seconds of sleep. 

"Little Helper!"

Begrudgingly, you rolled back over and pried one eye open to see whoever was daring to disturb your nap. A familiar robotic face slowly focused into view and your death glare melted away once you realized it was just Freddy. With one last cat stretch, you sat up with a sleepy grin. "Mornin'."

"Good morning. Did you have a nice rest?"

"Mhm." It was still too early to form cohesive sentences, but you would do your best. Thank god the robots didn't care about professionalism.

It was just the two of you in the dressing room. The red curtain was drawn over the viewing window like it always was when he wasn't inside doing meet-and-greets. You don't know what you would've done if someone else found you sleeping there. Probably start looking for a new job.

You were about to stand up and stretch your limbs when you felt Freddy reach out and swipe a single digit under your bottom lip. The action made you pause long after he smiled his signature nonchalant smile and rose back to his full height. With a confused pout, you put your fingers to your lips and froze up with embarrassment. 

You'd been drooling.

"Seems like it," Freddy said, but there was something else hiding behind his usual upbeat tone that you caught right away. Was he...teasing you?

Never mind looking for a new job. You needed to move to an entirely new state.

"How was your show?" you asked, trying to brush off the sudden tension while aggressively wiping away the rest of the drool from your face. Freddy followed you all the way to his vanity where you used a key on your belt to unlock the cosmetics drawer. It was where they kept all of the equipment for quick daily touch-ups. This was the very last thing you had to do before you could go home for the day.

"Not good," he admitted after a moment of silence. If you hadn't known any better, you would have thought he sounded embarrassed.

You hopped up on the counter and nodded while preparing your supplies. "Oh? Why's that?"

Right on cue, Freddy bent down to your height so that you could easily reach his face with your paintbrush. He had a distant look in his bright LEDs and it was obvious that he was pondering something.

His gaze shifted away from yours and he tried to focus on anything else as you worked the brush up and down the bold stripe of teal paint that ran above his nose and between his eyes. 

"I...malfunctioned in the middle of the first set. It did not end well."

Wow. The last time Freddy messed up on stage was...actually, you couldn't remember the last time this happened. It was definitely way before you came to the Pizza Plex. And of course, you slept right through it.

"That's not your fault," you argued, tilting his chin upward and listening to the mechanics shift around inside of him as you continued applying a fresh coat of face paint. "We skipped your last maintenance check cause they double booked you for a birthday party. Remember?"

A low vibration resonated deep within his chest. You figured this was him humming in agreement—giving you a sign that he understood without moving his jaw that you were now touching up. You loved Roxy, but Freddy was a very close second.

He waited patiently until you pulled away and offered you one of his massive paws to hold onto as you hopped off of the vanity. "Ta-da," you said as he leaned down to assess his reflection. "I know it's the same exact thing as before, but—"