I have not yet determined a name for this

~Chapter Two~

I guess you could say I got a little too comfortable too quickly. It was just so hard to take Sundrop seriously—after all, he was an obnoxiously loud, goofy, stupid-looking sun-themed animatronic who was occasionally covered in stickers, wads of gum and used band-aids from mischievous children. I couldn't really live in fear of him, even if his face was far beyond uncanny valley.

I kept trying to do my job without interfering with his, but it was just too difficult. I couldn't leave things on the floor or neglect messes in the hopes that he would get to them later, once he was no longer being tackled or chased by kids. However, it was like some sort of sensor went off the minute I tried tending to it, snapping him out of whatever engagement he was preoccupied with and sending him right over to me to insist on handling it himself. This always seemed to happen with the tower of pillows, which shouldn't have even been a significant source of distress for either of us, but it quickly became somewhat of a symbol of our clashing duties.

"I can do it," he would loudly declare, tugging on the pillow, and I would rebelliously maintain my grip, annoyed by his persistence and unable to respect his authority due to his overall goofy nature.

"It's alright, I don't mind," I retorted, though I kept my tone gentle and calm. "You should be looking after the kids, anyways."

"THIS is PART of my job!" he practically shrieked, instantly sending the tension from a zero to about a million and prompting my expression to contort in unease. I should've just let him have it, but my own stubborn nature was getting in the way.

"It's also part of my job, right?" I questioned lightly, keeping my gaze focused on the pillow I was gripping onto for dear life. "You don't have to do everything. That's why I'm here, to make things easier—"

I was unable to finish my sentence. Sundrop released the pillow from his side, sending me stumbling backwards in surprise, but I didn't hit the floor. In fact, the very opposite happened as I left it entirely, two strong hands clamping around my waist and hoisting me upwards without warning. "Wh—" was all I could stutter out in shock as I came face to face with Sundrop, who was unsurprisingly a lot creepier this close up. I was speechless as he began to swiftly carry me away from the pillows, which I'd dropped in the process of falling backwards, and place me just beyond the play structures scattered throughout the daycare.

"You can go HERE!" he stated firmly as he placed me back on the ground, my eyes still wide with shock. He then simply turned around and headed back towards the scene of the crime, leaving me frozen in my newly designated spot.

It took a couple moments of processing for me to regain my composure. The AUDACITY. That little shit had just picked me up like I was a misbehaving child and told me to "go here", as though I were a misplaced puzzle piece or a part of a game of Tetris, or something. Anger overtook me within seconds, but I wasn't about to go and draw the argument out further. No, I would express my distaste in other, more subtle ways.

I began interacting more personally with the children. They'd already sought help from me from my very first shift, but as instructed I directed them to Sundrop. Now, however, I began helping them myself, primarily out of spite. They often seemed to prefer interacting with another human rather than the creepy, shouting sun, anyways. Take that, bitch boy. As expected and hoped for, Sundrop didn't like it one bit.

"Aren't you supposed to be CLEANING?" he said as he caught me being pulled along by a little girl; she wanted to show me the craft she'd made.

"Oh, she wanted to show me her project," I explained calmly.

"She can show ME!!!" Sundrop proclaimed, raising his hands to his chest in near offense. "I want to see too!! Besides, you're supposed to CLEAN!!" You said that already, shitnut.