Deceptive

Deadly Creatures

"Hm... I think this one is the right shade."

"I'm pretty sure it's not. Do you not know what color the walls are?"

"Do you not know what color the walls are? This is clearly the exact same color! The other one is way off. Way, way off!"

"You know what? You're completely right."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Foxy groaned, "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not!"

Baby laughed. "Fox, both cans of paint are the same color. It won't matter which one we grab."

Currently, Foxy's place of work was closed, so he and Riley were finally going to take the opportunity to repaint a wall in one of the party rooms. It had been looking pretty bad for quite a while.

"What?!" Foxy brought both cans very close to his face, carefully scanning over the labels. "Crap, you're right."

He picked up a rather large paintbrush and pointed it at his boss, putting on a look of feigned irritation. "I can't believe you let me argue with you for like, five minutes when you knew they were the same color."

A smile crossed the redhead's face. "Sorry, it was funny how worked up you were getting over it."

Foxy was a bit taken aback. "Wow, you're actually smiling."

"Do I not usually smile?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really. At least not like that, you don't."

It was true. Despite being a clown, Riley hardly ever smiled. Her usual facial expression was one of disinterest. Or some slight variation of that. And on rare occasions where she did smile, the one she usually gave was a sort of lazy, playful, half-smile. But never a full smile.

It almost made her look like a different person entirely.

Foxy had never really noticed how round and cartoonish Riley's eyes actually were since they were almost always half-lidded. They gave her a weird look of innocence and curiosity that didn't match her personality even slightly. The actual smile itself was stupidly symmetrical and perfect. It looked like something he would see on a doll.

It was very strange.

"Are you okay? Are you sure you're not sick?" Foxy lowered his voice, "Or high?"

"Not since I last checked. Just in a good mood, I suppose."

"You're about to repaint a wall and you're in a good mood about it?"

Foxy received an eye roll in response.

"No, Fox. I'm happy because I can be around you all without the feeling of constant paranoia looming over me. I'm happy I'm not... you know, dead and I actually made it back here in one piece. I am in no way excited to paint the wall. Actually, I'd like to get it over with as soon as possible. So let's get on with it, yeah?"

Riley started to leave the upstairs storage room, grabbing herself a brush and taking the paint can from Foxy so he didn't have to carry it. As per usual, she walked faster than necessary and he had to practically jog to keep up with her.

"I find it kind of difficult to imagine you being paranoid. Or scared, for that matter. Seeing visible fear on your face is like... Freddy not pouring milk straight into the box of Nightmare Puffs instead of using a bowl."

"Just because I don't display those emotions doesn't mean I don't feel them. It just means I'm good at masking them with disinterest."

"I wish I could do that. I've screamed so much in the past month that my throat is still sore."