Chapter Text
You didn’t know what to do when the three different tests you took came back positive, sitting in the employee bathroom, hiding on your lunch break. Or, rather, you hadn’t been hiding, per se, as that would imply you had someone to hide from.
It had been six weeks since you left your ex, the bruise in your cheekbone only barely starting to fade. Five weeks since you started this job that was the best you could find on short notice, whose management looked the other way if your van stayed in the back parking lot. As long as you moved it around from time to time so it at least looked like you weren’t at the pizzaplex all of the time, of course, in exchange for being willing to take on any last-second scheduling changes. And another several months before the health benefits, vacation, sick, and maternity leave could kick in.
You were, in all senses of the word, fucked.
After several seconds of your heart racing in your chest, you became aware of a low, miserable sound, and it wasn’t until you took in a shaky breath and the sound stopped that you realized it was coming from you. The strangled sob rose in your chest as you silently swore, cursing your past self.
You knew how it happened.
You only barely managed to turn to retch into the toilet as you remembered that night. Tears burned as you struggled to stop the urge to continue retching, even when you had nothing else to give. It wasn’t like you’d been able to eat anything for breakfast, and your lunch was still sitting in the tiny kitchenette. Likely, it would be staying there for a while longer.
Slowly, you took in breaths, counting them in, out, in, out, drawing out each inhale and exhale. After a long pause, you spat into the bowl, eyes scrunched shut as you flushed the toilet, refusing to look as you shakily pushed yourself to your feet. Gathering the tests (three had probably been overkill, and thus a waste, but you had to be sure what you were facing) and grabbing the black plastic bag, you crammed the little boxes and tests and all the literature about the tests into the bag, knotting it shut before shoving it deep in the trashcan after you left the stall. Washing your hands and splashing your face in the sink, you take a few moments to swish your mouth out, pausing before doing it again, just to be safe. Straightening your uniform, you looked at your hair shoved under your uniform hat, made sure you at least looked mostly put together, made sure you at least didn’t look like you’d just been throwing up, allowing yourself one shaky exhale before pulling the customer service smile back onto your face.
You would be fooling exactly no one today.
Sighing, you pulled the mask up over the lower half of your face. There, that would afford you at least a modicum of dignity.
Besides, today would be your first shift in the daycare! That was exciting! And you liked kids! The animatronics had been interesting to work with in general, though you largely weren’t bothered by any of them (save the occasional map bot that would accost you until you took a map that would be returned to the supply closet at the end of your shift) as you went about your day. You had been accustomed to being ignored by them, and you hoped this day would be no different.
You really needed to stop jinxing yourself.
Entering the Superstar Daycare by the security desk, you nodded in greeting to the other guard already there. He was a quiet older gentleman, almost surly, with a bushy mustache that bristled in annoyance as you sat down.
“You’re two minutes late,” Dennis said, his voice low as he glanced up as a group of children started a rousing game of tag.
“Sorry, I was stuck in the bathroom,” you apologize quietly, looking out over the play area, eyebrows furrowing. You could see the children, but where was the—
“Doesn’t make a lick of difference to me,” Dennis said, gathering the pages of the daily log and handing you a fresh clipboard. “It’s a stickler for the rules though, so you’ll want to make sure you’re on time going forward.” Before you could ask if that was about the Daycare attendant, he immediately started how to fill out the paper log and motioned the electronic end-of-shift report on the old monitor in front of you. “It’s going to be pretty repetitive, of course, but you’ll still have to type them out one-by-one—no copy-paste allowed here. You’ll be here for at least the next eight hours, so make sure you clean up before you go—sanitize surfaces, make sure everything in the play areas are clean, the whole nine yards.” You listen to the instructions—final pick-up times, what to do if any parents are grievously late, who to call in case of emergencies, how to check the kids in and out from the daycare—until it felt like your head was starting to spin. This was a lot more than just making sure kids didn’t sneak cameras into Gator Golf and removing swear words sharpied on the bathroom walls! You were starting to wonder if you really could handle this when Dennis put a hand on your shoulder.
“The bot will make sure you do everything, so ask it if you think you forget anything.” He offered an encouraging smile before he added, “Ask the sunny fella. That moon-man ain’t too kind to people askin’ questions.”
Before you could ask what he meant by that unsettlingly cryptic message, movement caught your attention out of the corner of your eye. Turning, you see red curtains swish open, and a tall, gangly animatronic hollered out a greeting before diving energetically into the ball-pit, to much cheering and screaming from the gathered children that joined him. You could make out golden yellow and red, and a jolly voice that immediately made you actually smile a little.
This had to be the ‘sunny fella’. Maybe it wouldn’t be so weird. After all, you like kids! Working with happy children was easy, and working with an animatronic designed to care for children? This was bound to be a piece of cake!
***
‘We did the ballpit dive already,’ Moon groused in their headspace as Sun cleared a path in their wreck of a room. ‘We can’t have the children thinking they can get us to do this a dozen times a day…’
‘I know, but it’s little Megan’s first time, and she promised she wouldn’t cry if we did the dive again after her little friends told her about it, and she missed it earlier.’ Sun sighed, looking around at the messy room, shoulders slumping. ‘We should clean up in here again… It’s getting out of hand…’
‘There’s a new security guard,’ Moon said, opening and showing the day’s roster. ‘We could get them to do it… Progress reports show a ‘cheerful willingness to help',’ he quoted, mentally rolling his eyes as he accessed the appropriate employee file. ‘Maybe this one will stay for more than a shift or two before ditching us…’
‘Well, maybe if you were nicer,’ Sun started to reprimand, peeking through the curtains to see the familiar figure of Dennis at the desk, and then his lenses fell on a new sight. He didn’t need to look at the employee file to know this was the new person, as Sun knew all of the personnel that had been stationed in the Daycare, even for just a single shift, and this was new.
You were new, dressed in your little uniform, jacket, slacks, collared shirt peeking out, plastic little nametag with your name scrawled in large, friendly letters.
Internally, he felt his fans kick on, the rays around his face giving a sharp spin before settling as he straightened again. Ah, no. You wouldn’t likely enjoy it here. No one enjoyed it here for long in the Daycare, besides the kids. He wasn’t even sure why Dennis kept tolerating being stationed there, but his full-belly laugh when the children told him jokes told him that he really did like the kids.
He barely tolerated Sun and didn’t trust Moon as far as he could throw him (which was to say, not at all), but Dennis did like the kids.
Maybe you would like the kids too?
Straightening the frills and bells of his uniform, Sun dramatically threw back the curtain. He didn’t have to look at you to know he had your attention as well as that of the crowd of children below as he hollered his standard, but nonetheless warm greeting to the room before diving into the ballpit, emerging quickly to excited cheers and claps, especially from the newest visitor to the daycare. Megan was giggling and holding his hand as he climbed out, patting the top of her head before nodding to the bigger kid with the little girl. The bigger kid relaxed significantly, nodding a little before announcing she would be back for naptime, the toddler happily ignoring her sister as she skipped, leaving the daycare.
He wanted to go over and speak to you. He was practically buzzing with the desire to, but the children had other ideas, not noticing the newest uniformed adult in their midst as they pulled him away to color at one of the low tables. Soon, though, he told himself. Soon, it would be snack-time, and then the children would settle in for storytime and a nap, and then…
Then he would get to say hello.