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“And another thing, you should really remove that mohawk of yours. Honestly, it's not very child-friendly to dress like some punk star!”
Oh, give him a break.
Monty could feel his hands twitching at his sides and he had to physically restrain himself from not moving them. He maintained the vaguely interested expression on his face while he only stared at the fiery redhead mother screaming at him. Her child was by her side looking mildly uncomfortable and probably wishing to be at home already.
Monty couldn't blame him if he was being honest.
A bright red nail dug into his metal chest as the lady got closer, her face as bright red as her hair. The action definitely left a little dent in the shape of a little crescent moon. And he didn't really know what she was saying since he was tuning out most of her unnecessary complaining about stuff he couldn't fucking control.
This was like the 3rd parent who criticized his appearance because it wasn't “child friendly” or “safe”. It doesn't happen that often which he is glad about but it's enough that he could count the number of incidents like this on two claws.
And they take it up with him personally as if he chose how he was going to look like. It was getting really annoying when he had to deal with this daily and sometimes it would be the same parent. Sometimes he just thinks they want something to complain about to make themselves feel better.
He even tells them it wasn't exactly like he designed his appearance, he actually liked the way he looked if he was being honest. But of course, they never want to listen to what he had to say. Parents like them never want to be proven wrong so they put up every argument they could to be in the right.
Sometimes he really wished to give them a good punch in the face, just one time would satisfy him. But he doesn't want to risk getting a lawsuit for the company for “assaulting a consumer”. Honestly, they deserve it sometimes for being so god damn irritating.
“Ma’am,” he interrupted as politely as he could, placing his hand in front of him to push her away gently. A frown formed on the lady’s bright red lips, crossing her arms with her giant purse swinging from side to side. He's impressed she's able to carry around that big-ass thing.
A glare was sent his way by the woman but he ignored it. “As I said before, if you have a complaint about something, you need to take it up with the company. They're the ones who designed me in the first place.”
Apparently, she didn't like that answer because she only glared at him harder with an unpleasant scowl. “Well, you know them right? Get them to change your appearance to something more friendly for the children. I don't want my little Henry being exposed to dangerous things.”
He almost rolled his eyes,” I can't really do anything about it, they wanted me to look this way. And I don't think me having a mohawk and wearing star glasses is traumatizing your child ma'am.”
“Yes, it is! I don't want my child around some thug like you.”
He was really getting tired of going back and forth with her, he just wanted to leave. “Then you can either leave or just suck it up.” It felt nice to say that, even when she gasped with an affronted expression rising to her caked-up face.
“How dare you speak to me that way! You have some nerve speaking to me with such little respect.”
“Well, ma'am you are the one arguing with an animatronic who sings and dances for children,” he pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “Frankly I've seen more kids with more respect than you.”
Her face swelled to a vibrant red, reminding him of a tomato. He merely smirked at the seething woman as the child next to her snorted silently. That kid was cool in his book, his mother? Not so much.
“Oh, you're going to regret this, you overgrown lizard.”
“The only thing I regret is looking at that awful haircut, did you use a mower to cut it?” He laughed, watching the woman squeal in anger before lifting up her purse as if she was going to hit him. He wouldn't mind that if that gets him a chance to finally whack the woman.
“Why you-!”
Monty was waiting for the impact before a hand abruptly shot forward to flick it out of the way, the purse flew out of the woman’s hands to settle a few feet from them. He watched with wide eyes before darting back to the very familiar orange bear in front of him. And boy he doesn't look very happy.
The woman had watched her handbag being swatted out of her hands before grimacing at Freddy, who stood in front of Monty with crossed arms. His mouth was twisted into a deep frown that Monty’s never really seen before, even when the bear scolds Gregory.
It was kinda hot. Even more when the bear looked back towards Monty with the softest expression he's seen on him. The alligator was almost weak at the knees, he really needed to get a hold of himself.
“Are you alright?” he whispered, his voice rumbling with concern for the alligator.
Monty could only nod in response since the words were nestled in his throat and refused to move. A smile was sent in his direction before he swivelled his attention back to the scowling woman in front of him.
“Do we have a problem here, Miss?”
The lady hesitated a little as the bear silently stared at her but she seemed to think she still had the upper hand in this situation. “Yes actually. Your employee was getting a huge attitude towards me and I demand some free compensation for the terrible service I received.”
“Free compensation for what exactly?”
“I simply was telling him how he needed to change his appearance! It's obviously not very child-friendly for my little Henry over here,” Henry blushed with the attention on him, glancing away with an embarrassed frown. Monty felt bad for the little guy, having to deal with a bitchy mother.
“I'm sure Monty already explained but we don't control what we look like. That's what the company decided for our design to be that way and there haven't been any complaints about them,” Freddy recited, his frown deepening further. “But if you do, there's a number underneath the pizzaplex website you can call and take it up with them. No need to express your anger on my co-worker here.”
The lady sputtered in reply,” Well I, ”she stuttered and Monty was having great enjoyment as her face grew more ashamed. And Freddy wasn't even being mean, that's the power of being the face of the company.
“Now if you are finished here, the security guards will kindly escort you out,” he then gave a smile but it didn't reach his eyes. It was tight-pressed and fake, a look Monty’s only seen when Freddy gets really petty about something. It's rare to see it and the alligator was enjoying every second of it.
Suddenly, Vanessa appeared out of nowhere behind the redhead woman and placed a perfectly manicured hand on her shoulder. The lady looked back at the security guard, who pressed a fake smile upon her lips.
“Let's go, ma'am. I think you've done enough here,” and without getting an answer from the lady, Vanessa pulled her away from them and her child grabbing her purse with an apology jumping out of him. Monty could hear the woman complaining the whole way, shouting about how this wasn't over or some other bull shit she was spouting out.
Once Monty no longer could see the fiery woman or her son, his shoulders dropped almost instantly as he let out a sigh of relief. Dealing with those parents always made him tense up and it wasn't good for his system. When he gets really tense, his arms and legs would lock up for a few hours and usually had to go to maintenance to get it fixed.
He doesn't know why they hadn't fixed the problem permanently, he guesses they either didn't know how or didn't feel like spending money on him to get it done. The latter seemed like the most predictable one they would do. They aren't exactly known for having a ton of money just lying around.
“I'm so sorry you had to deal with that Monty,” the alligator glanced at the bear, whose eyes were filled with an apologetic warmness and Monty could feel himself relaxing just from being under the stare. It's a wonder he has a major crush on him, he's always so inviting and cozy. Like a warm blanket to protect you from the harsh cold of the outside world.
He would love to be covered by that blanket with Freddy with him to share it with.
When did he get so cheesy? This bear is something else.
Monty shrugged in response, pushing down his overheating wires and sensors. “It's alright Fazbear. No need to worry about little old me.”
“It's not alright. I hate how you get harassed by these customers about your appearance and you have to be at the end of it. It's ridiculous.”
There was an underline of genuine concern and anger rumbling underneath his voice, and Monty could tell this really upsets him.
“I don't mind it, I have better things to worry about than what some parent had to say about me.”
“But I mind it! You don't deserve that, none of the criticisms you get. You're an amazing part of the group and most definitely look absolutely great. I just wish they could see that part of you, the one who isn't some thug but is caring and so sweet to these kids,” Monty couldn't speak for the whole speech that Freddy was spouting out, too stunned to even try to form a coherent sentence.
Did Freddy really think about him like that? It was almost too much to comprehend at once, too many thoughts of what it could mean and so many leads down paths he desperately wanted. Down to paths, he could only dream about alone in his room during the late nights after closing.
But he shut them down almost immediately. No, he couldn't let himself get his hopes up like that. He's only going to get hurt in the end if he does.
So he plastered a fake smile on his lips and put on the act. “Well it's a good thing you came over to save me my knight in shining armor,” he winked, earning a nervous chuckle from the bear. He wasn't even trying to be cute, is this like an unconscious thing he does?
“I'm sure you would've been able to handle it by yourself,” he rubbed the back of his head,” But that woman was going to hit you and something came over me, I have no idea what. It was like a sudden urge to protect you.”
The bear looked down at his hands in thought, unnoticing the stunned stares being thrown his way by the alligator, who’s mind kicked back into overdrive with the many implications of that confession. He really doesn't want to hope what they could mean, but he couldn't help it.
Maybe he should let himself hope, just for a little.
He shook it off for a minute,” It's probably those papa bear instincts of yours.”
“Haha perhaps you're right Monty,” the bear laughed off, a smile blooming on his face. Afterwards, they had to go back to walking around and interacting with the children. It seemed like everything was back to normal at that moment and Monty went back to what he did best.
But that little niggling thought stayed with him for the rest of the day and even towards the end of their last photo time of the day with the fans. And onwards after all the lights were out and the doors of the pizzaplex were closed for the night.
Sitting on the couch with a pillow in hand, he glared down at the Freddy plush in front of him. His leg was bouncing up and down in a rapid motion, bumping up the pillow a little.
He was feeling a little anxious if that wasn't obvious enough and that thing with Freddy wasn't helping at all. And with the whole incident with the woman and the fact he still had to go on with meeting with fans, he was feeling a little burnt out.
But he still had a little energy to get out for the time being. Plus he was getting a little bored as well.
His eyes darted around the room until he saw the lone sketchbook lying down on the opposite side of the couch, tempting him to pick it up again. He thought about it for a minute.
He did try to pick up drawing a couple of days ago, finally getting the time and energy to try it out for once. He had placed the book in front of him with a pencil in hand and was getting really hyped about it as he turned onto a blank sheet. A million ideas had been running around in his head so he thought this was going to be fun.
But when he did look down at the sheet of paper, waiting to be drawn on, he paused over it.
He didn't know how to fucking draw.
So tutorials on Youtube were his answer, and it wasn't exactly as hard to do as learning how to knit. He picked up the basic concepts really quickly and was drawing human faces with different shaped noses and eyes that he was sort of satisfied with.
After that, he moved on drawing some other random things that came to mind, like Vanessa, Gregory, some of the other animatronics as well, even some of the Staff Bots and Mopbots as well.
Everywhere you could see, there were little doodles of his friends somewhere amidst some of the bigger drawings as well. He’d do them after hanging out with them and just draw some of their faces or whenever he was there at that moment. It was pretty relaxing.
He even showed the gang his drawings of them, not only to show he was trying but to be a show-off about his newly acquired skills. Just to be clear. They all seemed to love them, even when those compliments were in the form of vague and playful insults but it was still genuine nevertheless.
But lately, he got burnt out on it and there was only so much he could draw of his friends before he eventually got bored with it. It wasn't as exciting as it was before and Monty knew he wasn't done with his hobby as of yet.
The alligator still wanted to do something with it before he moved on to another one. He just needs a muse of some sort, like how those artists describe it. A sudden spark of inspiration that motivated an artist to draw some of their best work.
But he didn't know what.
A glance around his room and his eyes landed back onto that stupid Freddy plushie, staring at him with gleaming blue animated eyes that couldn't compare to the real thing. But it's a good comparison.
He thought back to Freddy with his stupid pretty smile and stupid pretty eyes and stupid pretty face and stupid pretty voice. His nice nature and the way he cares so much about everyone around them. His stupid attractive body that he just wants those big arms to pin him down and let the bear do what he pleased with him.
Freddy and his stupid self.
Monty glared harder at the stupid plush, giving the alligator that stupid ass grin. Goddammit, he guesses he found his muse.
He picked up the sketchbook once more, turning past all his drawings and doodles to an empty sheet with the potential to be filled with so many possibilities. And Monty was going to use them all on a guy he can't even confess to properly.
He sighed, picked up a nearby pencil next to his foot, and began.
__________________________
Goddammit, where the fuck did he leave the stupid book at?
Monty picked up one of the lone Mopbots that was doing their standard mopping around near one of the stands for selling pretzels. The bot chirped unhappily of being moved and the alligator gently placed it back down with an apology on his lips.
The bot simply chirped again before moving on, leaving a trail of damp pineapple-scented product in its path. Monty shrugged it off, continuing his search elsewhere since it obviously wasn't here.
He'd lost his sketchbook like the dumbass he was, and he couldn't remember where he left it. Today was a hassle, to say the least, it has been a blur of performances and having to take over around in his golf course. And of course, he had his photoshoots with some of the kids and teens that were paid for by their parents.
And not to mention they had not only one but four birthday parties being planned that day and two of those kids wanted Monty to sing happy birthday to him. He loved the kids he really did but by that point, his battery was drained by a lot and his gears were overwhelmed with the amount of moving he had been doing.
He still put on a smile and gave them what they wanted but he wasn't happy about it.
But throughout the day, he's only had a handful of breaks so he would draw during them so he could have something to do with his hands before he would be whisked off to do another task. He guessed that during one of those breaks he forgot to take it with him since he doesn't have it anymore.
He hoped that it was just in his room or somewhere hidden where no one could fucking find it. Of course, he didn't mind if they saw it when it was just drawings of them because why would he hide that? It's just his friends.
But lately, he's gotten a little out of hand while drawing Freddy, diving into more risque territory if you're catching his drift. The bear was just really nice to draw and he had about 20+ of him in different positions and doing activities.
Whether that was him on stage with his mic, playing with Gregory, dancing in the arcade, or even dressed up in a suit and tie which Monty likes to imagine quite often. He's not proud of it, okay?
Do you think he likes drawing a guy who doesn't even know Monty likes him? Well yes but that's not really the point here.
The point is he should really get a hold of himself with this crush on his co-worker before something bad ends up happening. And he really doesn't want to ruin his friendship with Freddy just because of some silly crush. He couldn't take that.
He opened the door to the green room, scanning the surrounding area to see if his sketchbook stuck out anywhere. In the room, he could see Bonnie, Foxy, and Gregory playing cards in the middle of the room while the child was staring at his with mild concentration. Bonnie was picking at his nails and Foxy was flipping through his cards and dividing them faced down on the floor.
“Gregory, hurry the fuck up. How long does it take you to pick a card dude?” Bonnie suddenly complained, looking up from his fingers to stare at the child. Gregory put his hand up to shush him.
“Can you shut up and let me concentrate?” he shot back, still picking through his cards. “I'm trying to make a strategic move over here because someone threw me a draw 4,” he pointed his gaze at the red fox, who shrugged.
“All's fair in love and Uno,” Foxy responded.
“Gregory, just pick a goddam card already!”
“Bonnie how about you shut the fuck up and let me do my thing?”
“It's been 20 fucking minutes, how long is this strategy move gonna take? I'm fucking bored.”
“Sorry, Mr. “Picking the first card I see” that I'm trying to make a smart move.”
“You're like 6. What do you know about being smart, other than being a smart ass?”
“I'm gonna fuckin-”
“Oh hey, Monty,” Foxy waved, finally noticing his presence after a few minutes of standing there watching them argue. Though he wouldn't mind watching for a little more, this was hilarious to see.
The other two glanced up at him too, though Gregory looked a little more fearful than happy to see him. “How long were you standing there?”
“Enough to hear how much you curse without Freddy around if that's what you're asking,” he smirked, earning a tiny groan from the child.
“Please don't tell dad, I don't wanna deal with another lecture from him about my language. At this point, I'm gonna have it memorized before I'm a teenager.”
Monty waved him off with crossed arms,” I'm not gonna tell good ole Fazbear, I really don't care that you curse little guy. Just don't do it around other adults, really don't need them on my ass again.”
Gregory sighed in relief with a grateful smile. Bonnie looked up at the gator with a bored expression. “Where the fuck have you been? Come play Uno with us, I need you to avenge me cause I got skipped 3 times in this round already thanks to someone.” He made it a point to aim his thumb as Gregory, who smacked it out of the way with a huff.
“It's not my fault you can't shuffle cards for shit. You deserved those skips.”
“Well, why didn't you shuffle them then huh dumbass?”
“Because you snatched them out of my hand! Dumbass!”
“I'm not afraid to hit a 5-year-old.”
“Alright alright guys,” Monty interrupted with an amused smile on his lips. These guys were something else. “I'm only trying to look for my sketchbook, I can't find it anywhere.”
“Why? So ye can draw more pictures of ye boyfriend Freddy?” Foxy grinned up at the annoyed alligator. Bonnie and Gregory snickered like the little bastards they were at the expense of Monty. He really needs better friends.
“So have you seen it or not? You idiots seem to be of no help.”
After a few minutes of the three bastards, he calls friends were finally done laughing their asses off, calming down a bit to answer his question.
“I haven't seen your dumb sketchbook,” Gregory admitted, Foxy following in suit that he hadn't seen it either. Well great, that was a useless trip.
“Oh wait, I think I saw it in Freddy’s room when I stopped by over there a couple of hours ago,” Bonnie said, tapping his chin in thought. He snapped his fingers with a grin,” Yep I definitely saw it in there, it should be on his couch last time I checked.”
Monty’s system was kicking into overdrive as he tried not to have a fucking panic attack right then and there in front of them. Oh shit, oh fucking shit. He hoped that Bonnie was wrong, he desperately hoped Bonnie was wrong.
“Dude you okay? You look like you've seen an old lady's tits,” Bonnie asked, though he jokes like he always does, there was a little genuine concern laced in his voice.
Monty plastered on a fake smile to hide his oncoming panic while he backed away towards the door. “Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine. I'm just gonna get my sketchbook from Freddy’s room real quick. So, see ya.” And with that, he practically ran through the door to head over to the bear’s room while the others watched him until the door closed again.
There was a silence for a minute or two between the three of them.
“Something bad is gonna happen after this right,” Bonnie asked, earning silent nods from the other two in the room. He sighed to himself before turning back to the cards,” We'll just let them deal with their problems.”
“Agreed,” Foxy and Gregory said in unison.
Gregory then placed down a draw 4 with a shit-eating grin on his face. Bonnie looked over at the child with a glare.
“You mother fucking bitc- “
__________________________
Shit shit shit
Monty ran over to Freddy's room, his mind filling to the brim with thoughts. He dodged security bots left and right, trying not to run over them because of his panic. They didn't deserve that because of his own dumbass actions.
Of course, he left it in Freddy’s room, he remembered it now. The bear had called him in to discuss what they were going to wear for one of the special concerts that they have every once in a while. It's more of a once-in-a-month thing and they have different themes for each one they do. This one's theme was Superheros and Freddy couldn't decide between being Captain America or Ironman.
Honestly, both of the costumes would've looked absolutely gorgeous on the bear but he didn't voice that thought out at the time. Monty was there just to give some criticism while he drew Freddy in a Captain America suit. It looked more detailed and definitely more defining than the suit actually did.
Eventually, he decided to go with the captain suit and thanked Monty for his help. After that Monty was called suddenly because some kids were waiting outside his room for a picture and were promptly rushed out the door.
He must've dropped the book while one of the security guards was pushing him out of the room without letting him breathe for even a minute. After that, he's been so busy that the incident had slipped his mind.
He hoped that Freddy didn't notice he had left it in there, that would be disastrous.
Once he arrived at his door, the alligator took a breath to calm his nerves so he didn't make a dent on the door to knock on it. He's sure the company wouldn't appreciate that.
He raised a hand and gently knocked on the metal door, the sound vibrated against the door. There wasn't a response at the door, not even a pair of familiar heavy footsteps coming his way to answer. Maybe he left his room?
A glance around the area, he found a lone photo pass lying next to his foot and he hummed. How convenient. He picked it up and placed it against the scanner to be let in and in no time, the door shot open almost immediately.
He flicked the pass and walked into the room, only to freeze at his spot at the door with widened eyes. Freddy looked up suddenly pausing his actions with looking through his fucking sketchbook, his eyes broadened as well.
He was too late, he's a fucking dumbass. His wires sparked up in his panic, causing his hands to glitch and twitch a little more violently. He couldn't move at that moment, he couldn't even move if he tried. Shit, he hoped his gears didn't lock up again. That wouldn't be very ideal.
Oh God, he was even stuck on the picture he drew of Freddy laughing because of some joke that Roxy had told him that day. That one was his favourite because of how real he looked at that moment and how beautiful his laugh was. It lit up his whole face and his eyes grew a brighter blue almost like the sky. He wished he could've captured every detail of that moment.
But it was his to see, no one else could look at it. It was something that belonged to him and only him. Now it was out in the open, his vulnerability and secrets were out for the one person he didn't want to see. And he couldn't deal with that, wouldn't deal with it.
“Monty-” Freddy started before the alligator interrupted him with a shaky hand.
“What the fuck are you doing Fazbear?” He could see Freddy flinch at his tone and he pushed down his sudden guilt rising to his throat. An apology choked him but he didn't let it pass.
“I was just curious,” he answered, looking down with a genuine shame.
“So you look through my stuff without my permission? I told you not to look through it, Freddy,” there was a sob in the back of his throat as he spoke but he swallowed it down.
“I-i know and I'm truly sorry Monty. I guess I let myself get the better of me. But seeing this I wanted to say something-”
“No, I don't wanna hear anything from you right now,” he shot that down as soon as it presented itself. He couldn't deal with this right now, he needed to leave. Like now before he punched something. “Give me back my book.”
Freddy hesitated for a minute, his eyes filled with a sadness that Monty never wanted to see on his face. “But I need to say this-”
“I don't care, Freddy. I just need-”
“But if you could just hear me out-”
“Freddy I don't-”
“Please just listen to me-”
“Freddy-”
“Monty please-”
“Give me back my fucking sketchbook Fazbear,” he growled out, glaring at the stunned bear in front of him. Again that guilt shot up to his throat, choking on his words but he ignored it. He didn't want to yell at him but he guesses that old habits die hard.
Freddy opened his mouth before he sighed, lending the sketchbook over to the alligator, who snatched it out of his hands. It was closed to the front where he could see that stupid smiling bee on the front, taunting him. He wanted to smash that bee.
“Monty- '' Freddy tried one last time but Monty turned away with his back to the bear. He didn't want Freddy to see the stray tears flowing from his eyes as he discretely wiped them off.
“I'm gonna leave now. I'll see you around Freddy,” before the bear could say more, Monty promptly rushed out of the door with tears in his eyes. His mind was racing like it was in a marathon for the gold if the gold was a broken heart and sudden anxiety.
He ruined it. He ruined the one friendship with the person he hoped he wouldn't. It was wishful thinking at best to think this shit wouldn't hit the fan but he thought he could just hide his crush for the rest of his life.
What a fucking idiot he was. Now Freddy knows he liked him and is probably trying to find a way to turn him down. Their friendship wouldn't be the same again, Monty already knows it. It's going to be weird and awkward to hang around the same room again, Freddy’s probably not going to want to be around him anymore.
He stopped by a wall, sliding down it towards the cold floor with his hands to his eyes after he slipped his sunglasses off his face. A sob finally burst its way out of his throat and it felt both relieving and heartwrenching all at once. Alone with only a broken heart.
He ruined everything.