Work Text:
Moon was nearly buzzing from the electric current surging through his body. He was really doing this. He was really going on a date with Sun!
The best part of it was how excited Sun seemed about the idea. The daycare attendant had quickly regained his usual upbeat mood after they’d left the Pizza Plex and was still holding the nightcare attendant’s hand as he led him through the streets. He didn’t really say where they were going, but Moon honestly didn’t care as long as Sun was happy.
“Okay!” Sun looked both ways before leading his partner across the street towards a fenced off area covered in signs. “I know this is a liiiiiitle far for ice-cream, but here we are!”
Moon looked at the signs and the clown-shaped gate, quickly getting an idea of where exactly they were. “A carnival? Huh…yeah, that was kinda far for ice-cream, but sure, it looks like fun.” The bright smile he received for his reassurance nearly triggered a beeping fit in his chest, but the lunar bot managed to mute it before it could start.
“Yeah! It-” Sun paused briefly when they crossed the street to stare at a parked car on the curb. “That car has been there for days..” He quickly shook his head to get back on track and continued leading his night-time counterpart to the gate after stumbling over his words for a second. “-It’s, ah, got-got good ice-cream and stuff!”
Laughing quietly at the endearingly adorable excitement in his crush’s voice, Moon allowed himself to be led to the entrance. “Sounds g-”
To their combined surprise, they found Bonnie and Freddy standing just inside the gate.
Sun’s expression instantly fell the moment he locked eyes with the blue bunny. “Oh no…”
Thankfully, the one to greet them first was Freddy. “Hello~!” The bear walked over to the pair of celestials with two watermelon colored popsicles in his hands. “Welcome to the carnival!”
“Hi, Freddy.” Moon greeted his employee calmly, nodding to Bonnie as well.
The popsicles were handed to them with Freddy’s usual calm smile. “Free popsicles!”
Bonnie watched his coworker from his spot within the gate after nodding back to Moon. “I would like to remind you that if you step outside the premises, you have now lost your ticket.”
“But IIIIIII work here?” Freddy asked while walking back inside.
“Forgot you work here, Freddy.” The sheriff stepped aside to let the other animatronic pass. “My bad, go ahead.”
“Yay~” Smiling, Freddy turned back to his bosses. “Do you have your tickets?”
“Ummm..” It was pretty obvious from the anxious look on Sun’s face that they did not, in fact, have any tickets.
Not wanting his potential-boyfriend to start spiraling and ruin the mood of their date, Moon gave the pale hand still holding his a light squeeze to keep him grounded. “Pretty sure you buy tickets at the carnival, not before you get to the gate.”
“Huh?” The confused daycare attendant blinked twice before his eyes widened and he quickly nodded. “Oh yeah, that’s right!” Smiling again, Sun squeezed the lunar bot’s hand in gratitude before looking at their coworkers. “So, uh, when did you guys take over the carnival?”
“Bryce placed us here for today.” Freddy explained with his usual calm tone.
“Huh?” And Sun was back to looking confused.
“Why did it have to be today..?” Moon mumbled to himself. Out of all the days that Glamrock Freddy and Bonnie could have been left in charge of the carnival that Sun wanted to bring him to for their first date, why did it have to be today?
Ever oblivious (or willfully ignorant, it was hard to tell at times) to his boss’s frustration, Freddy just kept smiling without a care in the world. “I run the carnival~!”
In a stark contrast to the other mammalian animatronic, Bonnie was his usual stern and straight forward self. “Well, I’ll have t’ frisk y’all.” The way he said it while walking towards the solar bot made it clear that it wasn’t a request.
“I mean, I don’t have anything-” Sun looked down at himself and his colorful yet limited attire, likely trying to understand where he could even hide anything dangerous on his person to begin with. That certainly didn’t stop the sheriff from giving him a thorough- and definitely rougher than necessary- pat down, much to the scrawnier animatronic’s obvious discomfort if the series of disjointed sounds and squeals coming out of his voicebox were any indication.
Unphased by both the noises and the way Moon glared him down for the unnecessarily vigorous searching of his partner, Bonnie finished and looked at them expectantly. “Ticket?”
“Uhh..” Still disoriented from the frisking, Sun started to search his meager pockets. “I’ve got-”
“Here’s twenty bucks.” To the sunny animatronic’s surprise, Moon stepped in and handed the bill directly to Bonnie.
“That’ll do.” The rabbit confirmed after pocketing the cash, stepping aside to let the naptime attendant through. “Thanks.”
Grabbing his daytime counterpart’s hand, Moon got all of two steps in before they were stopped once more. “What now?” He was quickly beginning to understand why Sun’s mood soured the moment they spotted Bonnie at the gate- his friend was quickly getting on his nerves.
“Sun doesn’t have a ticket- no ticket, no entry.” The bunny reached for his pistol, making the poor daycare attendant flinch at the bonking beat down that would inevitably ensue.
“Oh, for the love of-!” Much more aggressively than before, Moon pulled out another twenty dollar bill and threw it in Bonnie’s face. “Here! Twenty more dollars! His ticket’s paid for, now back off!”
Still unbothered by his boss’s growing anger, the rabbit simply pocketed the second bill like the first. “I’ll need t’ frisk you, too.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever- just make it quick.” The fact that his pat down was significantly quicker and less aggressive than Sun’s didn’t go unnoticed. Moon would have to talk to Bonnie later about backing off when it came to his possible-future-boyfriend; for now, he just wanted to go inside so they could get some ice-cream and have a good time.
“Welcome to the carnival~!” Stepping in to either fulfill his role or smooth things over (again, it was impossible to tell), Freddy smiled cheerfully and spread his arms out wide as the pair of celestials finally stepped through the gate. “Where would you like to begin?”
Sun glanced around at the various rides and attractions. Now that they were finally inside, the daycare worker felt more than a little out of his depth- neither of the attendants had ever been to a carnival or amusement park before, after all. “Uhhh, weeeell, I don’t know-”
“I will be your personal attendee today.” Freddy declared, looking between the pair in front of him expectantly.
“Why do we need a guide for a carnival?” Moon was…less than enthusiastic about having a third wheel added to their date. “Look, we just want to hang out, get some ice-cream-” Pausing, blue eyes looked at the watermelon colored treat in the hand that wasn’t currently holding his partner’s. “I mean, I guess this counts as ice-cream? Kind of?”
Sun looked at his own popsicle, tilting the sweetened ice back and forth as he carefully considered the proper label for it. “Well, it’s a popsicle, so-”
Freddy perked up instantly with an excited gasps. “You want ice-cream? I can take you to ice-cream!”
Figuring they could at least humor the bear for a little while and then go do their own thing afterwards, Moon reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, that’s why we came here in the first place.”
Clearly eager to fulfill his duties as their “personal carnival attendee” (Moon still questioned why they would need one in the first place), Freddy happily hurried down one of the many paths. “Ice-cream~ Ice-cream~” He sang with a skip in his step that, surprisingly, put him several paces ahead of the other animatronics in an instant.
The daycare duo followed their guide quickly, struggling to keep up with the perpetually carefree bot with how rapidly he outpaced them.
“Yeah. That-That’s, ah- Wh-Where’re we going?” Sun panted despite not needing to breathe, doing his best to keep the bear in his sights as they rounded a corner.
“Geez, he’s fast.” Moon spotted Freddy enter a gray and yellow tent through a back door marked for employees only. Assuming they’d have to deal with Bonnie again if they went the same route, the lunar bot led his partner around to the front of the attraction.
Sure enough, Freddy was waiting for them behind the counter at the mouth of the tent. “If you want ice-cream, you must play the game-” He announced before turning with a flourish, gesturing at the two red structures behind him; each one was a tall, rectangular shape with a square hole in the middle and a sign above each hole that told them to “Throw thru target. win a prize” in what could, generously, be described as a six year old’s best attempt at handwriting. “-and you will win an extra-large ice-cream.” He finished while turning back to face his bosses.
“What do we throw through the thing?” Sun asked curiously when he didn’t see any balls or beanbags on the counter to throw.
“You will throoowwww..” Freddy paused for dramatic effect and rummaged through a chest behind him, presumably for the projectiles they’d need.
Eager to start the game, the sunny animatronic looked at the mammal expectantly. “Yeah??”
“Snowballs!” When he faced them once more, Freddy had two stacks of neatly packed snow in his hands that somehow didn’t melt after leaving their container.
“Snowballs, huh? Sounds easy enough.” Picking up one of the frozen spheres when they were handed to him, Moon looked over the suspiciously solid snow. The scientist in him really wanted to analyze their composition and figure out how they kept their cool temperature while still maintaining a powdery consistency on the outer layer. Maybe he could take a couple back to his lab and run some tests later.
“Sixteen snowballs.” Freddy directed their attention with a sweeping hand gesture moving from the counter towards the structures behind him. “You must get four through the hole for your extra-large ice-cream~!”
“Alright, let’s do this.” As soon as Freddy stepped out of the way, Moon let loose with his first snowball. Unfortunately, it clipped the edge and burst into flurries that quickly evaporated- making him even more curious about what they were made of. “Dang it, missed..”
“Don’t worry, Moon, I know you’ll get the next one!” Sun cheered him on with that bright smile of his that warmed Moon’s artificial heart.
Feeling encouraged, he threw another and it actually made it through the hole. “Yes! Got it!”
“That’s it, Moony!” The solar bot clapped for him then pumped his fist in the air. “Three more to go!”
Moon grinned and threw a few more snowballs in quick succession. While the first one missed, the other two flew straight through with ease. “That’s three, right?”
“Yep, that was three.” Nodding, Sun watched with excited anticipation. “One more left! I believe in you, Moon!”
After hearing that, Moon didn’t even care if he got any ice-cream. Having his long-time crush cheering him on with genuine enthusiasm was a greater reward than any sweet could ever be. He was floating on cloud nine, aimlessly tossing snowballs until-
“Oh! That was four!” Freddy suddenly announced. Jumping over to stand in front of the surprised nightcare attendant, he clapped his hands and confetti burst out from somewhere in the tent above him. “Hooray! You win an extra-large ice-cream!”
“Woah.” Moon blinked, still in shock that he’d somehow gotten all four through without paying attention. “I won?”
“You won!” Sun grabbed his stunned date’s free hand with a smile that was practically beaming from how happy he was for his nighttime counterpart. “See? I told you you could do it!”
Feeling his cooling fans cut on, Moon grinned bashfully and laughed a little. “Yeah, you did. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sun.”
“You’re welcome, Moony!” Still smiling, the daycare attendant picked up his own snowballs. After letting go of his date’s hand, Sun began firing them through the hole on his own structure one right after the other. In mere seconds, he’d easily tossed the majority of his stack through the target like it was nothing.
Moon, briefly distracted by Freddy’s question about his preferred ice-cream, was left stunned once again at the sight of so many snowballs sinking through the hole. “How the- I, uh, I think Sun just won, too.” He stared at his hopefully-future-boyfriend in absolute wonder. “How the heck did you do that??”
“I dunno. I guess I’m just a good shot!” Sun shrugged as he casually tossed the last of his snowballs through the target.
“That’s hot.” The words left Moon’s voicebox before he could stop them. As soon as he realized his mistake and heard the beeping in his chest start up, the normally cool and collected animatronic started tripping over his own words to think of an excuse or distraction. “I-I mean-uh, that’s-uh-!” Looking around, he noticed Freddy still waiting to take his order and jumped at the opportunity to change the subject. “So, uhhh, ice-cream! Right! I’ll have…uh..!”
While Moon tried to think of any possible flavor to order, Bonnie made his presence known and approached the pair of celestials. Unsurprisingly to all involved, he spoke to Sun first. “Put the extra snowballs down.” He ordered, circling the now anxious daycare attendant. “Where they at? Where’d ya put ‘em?”
Sun’s earlier confidence rapidly deflated as he was grilled by the sheriff. “I-I don’t ha-”
“Where’d ya put ‘em?” The rabbit repeated his question more firmly, one hand reaching for his iconic pistol slowly. “Extra snowballs. Put ‘em down. Where they at?!”
“He doesn’t have any!” Moon once again came to his date’s rescue, surprising the sunny animatronic when the lunar one stepped between him and Bonnie. “He threw all sixteen, I counted.” Not wanting to give the unreasonably aggressive bunny an excuse to bother them further, Moon handed over the extra snowballs he’d been hoping to experiment on later. “There. That’s all the snowballs. Now back off.” The low, warning tone in his voice made it clear that he was not in the mood to repeat himself.
Thankfully Bonnie collected the snowballs and walked away without another word, Moon glaring daggers at him the whole time. If this pattern kept up, he was going to have pull his friend aside and set some firm boundaries in place; he was not going to sit by and risk this date being ruined over something that wasn’t even his fault.
“Um..th-thank you…” Sun’s surprisingly quiet voice brought Moon’s attention back to his partner. Though he was still a little twitchy from the aggressive encounter he’d just endured, there was a small but genuine smile on the solar bot’s face.
Once again, Moon felt a warm jolt of electricity surge through his body. With a bashful smile of his own, the lunar animatronic tried to shrug the whole ordeal off. “Yeah, uh, don’t mention it- he was being a jerk, anyway.” Remembering what he’d been doing before Bonnie’s untimely interruption, Moon got an idea as he looked back at the bear still patiently awaiting his decision. “Hey, Freddy, you got any rainbow swirl flavors back there?”
Reaching into a cooler beneath the counter, Freddy handed his boss a colorfully striped popsicle. “One rainbow popsicle!”
Moon took the offered treat and looked it over with the slightest frown. “I thought we were getting ice-cream, not more pop-”
“And one extra-large rainbow swirl ice-cream!” Before he even had a chance to finish his complaint, Freddy produced a large waffle cone topped with three generous scoops of pink, green, and orange swirled ice-cream.
“Oooh, that looks super tasty!” Sun looked the colorful swirls over with eyes that were practically sparkling with excitement. “What do I win?”
Freddy turned his attention to the other celestial. “What flavor would you like?”
“Uhhh..” The sunny animatronic thought his options over carefully. “You got sherbet?”
Looking under the counter again, Freddy rummaged through the cooler and red the various labels carefully. “How do you spell sherbet?” After taking a moment to hear Sun spell it out, the bear checked the labels again. “Uhh..no.”
Sun’s expectant smile instantly fell, his voice losing all the excitement it held a moment ago. “Just vanilla’s fine, I guess…”
“Checking, and-” Freddy searched the packages again briefly. “We don’t have vanilla.”
The daycare attendant’s glum mood only worsened. “What do you mean you don’t have vanilla??” How could they possibly be out of the most basic, fundamental flavor of ice-cream in existence? EVERYONE that sold ice-cream had vanilla!
“We don’t have vanilla.” The bear repeated calmly. “We’re out.”
Moon, who’d been watching the interaction with a confused look on his face, glanced at the cone in his hand then back to Sun’s despondent frown. “Hey, Freddy, do you have any more of the rainbow swirl flavor?” When his crush gave him a questioning glance, the nightcare attendant whispered to him. “Just go with it, trust me.”
“Let me check!” One more quick rummage through the freezer resulted in the carnival worker shaking his head yet again. “No, that was the last one.”
“You got any strawberry or orange ice-cream?” The night-themed animatronic asked, hoping his plan would work.
“I think soooo-” Freddy looked one last time and, thankfully, he smiled and produced both an orange popsicle as well as a large cone topped with a sizable swirl of orange & white soft-serve ice-cream. “Yes! We have orange creamsicle!”
Relieved that his guess had worked (and that he wouldn’t have to resort to asking for chocolate), Moon handed his own multicolored popsicle and ice-cream to Sun. “Then I’ll take those and Sun can have mine.”
No sooner were the treats in the yellow bot’s pale hands than Bonnie’s stern voice shouted to them from halfway across the carnival grounds. “NO SHARING!” The celestials jumped, spotting the rabbit by one of the tents in the distance. “It’s against the rules!”
“How is it against the rules?” Almost instinctively, Sun clutched his sweets protectively and hid himself ever so slightly behind his nighttime counterpart. Knowing his luck, the surly sheriff would storm over any second to bonk him on the head and smack the treats right out of his hands.
“He won that, not you!” The bunny’s reasoning made no sense- something that pissed the logic-driven lunar model off just as much as his friend’s constant interference.
“It’s my ice-cream, I can do what I want with it! If I want to share it with my date, then I can! Heck, I can throw it on the ground and stomp on it if I want because it’s my freaking ice-cream!” Moon snapped at his friend (though that term was becoming more strained the longer his patience was tested). “Also, your rule’s a load of $%!#. We both won, so what difference does it make who gets which ice-cream?! It’s not like I’m giving it to someone that didn’t even play the game! So take your stupid made-up rule and shove it!!” Taking his new ice-cream and popsicle from Freddy in one hand, Moon grabbed the other celestial’s wrist firmly but gently and led him to a nearby bench. “Come on, Sun, let’s eat before I end up smashing this cone in Bonnie’s face and stabbing him with the popsicle stick…”
“Um, o-okay..” Stunned yet again by his partner’s protectiveness, Sun allowed himself to be dragged over and placed on the bench. Once they were both seated- and after the irritated scientist had been given a minute to grumble a few muffled swears while biting aggressively into his orange popsicle to calm down- the solar bot looked at the other hesitantly. “Uhhh…Moon?”
“Hmh?” Blue eyes kept track of the bunny animatronic’s location constantly, making sure he didn’t come close and try anything.
“Why’d you give me your ice-cream?” He asked, looking over the brightly colored swirls on each scoop that were just beginning to show signs of melting. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s really pretty and I like rainbows as much as the next guy, but-”
“Try it.” Moon cut him off. Figuring that Bonnie was done antagonizing them for a few seconds, the lunar model gestured to the cone in the solar one’s hands.
“Uhhh, okaaayyy?” Still confused, Sun took a small lick of the ice-cream he’d been given. Almost instantly, his eyes lit up and he gasped when the flavor spread across his taste-sensors. “It’s sherbet?!” He began eagerly licking up any stray drips from the edges of the cone, looking even happier than when he’d won the game a few minutes ago.
“Yep.” Laughing quietly, Moon’s previously frustrated expression couldn’t help but soften at the sight of his crush looking so purely, innocently happy as he thoroughly enjoyed his treat. “Most of the time, rainbow swirled ice-creams are just multiple flavors of sherbet mixed together.”
“Really? I didn’t know that!” Sun gave his date the biggest, brightest smile ever, swirls of pink and green staining the corners of his mouth. “Thanks for the ice-cream, Moony- it’s sooooo good!”
“Don’t mention it. Like I said, you won, too- you deserve it just as much as me.” Relieved that the mood had been restored, Moon started in on his own ice-cream while keeping the popsicle stick close by. If it came down to it, he was still completely on board with the idea of stabbing Bonnie should the need arise. “I still can’t believe how good of a shot you were- you made it look so easy.”
“Aww, thanks!” The sunny animatronic’s rays gave a happy little wiggle from the praise. It was probably one of the cutest things Moon had ever seen, but he somehow managed to keep that to himself for the time being. “It was pretty easy. I just pulled my arm back and-”
And just like that, the two celestials were talking freely in a way they hadn’t really gotten the chance to since their initial activation. Sure, Sun did the majority of the speaking, but Moon joined in to ask questions or laugh quietly from time to time at the animated ways his crush explained things. For once, though, the laughter was at what the solar bot was saying rather than at Sun himself- and not in a mean, condescending way either! Moon was genuinely happy just to sit with his fellow daycare worker, eat ice-cream, and let the conversation flow freely between the two of them. It left them both with a warm feeling in their chests and made them wonder why they hadn’t done this sooner.
Once they were done with their treats and Sun, ever the clean-freak, threw away their trash, Freddy walked over and smiled at his bosses. “Would you like to ride on the carousel?” He asked while gesturing to the aforementioned ride a few feet away from them.
“Uhhh, sure?” Sun stepped up to the oddly constructed carousel, Moon following close behind. While he’d never seen a carousel in person, he was pretty sure they were supposed to have animals or carriages or other things to sit on while the ride moved, judging by the few times he’d seen them in a movie or a storybook. This carousel looked more like a few mine-carts set atop tiny hills covered in railroad tracks with a colorful roof overhead and a red pillar in the middle. “I just don’t know exactly how to ride on the carousel?”
Moon looked the carts and tracks over with the keen eye of an engineer. Noting the disconnected areas of track in some areas and awkward end pieces with no blockers to keep the carts in place on others, it was pretty easy to tell that this thing wasn’t going to make a full loop even once. “Yeah, this isn’t structurally sound. We’ll probably fall off after two seconds.”
“Is this-” Seeing as he trusted his fellow celestial animatronic’s scientific skills and knowledge more than his own, Sun hesitated to get on the ride and actually took a step back from it. “Is this ride operational??”
“There’s no way that thing’s safe.” The scientist muttered, half to himself and half to his date, after looking the tracks over once more for any signs of magic that could possibly make the carts move past the end of their tracks.
“It will be!” Freddy declared with full confidence.
Sun looked at his partner for confirmation and, reluctantly, Moon gave a half-hearted shrug. “I mean…even if we fall, it’s not like we’ll get hurt. The carts are two feet off the ground, tops.”
“If you think so, I guess it’ll be fine.” The sunny bot tried his best to sound as confident as his smile made him look. “We can just-just get on the ride. It’s probably fine!”
“It’ll be fine, Sun, don’t worry.” Moon shrugged again and walked up to the nearest mine-cart.
Since the carts weren’t big enough to fit two full-sized (though still much smaller than they used to be) animatronics, they each got into their own cart and took a seat. As soon as they were ready, Freddy threw the switch to activate the ride and began skipping around the carousel while loudly & joyfully singing a classic fairground tune.
Sun’s cart moved first, slowly tipping forward and going down the track in front of it. “Oh! Oh! Wai-Wai-Wait-!” His panic stopped almost immediately as, true to Moon’s prediction, the mine-cart didn’t even last two seconds before it came to the end of its track and fell gently onto the patch of grass in front of it.
Then, with Freddy still singing as he skipped around the outer ring of the carousel, Moon’s cart did the same and ended up sliding to a stop right in front of Sun’s. “…Huh…”
“I don’t think this ride’s working..” The solar bot said quietly to his lunar counterpart after the singing bear passed by them again.
“Definitely not..” Moon got up from his cart and climbed out. Once he was free, he offered his hand to Sun and helped him to his feet so they could leave the carousel together.
Right on cue, the carnival worker finished another lap just as the daycare attendant was standing up. “Freddy, I don’t think the ride’s working-”
“Carousel done!” Freddy shouted after singing the last notes of his song.
“That was the carousel? You run in a circle??” Sun asked with a slightly annoyed look as he watched his coworker walk away.
“Kind of lame.” Moon grumbled as they stepped over the ring around the ride and back out onto the main path. “Not Freddy’s fault, though- pretty sure he didn’t make any of this.”
“Yeah, yeah. He…yeah..” Though he wasn’t any happier with the whole experience, Sun couldn’t exactly argue with his partner on that one- Freddy was just trying his best with what he was given to work with.
“How about we try..” Looking around for something else they could do, Moon took a mental inventory of all the possible rides and attractions. “Ferris wheel? Hmm, maybe later- we can do that when we need a break. How about-”
“Target range?” Sun pointed to a booth along the path ahead with a big bullseye sign above it.
Not seeing a reason to say no (and maybe secretly wanting to marvel at Sun’s crazy good aim again), Moon let him take the lead and the pair made their way to the attraction. To the naptime animatronic’s dismay, though, a certain gunslinging rabbit was already standing by the counter.
“Stand back.” Bonnie said calmly to his coworker.
Freddy, who’d been standing directly behind his friend, took a few steps back to give the blue bunny some space. “Okay.”
As soon as he was free to move, Bonnie opened fire with his pistol at the targets. While he did end up hitting all of the bullseyes, he also took several shots to hit each one- something that Sun was quick to point out.
“Buddy, you’re missing like- That’s like, 40% accuracy.” Bonnie hit the last target and turned slowly to look at the celestial who dared to critique his marksmanship, pistol still raised and now pointed directly at him. Instantly, Sun began to panic and instinctively stepped closer to Moon. “I-I’m sorry-! What’re you trying to-! Y-You can’t take an insult?!”
With anger clearly radiating off of the sheriff, Bonnie turned back to the counter. “Rest the targets, Freddy!” The bear instantly hopped over the counter and manually flipped over each bullseye with surprising speed & efficiency. “This time I’ll open my eyes!”
“Wait, you had your eyes closed?” Despite their earlier tension, Moon couldn’t help but find that feat fairly impressive.
Once each target was flipped back to its starting position, Freddy jumped up onto the counter. “If you would like a turn, I do in fact have-” He pulled a bow & some arrows out and handed them over to Sun.
“Sure, I’ll take a turn.” Moon was also passed a bow and arrow set.
“100%!” Freddy shouted to the sky enthusiastically as he ran back to hit the switch for the target range.
While they waited for the carnival attendee to start the game, Bonnie took the opportunity to turn back to his brighter colored boss and stare him down menacingly. “Don’t you ever, ever doubt me again.”
Sun shook and nodded his head quickly, not wanting to give the already agitated bunny a reason to attack him again. “O-Okay.”
Moon glared after the retreating form of his friend. Dang it- every time he got his date in a good mood again, Bonnie had to do or say something to ruin it again. “Like we’re supposed to see your eyes through the glasses..” He grumbled just loud enough for only Sun to hear.
Freddy flipped the switch and returned to his spot at the counter. “If you would like to take a turn, go ahead.”
Looking to cheer his potential-boyfriend up, Moon gave the sunny animatronic’s back an encouraging pat. “I think I’ll go second- Sun’s got this one.”
“Oh, o-okay.” Managing a small smile from the encouragement, Sun loaded the first arrow and fired.
To Moon’s delighted amazement, the daycare attendant’s aim with a bow & arrow was just as good as it was with a snowball. One after another, the targets flipped over from a direct hit with only two extra shots needed to hit the first eleven bullseyes perfectly.
“Yeah! You’ve got it, Sun!” Moon cheered his crush on enthusiastically, Freddy providing extra excited cheers to keep the daycare attendant hyped as he shot the second to last target. “Come on, one more! You’ve-!” Before he even finished, the last arrow flew through the air and hit the final target. “You got it!”
“Yaaaaaaayyyy!” Just like the last game, Freddy clapped his hands and confetti burst into the air from somewhere within the booth.
Feeling proud of himself, Sun smiled bashfully and turned to face his date. “Wow, that was like, the only other thing I did kind of good, actually..”
“Heck yeah, you did!” Moon grinned back at him, relieved to see that adorable smile back where it belonged on the brighter bot’s face. Loading up his own bow & arrow, the lunar animatronic looked at the targets and readied a shot with one eye closed to help with his aim. “Think I’ll give it a try now- just don’t laugh when I miss half of them.”
Focused as he was on the game, Moon failed to notice Freddy still walking around and setting up targets on the half of the game on the side he could no longer see.
“I don’t know if you should draw your b-” Sun, however, didn’t miss the bear still walking around behind the bullseyes and began to freak out more with each stray arrow that missed its target but hit the clueless carnival worker instead. “Woah! Wait! Moon! Moon!!” To his surprise, the happily singing bear just kept walking despite having at least three arrows sticking out of his body.
When he jumped back over the counter, Moon finally noticed what Sun had been panicking about and his eyes widened. “Oh. Uhhhhhhh…my bad?”
Sun stared in disbelief at the bear animatronic who, somehow, seemed perfectly fine even with his blatantly obvious injuries. “…Freddy, are you made of, like, arrow repellent materials??”
“Yes.” The ever cheerful glamrock answered with his usual calm smile and a nod.
Before he had a chance to fully process that new bit of information, Sun spotted a familiar blue figure looming nearby and felt his anxiety skyrocket yet again. “Heeeeyyy, Bonnie.”
The sheriff walked up to his coworker, standing beside the bear while clearly glaring daggers at the sunny animatronic. “Are you trying to shoot Freddy, Sun?”
Yep, looks like the anxiety was fully warranted. “I-I-I didn’t shoot Freddy.”
Bonnie took a few steps closer, never taking his eyes off of the now trembling daycare attendant. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I mean..” Sun somehow managed to squeak out despite his frazzled nerves. “I-I didn’t shoot ‘im..”
“Seriously?!” Moon turned to stare at the sheriff with a potent mixture of anger and incredulity. “Are you f#$%ing BLIND?! He isn’t even playing anymore! Now back the f#$% off before I make your hat the final target!”
It was impossible to tell from behind his sunglasses exactly what expression Bonnie was making, if any, but his voice dropped to a quieter, more monotone pitch as he watched his boss turn back to the game and angrily fire off a few arrows to hit the last two targets. “…Hm, he has problems…”
Looking to break the tension (and avoid getting caught in the crossfire between the two blue animatronics), Sun looked across the booth with a strained smile. “So what do we get as a prize, Freddy?”
“What would you like as a prize?” The carnival attendee asked while resetting the targets. “Would you like a plushie?”
Sun thought the offer over before nodding a little. “Uh okay, sure, I’ll take a plushie-”
“Do you still have the bow and arrow?!” An angry voice suddenly shouted from behind the solar and lunar bots. Poor Sun barely had half a second to turn back around before he saw Bonnie rapidly approaching. “Drop it! Drop it on the ground, Sun! Drop it on the ground right now!! Drop it on the ground!!” Predictably, he didn’t pay any mind to the cowering daycare attendant’s repeated cries of ‘I’m sorry!’ as he immediately did what he was told and surrendered the bow with all of his remaining arrows. “I’m watching you.” That ominous threat was the last thing he said to the scared celestial before walking away.
Enraged blue eyes looked between the cowering animatronic and the retreating figure of the sheriff. “Get whatever you want, Sun- I’ll be right back.” Moon stormed off after his barely-even-a-friend-at-this-point and, as soon as they were around the corner of the booth and out of sight, he let his full fury slip. “HEY!”
“Hm?” Bonnie stopped and turned to his boss, not looking bothered by the clearly angry nightcare attendant’s tone or posture. “Whattaya want?”
“What do I want?!” He repeated incredulously, stepping right up to the other animatronic. “I want you to stop ruining my date! Seriously, what is your problem?! I get that you and Foxy like to pick on Sun, but this is just stupid, petty, bully in a bad 80’s high school movie BULL $H!+!”
Even with the fuming lunar bot getting right in his face, the bunny animatronic didn’t so much as flinch. “Sir, I am just doin’ my job as security to-”
“Cut the B.S.!” Moon snapped at his coworker. “You’re obviously singling out Sun and tormenting him literally any chance you get!” To prove his point, blue & white hands held out the bow & arrows he’d yet to turn in. “If you were ‘just doin’ yer job’-” They both ignored how awful his attempt at a mocking southern accent sounded. “-then why didn’t you ask for mine, too?”
“……” Bonnie was quiet for a long, tense moment. Then, without a word, he took the equipment that was still being held out expectantly and tucked it away.
Although he was still very, very frustrated, Moon closed his eyes and pretended to take a breath to calm himself down. Two blue tipped fingers came up to pinch the area of his faceplate that would constitute the bridge of his nose had it been real. “Look, Bonnie, you’re my friend. So I’m asking you, as a friend, to please lay off of Sun, okay?” When he lowered his hand and opened his eyes again, he gave the other animatronic the saddest, most sincere, pleading look he could muster. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this. I need this date to go well. Please.”
“……” Again, Bonnie remained quiet. Although he didn’t answer, Moon could’ve sworn he saw the corner of the bunny animatronic’s mouth quirk downward in the slightest trace of a frown, though it could’ve just as easily been wishful thinking.
The prolonged silence wiped the pleading look right off of Moon’s face and replaced it with a scowl. “Fine. I see how it is.” Turning away, the night themed bot’s voice was laced with barely restrained rage. “If you lay a single hand on Sun, I’ll knock your buck-teeth out.” And, with that threat delivered, he walked back to the front of the booth.
Still silently fuming to himself, the nightcare attendant was at least relieved to see a bright, beaming smile on the daycare worker’s face when he returned. Sun was chatting with Freddy while happily hugging a yellow cow plushie that resembled a moo-bloom they’d seen once during an experimentation video. When he noticed his partner’s arrival, the sunny bot turned that radiant smile in his direction. “Moon! Check it out!” He held the stuffed cow up as if it would help him see it better. “Isn’t she just the cutest little baby in the whole wide world?!”
Moon felt his anger and agitation melt away in the face of his crush’s adorable behavior. “Yeah, she looks extra squishy.” To his surprise, the brighter bot reached behind himself and pulled out a slightly larger plushie shaped like an iron golem. “What’s that for?”
“It’s for you, silly!” Sun placed the stuffed animal in his date’s hands, letting the lunar animatronic look over all the little details that had been carefully stitched into it. “You got all the targets, too, so we both got to pick out a plushie. But you weren’t here, so Freddy showed me aaaalllllll of the different plushies and I saw that one and I just knew you’d like it! I know how much you like all of your complicated sciency stuff and golems are pretty sciency, too, right? So it’s perfect for you!”
“……” Big blue eyes stared down at the plush golem. After a moment, though, they began to tear up and the blue hands holding it trembled slightly.
Instantly, Sun’s smile fell and he began to panic. “Wha-? I-Is something wrong with it? Do you not like it?” He gasped for air he didn’t actually need, his thoughts quickly spiraling as they tended to at any perceived negativity. “Oh NO! I picked the wrong one, didn’t I?! You-You hate it, don’t you?! I knew I should’ve gone with the warden instead! Ohhh, stupid, stupid-!”
“I love it.” The surprisingly soft tone from the normally callous nighttime animatronic was enough to break the spiraling Sun out of his self-deprecating rant. When he looked at Moon, he was shocked to see the sweetest, most loving smile on the other celestial’s faceplate that had probably ever been flashed at him. “Sorry I got quiet. I just..well, you know I suck at emotions. Guess I got kinda, I dunno, overwhelmed? Think that’s the right word. Anyway, I really like it. Thanks, Sun.”
“…Oh…” Sun…honestly liked that smile. He really liked it. “Uh, yeeaahhhh. Y-You’re, uh, you’re welcome. Okay, uhhh-” Looking around for a distraction from the feelings he wasn’t quite ready to process yet, the sunny bot spotted the nearest ride and pointed at it with his free hand. “Oh! What about the Ferris wheel?”
“The Ferris wheeeeel~!” Freddy shouted with excitement, already skipping to the aforementioned ride. “You can go on the Ferris wheel.”
“Uhh, okay..” Sun and Moon followed close behind, putting their plushies away for the time being so they wouldn’t lose them.
“Go on inside.” The carnival worker instructed as he stepped into the small control room near the wheel’s bottom pod. After giving the switch inside a brief check, Freddy quickly took his place beside the glass edge of the pod’s walls. “You must jump inside.” He gave them a quick demonstration before jumping back out and returning to the control room.
“There is no way this is up to any kind of code.” Moon commented as he jumped over the edge and into the pod. He then held his hand out for Sun to make sure he got inside without falling.
The sunny bot gladly took the offered hand with a grateful smile and jumped in, looking around at the lack of proper seats or safety railing other than the glass half-walls around them. “I-I-It just feels like a safety hazard, Freddy..”
Rather than answer them, Freddy flipped the switch in the control room and began singing another peppy carnival tune. To neither celestial animatronic’s surprise, the Ferris wheel didn’t move at all- the switch simply opened and closed the door to the room repeatedly while the singing bear stepped side to side in a poor attempt at mimicking the wheel’s intended circular motion.
“Seriously?” Moon rolled his eyes. He’d actually kind of been looking forward to the Ferris wheel. It was supposed to be one of the classic romantic rides couples always went on during a date (second only to the notorious Tunnel of Love) so they could cuddle up to one another and enjoy a breathtaking view all to themselves. With the ride stationary and Freddy staring straight at them from the control room, however, that certainly wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
“I don’t think this thing’s working..” Sun looked equally disappointed by the lack of motion. Why even have these rides if they didn’t do anything?
In even less time than the carousel, Freddy finished his song and walked out of the control room. “Ferris wheel done.”
“Wha-? Uh, okay??” Sun was more confused than disappointed by the time their “ride” ended. “I don’t think any of these rides are supposed to move or work..”
“Yeah, and it’s the dumbest idea anyone’s ever had.” Moon huffed as he jumped over the glass wall again, helping his date do the same. “Seriously, who ever heard of a stationary carnival?”
“I have no idea..” As they exited the ride, Sun looked around for their guide and spotted him by some stone steps. “Freddy?”
The bear animatronic jumped slightly and looked back at them. “What?”
“The heck is this?” Moon asked as he walked up to the strange metal and stone structure sitting in the middle of the path.
“Oh, that’s the control panel.” Freddy answered calmly.
“Control panel??” Sun blinked and looked up the steps to the platform above curiously.
Surprising absolutely no one, Moon’s scientific curiosity was instantly piqued and he went up the stairs without even asking for permission- Sun following close behind to get a better view as well. At the top, he found several signs by different button and began examining them. “Ferris wheel control?” He gave the button by that sign a push then looked to the ride beside them, but it remained motionless. “Huh…is it just broken, or-?”
“SUUUUUUNNN!”
The animatronic in question jumped at the unfortunately familiar call of his name and looked around in a panic. “Wha-What?!” Both daycare workers spotted the blue bunny sprinting towards them at top speed, clearly intending to tackle Sun judging by the attack names he was calling out. “What did I do?! What did I do?!!”
Thankfully, Moon was quick to put himself between the two other animatronics at the top of the stairs, forcing Bonnie to stop before he could reach his target. Instead, he just fumed and glared at the solar bot over his lunar counterpart’s shoulder. “You broke the ride, didn’t you?!”
Sun, grateful for his partner’s intervention yet again, took a few steps back to make sure the security guard couldn’t reach him. “I didn’t touch anything!”
Bonnie chose to ignore his words and attempted to step around his boss, to no avail. “You broke the ride, didn’t you?!!!”
“I didn’t touch anything!!” Sun defended himself yet again. Seriously- why was everything always his fault?!
“Your stupid ride was already broken!” Moon snapped at the sheriff while giving him a light shove to push him back down the stairs. “I pushed the button and it didn’t even do anything! Maybe you should try fixing your F#%$ING rides before going off on people?!”
Deterred in his attempts at self-righteous violence for now, Bonnie stared right at Sun as he backed away. “I’m watchin’ you, Sun.”
In either another example of his oblivious nature or a subtle attempt to distract from the unpleasant encounter (it was honestly a 50-50 shot at this point), Freddy started walking down the trail. “Let me take you to the next place!”
“Okay…” Sun sighed, sounding less than enthusiastic this time as he followed his coworker.
Moon glared after Bonnie for a moment before catching up to his date. “Hey,” He grabbed the sunny bot’s pale hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Do you want to keep going? We can leave if you’re not having fun.”
Blinking, Sun stopped for a moment and stared at his nighttime counterpart in disbelief- as if the thought never even occurred to him. “We…We can..?”
The lunar bot nodded with a look that he hoped conveyed how sincere he was. “I want you to have a good time. We already got our ice-cream, so we can go whenever you want.”
“Oh…” Sun stared at him for a while longer before looking down to give the offer some serious thought. “I..I-I mean…it’s not that bad…at least when Bonnie’s not around..” A brief scowl flickered over his face at the rabbit’s name, but he quickly dismissed it when he looked down at their entwined hands. “B-Besides, you already payed for both of us and we haven’t been here that long- we should see the rest of the carnival.”
Moon stared at his long-time-crush for a while before, with a reluctant sigh, he nodded. “If that’s what you want, then fine.” He gave the other animatronic’s pale hand another squeeze to get his attention. One he had it, the darker bot winked at his date with a small smile. “And, for the record, forty bucks isn’t that big of a loss. Not when it’s for you.”
Was his delivery a little silly and sappy? Sure.
Did that stop Sun from giving a shy smile right back and laughing softly at the other’s sweet words? Not at all.
“What happened to you sucking at emotions?” The joke got a genuine laugh out of both celestial animatronics.
Further up the path, Freddy finished whatever hushed conversation he’d been having with Bonnie and turned to face his bosses with a bright smile. “Let me take you both to Death Mountain!”
Both daycare workers gave him a confused look and Moon tried to look around for the mentioned attraction. “Death Mountain..?”
“Is that ride gonna run or..?” Sun asked in a quiet voice when he noticed Bonnie staring him down.
“We do have a panda exhibit.” Freddy offered as an alternative, stopping to gesture towards one of the large tents. “Would you like to go see the pandas or would you like to go to Death Mountain?”
“I-I d-b-uh-” Holding tighter to his partner’s hand, Sun could feel himself getting nervous again under the sheriff’s stern gaze. “Moon, you-you choose-”
Bonnie stepped closer, glaring dagger at the stuttering sun themed bot. “Don’t try anything funny.”
Sun’s nervousness finally boiled over into frustration, causing him to snap at the blue bunny who refused to back off. “I can’t even do anything funny!”
Moon kept himself situated firmly between the two, eyeing his coworker with a warning glare. “We’ll check out the pandas if you get out of our faces- otherwise, we’re just gonna leave.”
Once again, it was impossible to tell if Freddy was just oblivious or trying to dissolve the tense situation as he stepped right into the middle of the heated stare down between the two blue animatronics. “Bonnie, you wanna take us to the panda exhibit?”
This time, Bonnie backed away much more calmly and started walking down the path as if nothing at all had transpired between him and his bosses. “It’s in the main tent.”
“Okay, main tent.” Freddy followed his fellow carnival worker, the other animatronics keeping a greater distance from the aggressive rabbit for the time being as they all headed to the large red & white striped tent in the distance.
“Until the main tent’s attraction is ready to go, we put pandas in there instead.” Bonnie explained calmly as he led the way up the path to the tent’s entrance.
Moon shrugged one shoulder and continued to hold his date’s hand as they walked inside. “Good way to use the space, I guess..”
“Ignore the mounted bear head on the wall.” Naturally, both celestials turned their heads to look at the bear head- it was hard not to stare seeing as it was situated atop what looked like an altar of some kind overlooking a hole between the two spacious enclosures on either side of the tent. Thankfully, Bonnie didn’t take it as another excuse to beat up Sun for no reason.
Ever excited to do his job, Freddy started jumping around the spacious tent. “Welcome to the panda exhibit!” When Moon tried to peer over the stones lining the edge of the large hole and get a look inside, the carnival worker was quick to jump in the hole himself to block the nightcare attendant’s gaze. “We don’t talk about this. Please back up.” He jumped to the joining edge of the hole when he noticed Sun trying to do the same thing, hopping up and down repeatedly with each utterance of his request. “Please back up. Please back up. Please back up.”
“O-O-Okay.” Sun did as he was told and backed away from the oddly placed hole in the ground. The movement put him right beside the cage/enclosure full of pandas, easily distracting him from his curiosity. “Pandas!” He spotted a tiny bear and couldn’t help but coo over the adorable sight. “They have a baby! Oh, it’s on their back!”
Moon watched his crush with a fond smile. It was impossible to get over how adorable Sun looked whenever he started fawning over cute things. “They seem pretty tame. You could probably pet one, if you wanted.”
The excited, bewildered gasp Sun let out and the way his eye practically sparkled with wonder was even more adorable. “Really?!”
“Yeah, I don’t see why not.” Circling the enclosure, Moon tried to look for any gaps in the bars big enough for them to safely reach through. To his frustration, however, there were no holes wide enough for their hands to slip into without getting stuck. “Hmmm…maybe we should just go inside.”
“I don’t know if we should go in, Moon.” Sun, who’d been following the lunar bot around the cage, looked slightly less excited by the idea. “I mean, they’re still bears, after all.”
Moon shrugged off his date’s concern as he poked and prodded at the different bars to see which ones could possibly be part of the door. “Sure, but we’re machines. What’re they gonna do- bite us? Pretty sure that’d hurt them more than us.”
“Hnhhh…” A distressed, uncertain noise from the solar animatronic drew his attention back to the daycare attendant.
When he saw the look on his partner’s face, Moon quickly began to second guess himself. Sun had made it clear earlier that he’d leave if he didn’t feel valued and respected during their date, so why was Moon arguing with him and trying to make him do something he clearly didn’t want to do?
Some habits were hard to break, he supposed.
“On second thought, you’re right- better not aggravate them.” Instantly, Moon could see the light returning to Sun’s eyes and it made him feel more confident in his choice. “Maybe we can ask Freddy if-” Subconsciously, the nightcare attendant had begun to lean against the bars he’d previously been prodding at. To his surprise, they swung open without warning and he fell through the apparently-unsecured-door to the enclosure. “Ahh-!”
“Moon!” Sun was quick to run inside and check on his fallen companion, looking him over for injuries. “A-Are you okay?!”
With a groan that was more annoyed than pained, Moon sat up and rubbed his head. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. They really need a lock on that thing.”
“Yeah! That seems really, really, really-” Sun’s rambling stopped before it could really start as he looked up and realized he was face to face with one of the panda’s. It tilted its head curiously at the pair of animatronics in its pen and, despite his earlier worries about trespassing in the enclosure, the sunny bot couldn’t help but coo fondly at the adorableness of it all. “Awwww, they’re so cute~!"
Moon looked at the bears as well and couldn’t help sharing his brighter counterpart’s sentiment- they were undeniably adorable. “And pretty docile, too.” When one of them came closer and gave the blue animatronic a curious sniff, he held out his hand to show he meant no harm and let it smell his palm until it was satisfied. “Sorry we barged in, buddy.”
Unable to resist the temptation, Sun held out his own hand and let one of the babies sniff him, too. It made the cutest little attempt at a sound before bopping his hand with its forehead. Taking that as an invitation to pet it, Sun had to muffle his squeal of delight as his pale digits stroked over the fluffy fur. “Ohhh, you’re so soft! Just a big, soft, fluffy baby bear, aren’t you~? Yes you are~ Oooh, yes you are~”
While Moon laughed softly and gazed with absolute adoration at his crush fawning over the panda cub, Freddy had apparently finished whatever conversation he’d been having with Bonnie and walked in through the opened door to the panda enclosure. The fact that he didn’t really react to them being inside meant that either they were meant to enter it from the beginning or that he was distracted by something more pressing.
“Uh, please ignore the screamings of the bear.”
Ah, so it was the latter.
From somewhere around the middle of the tent- probably where the hole was, if they had to guess- the celestial animatronics heard Bonnie shouting over the distressed roaring of some kind of bear. “You..better get BACK IN YOUR EXHIBIT, BOY!”
While Sun was relieved it wasn’t him that was being yelled at this time, he still winced slightly in sympathy for whatever animal the sheriff was currently doing battle with. After getting up and helping his date to his feet as well, the yellow bot was alarmed to see some of the cubs trying to walk out of the opening in their enclosure. “Ah, d-!” With speed and reflexes that made it clear he was used to herding kids all day, the daycare worker was quick to get in their path and gently guide them back towards their parents “Stay in there! Stay in there, little buddies.”
“Please ignore the screamings of the bears.” Freddy repeated once more before walking out of the cage, presumably to check on his coworker’s progress with said bear.
“Screaming of the wha..?” Moon shared a perplexed look with his date from across the panda pen, trying to figure out what that could possibly mean.
Curious and more than a little confused, Sun made the mistake of following the animatronic bear to see what other bear he was supposed to be ignoring. His mistake was leaving the panda enclosure first since he was closer to the door instead of waiting for Moon to join him- he was too distracted watching Freddy jump on top of the large cage with ease that would make a pole vaulter jealous. “How’d you get up there??”
“I have good legs.” The carnival worker answered with a smile from his new perch.
The moment of distraction was long enough for Bonnie to finish whatever business he’d been taking care of in the hole, because not even half a second later he came running around the cage to shout at Sun. “Did you put Moon in the panda exhibit, boooyyy?!
The startled solar model jumped at the rabbit’s sudden appearance and barely dodged the punch that was aimed at him. “I didn’t do that! I didn’t do that!” Sun backed away as quickly as he could, but he soon ran out of room and found his back pressed against the wall of the tent. “I-I didn’t put Moon in the-!”
“HEY!” Just as the sheriff began to encroach on Sun’s personal space menacingly, Moon came running out of the cage and shoved at Bonnie hard enough to make him roll away from Sun. “I warned you! Touch him like that again, and I’ll break your face so bad you’ll look worse than Monty!”
“Hmh..” Bonnie recovered from the aggressive shoving fairly easily. Once he was upright, he shot the cowering daycare attendant another of his intimidating, warning glares. “I’m watching you.”
“You’ve been saying that..” Even Sun’s voice trembled as he watched the quick to rage rabbit retreat.
While Moon did his best to comfort his date, Freddy offered a distraction in the form of him jumping around on top of the panda exhibit. “Let me show you how good I am at climbing.”
“Think we’re good, Freddy.” Wrapping one arm around Sun’s shoulders, Moon attempted to guide the shaken celestial out of the tent. “Honestly, I’ve got half a mind to just walk out of he-EEEERE!” On their way out, the lunar animatronic stepped on a crumbly patch of dirt near the hole and fell all the way to the bottom. “Uggh, can I stop falling today?”
“No!” To the shock of both daycare bots, Freddy actually began to panic and jumped in the hole after his boss. “Get out of the hole! Get out of the hole! Get out of the hole!” He pulled the naptime attendant out of the deepest point at the center of the pit and attempted to, rather frantically, shove him up & out of it altogether. “We’re not allowed in here! We’re not allowed! We’re not allowed!” The panicking carnival worker continued to shout that last sentence over and over again as he pushed the other animatronic up to the mouth of the hole so he could climb out.
“I’m trying, dang it! I can’t reach the top!” Moon snapped at his pushy coworker while attempting to grasp the loose dirt and stones on the ground above him.
“Ha-Hang on! I’ve got you!” Sun grabbed one of the larger stones around the mouth of the hole and dropped it down on top of one of the slightly higher dirt mounds. Then, in a feat that was honestly pretty impressive, the sunny bot gripped another stone at the top for leverage and dropped down enough that his feet just barely touched the top of the other stone he’d dropped in- allowing him to offer his partner a hand up out of the hole as well as a stable platform to push off of. “Come on!”
“Okay! Okay! I’m coming!” Moon took the offered hand and used the combined leverage to climb out of the hole. Once his knees were firmly planted in the ground above, he pulled Sun out as well in a reversal of how the other got him out. With both celestials safe from whatever was in the hole, they took a few steps back to avoid a repeat incident and caught their unneeded breaths in relative safety. “I think..I think we’re good now..”
No sooner had the words left his voicebox than they heard the enraged breathing of the blue bunny who’d been standing by the hole this whole time. “SUUUUUNNN!!!!”
“Why are you blaming me?!! I didn’t do it!!!” Sun’s frustrated shout quickly turned to fear when he saw Bonnie pull out his gun and start shooting at him. “AAAAAH!!” Even though he knew the bullets couldn’t actually kill anyone, they still hurt so the daycare worker was quick to sprint out of the tent and away from the line of fire. “Please stop shooting me!”
As Bonnie continued to shoot at the retreating solar model, the lunar one was quick to make good on his earlier threat and punched the sheriff square in the face. Although he wasn’t the tankiest animatronic of the group, Moon had still survived his fair share of mobs and knew how to throw a decent right hook- sending the marksman skidding back a few feet, though not quite enough to knock him over.
“Stop ruining my date!” If looks could kill, then the venom in Moon’s glare would have been enough to murder the rabbit fifty times over. “Seriously, what the hell’s wrong with you?! I fell in first because your crappy carnival didn’t put a f#$%ing fence up around a dangerous pit, and you’re blaming Sun for saving me?! You didn’t even DO anything! You just stood there! You are the single most useless security guard I’ve ever seen- and I’ve worked with MONTY! If we were at the Pizza Plex, I’d fire you for being a d!$% to the guests and just standing there like a complete f#$%ing idiot when someone was in danger!” He ended his enraged rant with a clenched fist held out in a clear warning. “Oh, and in case it wasn’t obvious, we are NOT friends anymore!”
And, with an angry huff, he stormed out of the tent to follow his date.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to go far at all to find Sun. The cowering celestial was hiding behind one of the light posts outside of the tent, his rays retracted halfway as he trembled in terror. At first, he flinched when he heard the approaching footsteps and shielded his head with both arms. “I-I wasn’t doing anything! I promise! Don’t shoot me!”
Moon’s scowl fell into a hard frown at the reaction. Seeing the guy he loved so much shaking like a leaf when he hadn’t done anything at all to deserve the physical abuse he’d been put through left a bitter taste in his mouth. Looking back on everything he’d done and everything he’d allowed to happen, he was ashamed to admit that he couldn’t even tell when the line from light, almost childish teasing got crossed and escalated into full blown assault disguised as bullying.
He’d really screwed up, hadn’t he?
Deciding he’d have time to kick himself for his selfish and shortsighted decisions later, Moon focused on calming down his date. “Hey, you’re okay- it’s just me.”
“M-Moon..?” Hesitantly, as if he weren’t sure if he’d still be hit again or not (and didn’t that just raise Moon’s guilt level up another notch?), Sun looked at his lunar counterpart with tears in his eyes. “W-Why does everyone hate me? Why is everything always m-my fault? I-I-I was just trying to help and-and-”
Moon shushed his weeping crush gently and wrapped both arms around him in a firm, comforting embrace. “Shhh..breathe, Sunny, breathe…” While he wasn’t the best with emotions, he’d at least been forced to deal with crying children and knew the basics of comforting someone who was in emotional distress. “Everything’s not your fault- you didn’t do anything wrong and you sure as heck didn’t deserve to get shot for saving me from……well, okay, I don’t actually know what was in the hole that Freddy was freaking out about, but you still saved me from it.” Pulling away enough to look at the sunny animatronic’s watery eyes without fully letting go, one blue and white hand came up to carefully wipe away Sun’s tears. “Also, for the record, everyone doesn’t hate you.”
“Sure feels like it sometimes..” Sun’s attempt to look down was halted by the hand still lingering on his cheek, lightly but firmly keeping his head upright so he was forced to look into the other animatronic’s bright blue eyes.
“I’ve never hated you.” Moon repeated the words he’d told Sun on the roof of the Pizza Plex with a small but sincere smile. “And, from now on, I’ve got your back: No more bullying, no more name calling, and no more getting beat up- by anyone. If they try, I’ll deck them just like I did Bonnie.”
Warm brown eyes widened almost comically, the solar bot’s rays fully extending out of their housing. “Waitwaitwait! WAIT! You punched Bonnie?!” Sun stared at his partner in disbelief, his eyes flicking between the tent and the now cocky-looking nightcare attendant.
“Yep.” He answered with a smug smirk. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“…Huh…” For a moment, Sun just continued to stare at him. He looked somewhere between awed and bewildered, as if he were seeing the night themed animatronic for the first time again. It wasn’t until, much to the daytime bot’s utter embarrassment, a quiet beeping sounded from his chest that he snapped out of whatever daze he’d been in and remembered how to speak. “Uh- I, uh- um, th-thank you.”
On the inside, Moon was absolutely screaming and jumping for joy. He’d actually gotten Sun to do the beeping thing like he did for Roxanne & Foxy! This was the BEST day of his life!!
On the outside, thankfully, he managed to keep his excitement mostly contained and attempted to shrug as if the whole incident was no big deal. “You don’t have to thank me- he was getting on my nerves, too. Now,” Moon mostly let his date go so Sun wouldn’t feel like he was trying to push any boundaries, settling for just holding the yellow bot’s hand. “I don’t know about you, but I’m officially sick of this place. Call’s still yours, though- do you wanna get out of here?”
Sun gave the question some serious thought, his eyes drifting down to their linked hands. “……If I say yes..d-does that mean the date’s over..?” He honestly didn’t want it to end. Despite the stress of dealing with Bonnie and the minor annoyance of the non-functional rides, he’d actually been enjoying his time with Moon when it was just the two of them talking or having fun.
“I mean…it doesn’t have to be. It’s not like we’re humans that have to go home to separate apartments so they can get ready for work the next day- we live together.” Moon gave his hand a squeeze, smiling with undeniable fondness when those warm brown eyes lifted back up to meet his gaze. “If you want, we can go home and watch a movie? I can even make us some gingersnaps to snack on and break out that heavy orange blanket you like.”
Sun felt another brief burst of embarrassment when he heard his cooling fans kick on and more beeps sounded from his chest. But, even with how mortified he felt over his body’s uncontrollable reactions, he couldn’t help but smile shyly. He’d honestly never expected to have someone who not only blatantly adored him, but also knew him so well that they’d offer to make him his favorite cookies unprompted or know which blanket he preferred to wrap himself in after a rough day. Moon really had been paying attention to him for a long time, hadn’t he?
“I’d like that.” Sun said quietly and returned the gentle squeeze to the other animatronic’s blue and white hand.
Then, before they could start walking, he decided to adjust the way they held each other’s hands. Every time they’d grabbed each other before had been with cupped palms. Now, however, he chose to lace his pale fingers together with Moon’s. It was a little awkward with how their hands were designed, but it felt better like this; more intimate, in a way. The way Moon’s eyes practically sparkled and his smile nearly split his face in two was adorable enough to validate Sun’s choice.
Realizing he’d let his excitement slip, Moon quickly attempted to school his expression back into the calm but happy smile he’d had before. “S-So, um, yeah- let’s get out of here.”
Sun couldn’t stop the soft laugh that slipped out or the way he smiled a bit more when he nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
As the daycare workers made their way towards the exit, Freddy came running out of the tent. “Let me take you to-!” Noticing his bosses walking down the path, the carnival attendee jogged to catch up to them. “Hey, where are you going? Death Mountain’s this way!”
Moon didn’t even look back at the bear as he waved his free hand over his shoulder. “No thanks, we’re good.”
“Huh??” Freddy seemed genuinely confused by their response. Still attempting to do his job, however, he ran ahead of them then turned around so he could speak to them while walking backwards. “But there are still two attractions left to see! What about riding Death Mountain? Or the amazing grand prize for the Parkour Challenge?”
“Not interested.” The lunar bot declared as he continued leading his date to the exit. “And I don’t think we’re coming back, either- not unless Bonnie gets fired.”
At his side, Sun nodded and offered their coworker a slightly anxious smile. “Yeeaaahhhh. You did a great job, Freddy, b-but I think if I stay here any longer Bonnie might try to kill me.” The way his eye darted around nervously, keeping an eye out for the animatronic in question, served as a testament to his fears.
“B-Bu-Buuuut, he- You-You can’t-” As much as Freddy clearly wanted to refute that claim, he was having trouble finding a good way to word it. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the exit and scrambled to find a reason for them to stay. “B-But, you already paid for the tickets. Once you pay, you can’t leave until you do everything- it’s against the rules!”
“Are you gonna fire Bonnie?” Moon asked, his patience clearly running thin based on his tone.
The question truly seemed to surprise the carnival worker. “Huh??” After processing what was said, Freddy’s usual smile slipped slightly. “Uhhhh…I’m not in charge- only Bryce can fire Bonnie.”
By now, they were nearly at the gate and Moon clearly had no plans on stopping. “Well, when you get ahold of him and Bonnie’s gone, you’ll know where to find us.” To his irritation, the bear ran ahead again and stood at the exit with his arms and legs spread in a clear attempt to block them. “Freddy-”
“I am your personal carnival attendee!” The bear animatronic looked at them with an expression that was just shy of pleading. “If every attraction is not used after tickets have been paid for, then bad things will happen!”
Some of Moon’s frustration left him in the face of the normally cheerful animatronic’s blatant desperation. He was clearly scared of getting in trouble and the nightcare attendant genuinely felt bad for the guy since, as Sun stated earlier, Freddy had done a great job and they weren’t leaving because of anything he did- all the fault rested squarely on Bonnie’s shoulders.
Still, no matter how bad he felt for Freddy, Moon wasn’t going to make Sun go through whatever messed up bullying Bonnie would escalate to next if they stayed. So, instead, the scientist tried to think of another solution. “Do we have to be the ones to go on the rides?” Already, he was sending a message to one of their other coworkers.
“Huh?” Freddy tilted his head curiously at the question.
“I’m asking if I can transfer the tickets to someone else.” Moon explained, receiving a positive and excited reply to his message. “As long as someone goes on the ride and plays the game, it’s fine, right?”
Taking a moment to think the question over, Freddy hummed thoughtfully. “Hmmmmmmmmm…okay! That should satisfy the carnival gods.”
“The wha..?” Sun stared at the other animatronic as if he’d grown a second head.
“Oh, this is a magic carnival.” Freddy’s typical calm smile returned, clearly unphased by his own unusual explanation. “This carnival is one of the magic locations that Bryce has been protecting.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured.” Moon didn’t look too shocked or bothered by the news, either. Instead, he was distracted pulling out some money and handing it to his coworker. “Anyway, Roxanne’ll stop by later. Here’s an extra ten bucks so she can check out some of the other stuff if she feels like it, anything after that’s on her.”
“Okay~!” The carnival attendant gladly accepted the money and finally stepped aside so they could leave. “Enjoy the rest of your day and come again~!”
Sun gave the overly happy bear a slightly stiff wave as he walked out with his partner. “Yeaaaaahhh, no, I-I don’t think we will. Bye, Freddy.” Once they were far enough from the carnival grounds that he could no longer hear the ambient music, the daycare attendant’s entire frame relaxed and all the tension seemed to fall off of him in a wave. “Moon?”
“Yeah, Sun?” He looked at his date, hands still joined as they walked down the street.
“That was an awful date.” Despite his grim words, the sunny animatronic had a big (if a bit weary) grin on his face and there was a quiet laugh in his voice when he spoke. “If I say I want to plan the next one, please talk me out of it.”
Blue eyes lit up with clear excitement. “The next one?” Moon could hardly believe his non-existent ears. “You mean…You-You still want to go out with me?”
“Of course I do. Dealing with Bonnie was awful, but I had fun when it was just the two of us- well, the two of us plus Freddy, technically, but he wasn’t that bad. Anyway, yeah, n-none of the bad stuff was your fault, so I wouldn’t mind going on another date with you.” Giving the darker hand in his own a squeeze, Sun looked ahead of them with a slight frown as they walked. “Plus, uhh…I-I don’t think anyone else would’ve stood up for me like you did. I don’t think anyone else LIKES me enough to even try…”
“Huh?” Moon looked at his solar counterpart with a somewhat confused, somewhat concerned expression. While he was still absolutely reveling over the fact that he’d done well enough to earn himself a second date (and hopefully more) with Sun, what he said about their friends/coworkers was more than a little concerning. “What do you mean? Everyone likes you.”
“I-I don’t think they do..a-at least, not enough to do what you did…” Bringing up his free hand, Sun began to count off everyone they interacted with on a daily basis. “Bonnie definitely hates me- he made that clear. Monty would just laugh and let Bonnie beat me up if he was here. Foxy would probably join in. Freddy doesn’t know what’s going on half the time, and when he does he just lets it happen. And Roxanne…” His frown deepened as he thought about the wolf. While he’d been crushing on both her and Foxy since their respective arrivals, it was clear that he liked her just a little bit more. Likely because she didn’t join in on the bullying, but… “I don’t know, Roxanne, she…I-I think she likes me, b-b-but she just stands there when Foxy or Bonnie start beating me up. She hasn’t hurt me, b-but she doesn’t stop it, either. Maybe she-she just doesn’t see it? I dunno…”
“Sunny…” Moon…honestly didn’t know what to say to that. Sun always seemed so happy and carefree, he didn’t realize how much the constant insults & bullying the brighter bot had endured was affecting him. It made him feel like even more of a jerk than he had before. He had to make up for it somehow, right? He-
“But…you saw it.” A pale thumb gently brushed against the blue & silver one beside it. “You saw it and-and you did something about it. That…That means a lot to me.” When Sun finally raised his head again to look at his date, it was with a small but genuinely grateful smile directed at the lunar animatronic. “If I came here with Roxanne or Foxy, I-I don’t think they’d do anything to help me; Foxy would probably join in, and Roxanne wouldn’t even notice. So, e-even if it wasn’t a great first date, I’m glad you’re the one I’m dating.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Moon couldn’t help but perk up at his long-time crush’s choice of words. “Dating? We’re dating-dating? As in, you know, officially dating?”
A quiet, fond laugh leaked out of the sunny bot’s voicebox. Gosh, who knew Moon could be so cute? It was almost unfair- how was Sun supposed to say “no” with those big blue eyes staring at him with the barely-restrained eagerness of a dog expecting a treat? “I think officially dating is the next step after a first date so, yeah, we’re dating.”
The lunar bot’s face lit up with a smile big and bright enough to rival even Sun’s most enthusiastic grins. Moon’s casings were rattling on his endo as he released his date’s hand. “Give me a second, I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for a response, he ran around the street corner to duck behind the nearest building. Before Sun had much of an opportunity to question what his partner was doing, a loud, excited yell told him everything he needed to know. “YEEEEEEEES! Yes! Yes! YES! WOOOOOOOH!” The sunny animatronic had to hide his laughter behind his hand when his nighttime counterpart returned- clearly still radiating happiness, but calmed down enough to hold the other’s pale hand without shaking. “Sorry about that.”
Sun shook his head, still laughing quietly behind his free hand. “It’s okay.” He gave the darker animatronic’s hand a light squeeze once he’d settled down, offering him a bright smile. “Now, I think someone promised me cookies and a movie?”
Moon’s own smile grew and he returned the affectionate squeeze with one of his own. “Yeah, you’re right. Someone shouldn’t keep you waiting, should he?” The pair of celestial animatronics shared a laugh with one another, pure fondness and genuine affection obvious to anyone who might have spotted them walking down the street together.
It was a simple but heartwarming moment and it meant so much more to Sun than any over the top fantasy he’d concocted in the past about being in a relationship with someone. There were no first-date kisses with sparks flying between them and fireworks bursting in the background. No grand realizations that Sun had always loved Moon but been too bind to realize it like some sort of cheesy romance movie. No unnecessary declarations of undying love (though technically that had already happened earlier thanks to the love potion) or promises of a picturesque future together.
Just two people holding hands and feeling comfortable enough to talk with one another as they walked down the street.
Maybe Sun wasn’t quite on the same love-driven wavelength as Moon yet, but his opinion of the nightcare attendant had certainly improved by leaps and bounds. It had improved so much that, at the end of the night after they’d had their fill of gingersnaps and were curled under Sun’s favorite blanket while watching their fifth movie of the evening with a stuffed yellow moo-bloom and iron golem plushie nestled together on a pillow beside them, the sunny animatronic felt content & safe enough to fall asleep with his head resting on the lunar bot’s shoulder.
And, for now, that was more than enough to make both of them happy.