Chapter Text
“You’re hired.”
It took her a moment to process those words, so soon?? Now??
“What?” Mandy watched as the man behind the desk, Henry Emily, gave a curt nod. Shaking her smaller hand. “You passed every test we had for you.” He sighed, grateful. That wasn’t a bit scary at all.
Sure, she’d heard the rumors, the complaints. But something in her told her she could make just enough to leave this godforsaken place. It had to be the right choice.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve found someone as capable as yourself.” Henry sighed with an awkward chuckle. “Nothing against your cousin, of course. But William’s so…stern about who we hire. He seemed on board right away—thank god..” The dark haired man sighed, rubbing his face. The quartz wedding ring glinted in the dim lighting on his ring finger.
Married, or widowed..?
“You’ll be here come Friday.” He said, sliding a box across the table. “Your uniform’s in here, sorry for the size, getting these things made was easier a few years ago, we’ll have a proper one for you soon..”
She stared in disbelief but nodded, taking the box and holding it close. “Thank you sir, I will be.”
Sure. But will you be leaving? That was the thought the man had watching her disappear from his office, hoping she wasn’t yet another the company was sure to lose.
Mandy Wear (Maiden name, Matthews) sat on her bed, staring at her uniform that next Friday night. It smelled way out of her budget. And the name tag had the wrong name. “….William…?” The Co-Founder, this must be his old maintenance uniform, they did specify it was hard to get these made..especially in her size, so she’d have to make do before she got her own.
The sound of the door opening caused her to jump and stuff the uniform away as someone tumbled in. The familiar sound of her husband collapsing on the sofa and patting around for the remote made her relax. She wasn’t his target for now. Standing, she very carefully put the fabric on, and straightened it to fit her physique.
William was a bigger man than seen. The only time he’d been close to her as an adult was when she was introduced to him by her cousin. Standing next to him was enough for her to feel miniature, but seeing the way his clothes sagged on her figure made her feel even more unbearably small.
“Mandy?” The man called, she paused. Turning to the door she carefully backed away towards the window, with nimble hands, she popped the lock ever so silently.
“That you? Come grab me a beer. And stay away from the TV you’ll get in the way.” She climbed out careful to not make noise and closed it back.
Five, four, three..? She exhaled, turning and heading down the sidewalk away from the apartment.
Tonight, she was a working woman.
She’d make the money,
She’d buy the ticket,
And then she would be free. Never ever again would she have to look back at Hurricane Utah.
That’s what she hoped, at least.
The drive was relatively peaceful view wise, on the inside she still couldn’t help but worry. She glanced at the sun which seemed to be racing her over who would finish its journey first. And Mandy? She was determined to get to her destination the fastest. Still, it reminded her of the animatronic that was in the works. Cole had been talking about it, saying it was made for children and yet..the face it had might just cause the children to rip it apart.
She parked in her parking space and stepped out to look at the restaurant. The man from her interview had said this would be a sibling location to the current Fredbear’s Pizzeria, and would be called Chica’s Chicken House.
“Is their idea of fun making these things as horrific as possible..?” She asked herself, staring at the chicken, waving robotically to anyone entering for the night. ‘Welcome to your demise.’ It seemed to say.
When she walked in she felt as if she was going to be scared off by the poultry based animatronics lifelessly staring at her. “Mandy? You actually got the job, huh?” She glanced over to her cousin Cole Breyer, who wasn’t anything like William.
He was small like her, with freckles just about everywhere, his black hair seemed to flow like waves as it made its way down from his center-part, his hands played with the keys always stuck on his waist. “Cole…where’s-” She emphasized toward her name tag making his expression turn quickly to disgust. “Busy. He doesn’t usually come out during work hours anyway, much less here..”
He scoffed, grabbing her arm and pulling her along.
“You were trained?”
“Yes.”
“You know how to do this then?”
“Not really.”
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“The one time he trains someone and it’s not about the damn-” He waved his hand dismissively.
“Nevermind..just come here.” He sat her at their desk and phoned someone. The woman answered with a saccharine laugh.
“Miss me?”
“This has nothing to do with *you* Martha. He didn’t train Mandy.” The woman only seemed to laugh more, but she seemed willing to help anyhow. “Ah, that Henry. He’s definitely been scatterbrained.” She cleared her throat after a while.
“Well, let me find that manual then.” The awkward noises of her searching for the manual and finding the ones from years past irritated Cole enough to manually mute her. “You've been okay?” He asked in a gentler tone, eyeing his cousin and noticing the wound she’d been rubbing at.
“No..” She mumbled, confirming his suspicions. It was no secret her husband was a no good asshole. Using her as physical leverage for his snacks and things- he drained her of herself. She seemed to express less and less emotions every few times he saw her. “That fat bastard..if it were me-”
Mandy stopped him from continuing.
“You said you’d stay out of fights.”
“If I get close enough-”
“You’re not going to do that again.”
“Mandy.”
“I mean it Cole.”
He was about to get upset when he heard Martha. “Helloo? I found it! Is anyone there?” He sighed and handed the phone to Mandy. “Listen to everything she tells you.” She took the phone and allowed her to begin.
“BU-KaAWW!”
Mandy screamed and Cole jumped as she dropped the phone. “Martha, she just got here. Give her a fucking break will you?”
Martha laughed at Cole’s outburst. “Relax love, just reading my lines.” Mandy shakily held it up again and Cole patted her shoulder.
“Welcome to Chica’s Chicken House! It’s Flip Flappin Wingtastic! Your job as Maintenance Crew is very simple! And all you need to do is remember your training.” Martha coughed and gagged as she drank some water. She hadn’t been voice acting for years.
“You’re the voice for Chica..and the Restaurant Hotline?” Mandy asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Not unheard of, but definitely a surprise.
“Pretty much, yeah- we’re really low on staff, us and Martin were the only ones here.”
Mandy nodded to herself and let her continue.
“With a place this big, you’ll bet we have a lot of feathered friends waiting for your help! Let’s start with me, Chica The Chicken! Buk—”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Aw..”
Mandy walked down the colorful hallways to Chica’s personal area and stage. The interior was multicolored with a play area inspired by a chicken coop for children no older than five, and on the opposite side there was a arcade corner that was barn themed with video and physical games available, the most notable being a whack a mole style game but replaced with Chica and her fellow birds as the ‘moles’ and the hammer being a large drumstick.
The famous chicken in question was in a chef’s outfit and held a drumstick microphone she was feminized to a certain extent and had a pet cupcake by her feet.
“Why is a chicken selling her own kind?” Mandy looked at Cole as he looked at her. “You think I know?” Martha called from the backstage phone and Mandy walked onto the stage, and answered the phone, eyeing the poultry animatronics.
“Alrighty!! Ya see that small pressure point on Chica’s beak?? Press that but make sure to do it gently or she’ll take skin.”
Mandy stepped forward and gently applied pressure to the point and slid the beak right off, the true monstrosity of a mouth she had was the only thing left.
Mandy was slightly unnerved.
“Okay, now you want to pull the lever centermost in the top of her nasal hole. This will reset her for tomorrow’s show! Be careful, don't lose a finger now.”
“Have you considered making this as minimally dangerous as possible?” Mandy smirked to herself, searching for the lever. “If it was that easy a lot more people would be getting paid! And William loves his money..” Martha laughed. And Mandy, for once, laughed with her.
By the end of the dismantling and packing away process Mandy was finally starting to get the gist of the job.
“That should be everything now. God, my voice is practically gone.” Martha said, throat sore from the squealing and the kawing noises she refused to refrain from making. She shook Mandy’s hand with a giggle. “Thanks for joining the deadshift.”
“You only have yourself to blame.” Cole rolled his eyes at her. She had dark brown skin and brown curly hair held back by a headband. Her style showed that she was still stuck in the 70’s somehow, even while they grew closer and closer to the end of the 80’s.
“Your shift is over, Mandy. Want me to make sure you get inside?” Cole offered as the smile from her face dissolved to the neutrality it was earlier. “Oh. No, that's fine. If he yells at you I’ll just get upset.” She waved to Martha and Cole, and left the restaurant to be. She waited for a while. Staring at the night sky, which was soon to turn to morning.
And then she would be home again.
“Good first day?”
She jumped at the sight of him.
How long had he been there?
“Mister Afton..?”
“I just came to congratulate you on the position. Maintenance is...” William’s eyes drifted to the name tag. “Tough work.”
Mandy nodded politely. “Thank you sir..”
He nodded and proceeded to the back. It was odd seeing someone so important at her job, especially considering how much the man had shaped her own childhood growing up.
Sure he didn’t remember it, but every year when her parents still tolerated each other they’d go to the original diner and let her order all the cherry soda, fish-bake, and pie she wanted. If they started arguing William would come by and begin talking soley to her, whether to distract her or get her parents to silence she didn’t know.
But it felt as if he listened to everything she had to say, regardless of if it were the intention.
On the drive home, she couldn’t get the interaction out of her head. Why did he come to congratulate her? It wasn’t like she was someone well versed in the job, nor someone important to begin with. It made her nervous to mess up. Cole seemed to have a reason to dislike him. But she couldn’t see why.