RUBATOSIS | William Afton x Reader

VI. EYES

(CW: slightest gore, anxiety)

The first week of your apprenticeship was a breeze, to say the least. Well, maybe breeze was the wrong word. It was more of a well-organized tornado. You were learning a lot, actually, and the experience was undoubtedly enriching. The problem laid in William's flirtatious mannerisms, which you were becoming all too familiar with. Even when his mood seemed sour, it felt like William would take every single opportunity to prod at you and make comments that had terrible effects on your heart rate.

Today was no exception as you leaned over one of the animatronics, pliers in hand while speaking to him. He was leaning over beside you, closer than you were used to, showing you exactly what you'd be doing with the pliers. When you first came in that day, you noticed he seemed annoyed and his body language was stiff and uncomfortable, but from the neck-up he appeared quite the opposite. A coy grin was painted onto his face as he spoke gently to you.

    "So you'll just carefully detach these wires right here, see? ...Darling? Are you paying attention?"

    Your face reddened, realizing you'd been caught staring at William's features under the dim fluorescent lighting. It wasn't your fault his lips were so pleasing to look at, and being this close to them was just downright unfair. You bashfully averted your gaze, studying the wires he'd apparently already referenced for you.

    This was your first time actually performing some of the hands-on work yourself. The previous week, you were only being made familiar with all the parts and what they do, which was work enough in your opinion. William had thrown you off with the news of your involvement in today's lesson. You weren't expecting to do actual work so quickly, and you were terrified of screwing anything up. It was all so intricate, you felt as though if even a single thing were the slightest bit out of place, the whole animatronic would be toast.

On top of everything, William insisted you changed locations today as well, which threw you off your game even more. The 'parts & service' room wasn't exactly a comfortable place, but you knew it better than whatever the hell this room was. Upon first walking in, William had introduced it as the 'backstage maintenance area'. To you, it quite honestly was just a 'parts & service' room that was easier to get to, without the unnecessarily long hallway that always gave you the chills. No, this backstage room was just a measly door away from the main stage area. It was louder, with the sound of children celebrating nearby to joyous music almost crystal clear in your ears. You had to admit, you were a little disappointed that this new location wasn't as private, but you shook those thoughts away as you got to work.

With no actual repairs needing to be done, William just guided you to disassemble the entire animatronic. You, of course, were quick to comply. You didn't want to stress him any further than he already seemed to have been. You thought the task would be easy enough, you'd studied him go through this same process three times now. However, the nervous shaking that hindered your performance made this anything but simple. His eyes burned through you with every assisted move you made, drawing an acute awareness to every little breath, shudder, and blink you dared make before him.

"No, no, twist it like this-" He cut in at one point, diving for your grip on a screwdriver. You'd been attempting to undo a rather stubborn screw around the mascot's neck area, almost jumping out of your skin when William's hand secured itself around yours. He was leaning in so close to you now, his head aimed parallel to yours as he remained hyper-focused on correcting your error. Your eyes darted to the side to watch him scrunch his face up, letting out a small groan as he forced the tool in both of your hands to twist with force. It took everything in your power to not think about or memorize the little sound he'd just emitted. You were flustered enough with just his fingers over yours, gripping harshly.