face the music (monty x gender neutral reader)

6. highs and lows

When you turn around only the darkness greets you. There's no sign of John or anyone else for that matter, just the cold darkness and the feeling of being watched. You drag your hand along the wall, searching for the breaker box. All the while it feels like someone is breathing down your back. Then you find it and flick the power back on. The secondary lights come alive, illuminating the room in red. The feeling of being watched dissipates and you head for the door. You've got a show to catch.

Before you can open the door someone does it for you. You look up, then further up, at the towering animatronic with a sun for a face. Monty mentioned him, what was his job again? Oh, right, "You're the daycare attendant aren't you? I'm y/n, the composer," You extend a hand, only now realizing it's shaking.

Sundrop doesn't seem to notice and enthusiastically shakes your hand, "Monty told me all about you, it's nice to finally meet you!" He grins, does he ever not smile?

"So, what are you doing down here?" You ask as Sundrop continues to shake your hand.

"Well I noticed we were having a bit of a power issue so I came to fix it! We can't have faulty lights now can we?" he finally let's go of you to inspect the breaker box. He pulls the panel back to get to the wires and starts rummaging through them. Apparently there's a method to his madness as the regular lights return shortly. Sundrop gives a sigh of relief then turns back to you, "If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you up there with the band?"

"I write the songs, it's not my job to preform," You answer. You've had your fair share of concerts, this is their time to shine.

"You should at least see them preform! Come on, I know a short cut!" Sundrop grabs your hand and starts to run. You have to sprint to keep up with his long strides as you head down a strange tunnel. You can hear the band above you. The bass shakes through the hall and the high speed vocals subconsciously encourage you go run faster. You head up a flight of stairs and Sun looks over his shoulder to you, "is this your specialty? Rock that is?"

"On no, I dabble in pretty much everything. I started out in classical actually," You answer through heavy breaths.

"Well Monty told me he likes your style! He's hard to impress so I guessed it was your focus!" Sundrop laughs then pushes the door open. The music is suddenly much louder and you spot the stage. They're almost done with the first song and the crowd is loving it. Sun pulls you around the crowd to get closer to the stage, "I should hire you to write me a song! Maybe a calmer song though,"

As Monty basically screams the last note of the song in proper metal rock fashion you laugh, "How do you feel about lullabies?"

"It's hard to imagine you writing one after hearing that but I'll trust you!" Sundrop stares at the band wide eyed. Meanwhile you're focused on Monty who's just noticed you. He winks at you then walks up to the edge of the stage. That wasn't part of the choreography.

"Who's having fun tonight?" Monty asks and crowd responds with unintelligible screaming. It's a good sign, "Before we move onto our next song, let's bring up the musician behind it all, y/n!"

the crowd starts to clap and Sundrop pushes you up to the edge of the stage with a laugh. Monty grabs you hand and pulls you up next to him. He hands you the microphone and you realize you have no idea what to say. Monty gives you an encouraging smile and you swallow the lump in your throat as the crowd quiets. These are kids, you don't have to be so nervous, right? "Thanks so much to all of you for showing up to our grand reopening! We've got big plans and I can't wait for you to be part of it every step of the way. So let's give it up for Monty and the band!" You step to the side and give a sweeping gesture to Monty, Chica, and Roxy so they can take a bow.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't show," Monty leans over to talk with you while the crowd gives a round of applause.

"Are you kidding, I wouldn't miss this for anything!" You respond and elbow him in the side.

"You didn't tell me I had a biggest fan," Monty laughs and elbows you back, "I should start selling t-shirts,"

"You have an entire clothing line," you roll your eyes.

"Well when am I going to see you in my merch then? I think you'd look pretty good in-" Monty starts to ask before getting cut off by Roxy clearing her throat. Monty grabs his microphone, "Looks like the crowd is ready for another song, what do you think y/n?"

"Don't leave them waiting, let's get back to the music!" You respond to Monty but also the crowd. You give a wave then hop off the stage with a helping hand from Sundrop. You look up at the band as strobe lights begin to flash and fake smoke rolls in on the stage. You glance over at Sundrop as the recorded drums kick off the song and Chica provides an excellent intro, "So, about that lullaby?"

"I can see why Monty likes you," Sundrop responds with a laugh and puts a hand on your shoulder. You raise an eyebrow at the daycare attendant before turning back to the show.

After watching the song in silence for awhile you can't help but ask, "I take it you and Monty are good friends?"

"You bet! Sometimes he even helps out in the daycare when the kids are too much to handle alone," Sun answers while Monty break dances through Roxy's solo, "He's got a soft side,"

"You know, I don't find that hard to believe," you say, thinking back to the conversation you had in his room. You cheer as Roxy's solo comes to an end and the band begins the final chorus. It sounds better than all the rehearsals combined and you can tell the band is having fun. Chica strikes the last few chords of the song as an air cannon releases tons of green and purple confetti into the concert hall.

"Thank you, that's all folks!" Monty shouts and the stage starts to lower. He waves at you, gesturing for you to come meet him downstairs.

"Now that's what I call a successful debut!" You cheer and Sundrop gives you a double high five.

"I haven't seen Monty that happy in, well, I don't know!" Sundrop exclaims and grabs your hand, ready to run back through the tunnels to the band.

You make it to the edge of the crowd and just as you're about to go through the 'employees only' door, someone grabs your arm. You whip around to see a woman you've never met before. She looks frantic, on the verge of tears even. You're about to ask her what's wrong when she tells you, "You have to help me, my daughter is missing!"