The Bond

Ch 60

"Bold."/"Bold italic" : animatronic is talking/animatronic is talking in mind

"Normal."/"Normal italic." : human is talking/human is talking in mind

=o^o=

Michael was always angry whenever he said he was going to continue the endoskeleton to support the inside of the human body. The Afton's eldest would lash out at him and immediately hide the endoskeleton somewhere in their house, this had become a habit.

Ennard pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly after finding the skeleton this time hidden in the bushes near the swing he had repaired. "Afton," he said irritably, casting a glance at Michael who was looking away from him at the back door. "You procrastinate too long, it's annoying."

"For you, but not for me." Michael trotted over to him and immediately grabbed the endoskeleton which wasn't even half finished.

"Hey, wait!"

Ennard stretched his arms quickly to hold Michael's wrist who seemed ready to run into the house while carrying the skeleton away, causing Michael to be pulled back and almost tripped over.

However, Ennard swiftly restrained Michael's small shoulders and their bodies collided with each other, luckily he was able to keep the balance between the two of them. Michael pursed his lips and puffed out his cheeks, he moved his free hand to elbow Ennard's stomach—Michael darted away from Ennard just as his elbow surprised Ennard and made him fall alone.

"That bastard," Ennard growled in exasperation, rising from the ground and he unceremoniously caught up with Michael.

Besides being annoying, Michael was also agile and good at hiding.

Ennard closed the closet door tightly when he didn't find Michael in there, usually Michael liked to hide in the closet. He had circled the house and he couldn't find any sign of where Michael had hidden himself. Ennard draped one arm around his waist, he could use his sensory system, but Michael wouldn't like that.

The animatronic in his human form took a deep breath, then he stepped into the bathroom to check again, in case Michael moved there. He found nothing there. Ennard headed back into the living room, stood in the middle of the room and was silent, trying to sharpen his hearing. Something could be heard from outside, Ennard headed straight for the front door and opened the door quickly in case Michael was found sneaking out.

"Dawson," Ennard said a little surprised, to find it was Lucy who made the noises.

Lucy blinked her eyes. "You have to mow your lawn."

Ennard snorted and leaned against the doorframe. "What do you want?" he asked curtly, looking Lucy up and down with an inquiring look.

"How cold." Lucy chuckled, Ennard indifferent. "Is Mike home?"

"What do you need with him?"

"I think I heard a tone of jealousy."

A blush rose to Ennard's face quickly. "Don't make it up!" he cried between annoyed and embarrassed, Lucy burst out laughing.

"After work, he asked me if he could borrow a wrench or not, so I'll lend him a wrench that belonged to my coworker," Lucy explained the purpose of coming after laughing enough, Ennard grumbled incoherently and his eyes turned to the tool Lucy meant earlier.

Maybe Afton was starting to get on with it again, but what was this wrench for? They have their own wrench.

"I'll give him that."

Lucy handed the tool to Ennard happily. "Then I'm leaving now, say hello to him—and don't worry, I only think of Mike as my friend~!" Lucy's last words sounded teasing, Ennard felt his cheeks heat up again but before he could reply to Lucy's words, the girl had walked away.

"Idiot," Ennard muttered in annoyance, then went back into the house and shut the door tightly.

The man put the wrench on the table closest to him, he looked briefly at the frame containing the photo of the woman with the blonde hair before stepping into the kitchen. His intention was to boil water to make hot coffee, so he filled the teapot and turned on the stove, then waited for the water to boil.

Ennard pulled up a chair to sit down, then looked up at the ceiling. He didn't like this feeling.

The sound of a thump snapped him out of his thoughts, Ennard blinked quickly and turned the stove down, before searching for where the sound was coming from. Then then he could hear a faint groan, causing him to immediately crouch down and open the lower kitchen cabinet.

Michael stroked the top of his head inside while the skeleton was in his arms with his other hand as if protecting the object.

"Afton." Ennard soldered an irritated smirk and Michael's nervous smile. "Get out of there."

"No."

"Now."

"Next year maybe."

"I'm serious."

"Hello serious."

The corner of Ennard's eyes twitched in annoyance, Michael stuck his tongue at him and hid the skeleton even more from Ennard. Ennard gripped Michael's shoulder tightly, he ignored Michael who gasped at that and almost dragged him out if only Michael didn't bite his hand hard.

"What's wrong with you?!" Ennard said in disbelief, he hissed in pain while waving his hand which had just been bitten by Michael.

"You can't touch this!" yelled Michael angrily, hugging the endoskeleton from Ennard.

Ennard gritted his teeth. "Why?! That endo will finish quickly if I continue it!" his reply was no less angry. "Didn't you come up with this yourself?"

Michael pursed his lips together. "That means I don't need Ennard anymore."

"That's the point, Afton!"

"I don't want to!"

That shout of Michael made Ennard gasp for a moment, his forehead furrowed deep. "What do you mean you don't want to?"

His question was briefly ignored by the brown-haired man. Michael glanced the other way slowly, his lips pursed and his eyebrows knit together. "I don't want to be separated from you ...."

Ennard's lips parted slightly at that, his eyes sharpened.

"You're sick, Afton."