Out of Desperation (My Friendly Neighborhood and Child!Reader)

Chapter Three

It's only been around ten hours since I got into the studio.

Norman and I have already become friends. He's talked so much about himself, more or less about what life had been like before. He said he doesn't miss it as much as he thought he would-I couldn't tell if he misses some part of it.

And I've told him about me. Not any of my family history. Just about Tortie (who has constantly been in my arms since the hand puppet disappeared) and what life is like outside now.

All of the neighbors were silent when I moved in.

But I was too young to know why.

Maybe I'm still off on some of the details.

I can't really trust Ms. Annie to tell me everything. I don't even know what my mom's favorite color is, or even her name. All I know is that she was my mom. And she was gone when I had to live with the monster right outside my bedroom.

"What was it like?" Norman asks.

"What was what like?"

"Knowing a living being loved you."

My breath catches. Did anybody really love me?

"I don't know," I reply. He still looks at me, just more concerned now. Nobody ever looked at me that way, questioning if I was ever OK. "I had a pretty strict grandma. Sometimes, it felt like she never really loved me at all."

I can still feel the blood dripping. The no longer tender bruises that used to hurt so bad. Strict was probably putting it lightly.

She called me a murderer.

Because I squeezed a cat so hard her ribs shattered and bruised.

I didn't know what I was doing. I could feel it struggling. I just thought to hold it tighter. I just wanted to hug someone. Something. Anyone. Anything.

I miss my mom.

"I'm sure she loved you very much, bud," Norman says.

"Yeah," I reply. Maybe she did at some point.

She was probably a little happy when I was born, right? I can remember so little. But that smile on her face when she held me looked so real.

I lo...

"Norman, Pearl needs help out of one of the apartments again."

I look up. The sock puppet from hours before is in a pipe at the corner of the Theatre room. I've forgotten we were here. My mind must have been left at home.

In the kitchen. Maybe in one of the cabinets.

Or Ms. Annie's flowery dress pocket.

"I'll be right there, Ricky, can you just watch (Y/N) for me?"

"Sure thing."

And Norman gets up and walks out. The sock puppet, who I now know as Ricky, turns to me.

"See? He wasn't so bad, huh?" Ricky says. "Richard McFluffins, at your service. Everyone calls me Ricky."

I don't know how I feel about Ricky.

"Hi."

Really? That's what I introduce myself with?

"You're an oddball, huh? I can see you fitting in already," he says. "Thank you for coming back for Norman. You've made his day, (Y/N). He really needed that."

I smile at Ricky.

"Do you maybe want to stay for a little while? Just to help the others?"

"There're more?"

"Yeah. They've all been wandering around. I'm surprised you didn't find any of them when you were walking back!"

I look at the entrance of the Theatre, all the way up the stairs. It feels like someone's watching.

Ricky starts talking. I can barely listen. I feel so tired. He notices after a few minutes.

"I'll tell you later. You can go to sleep."

I sit down under the pipe with Tortie. I lean on the wall a little. Then I close my eyes.

***

???'s POV

I walk into the Theatre. Really I should be at the Neighborhood-or another old set. But I figured that while nobody's here I could think for a little while.

Ricky is waiting at the corner. Someone is with him, sitting at the corner right under him. Is that a child?

"Hi, Leonard, I was just talking about you!" Ricky says. I still keep my eye on the child. "Oh, her? She's a bit tired right now, so-"

I pick the kid up.

"What're you doing?"

I walk over to the seats and sit her down on one that's leaned back. I'm humming that song we sang on the show, about going to sleep. There isn't a bed close enough for me to put the kid in, but this is close enough.

"When were you going to tell us?" I ask.

"I thought Norman was going to tell you," Ricky says.

"You know that Norman can't tell us anything without forgetting."

"Yeah, you're right," he replies. "Anyway, she's (Y/N). She snuck in right after we watched the TV."

We shudder at the thought of it.

Everything on the screen was just horrific. It felt like a punishment having to sit there with everyone else. The only one who really let himself be alone was Norman. Everyone else, including me, couldn't really be apart from each other until I decided to sneak off. Pearl and Gobblette was with us, and they really couldn't stand it either. None of us has seen Gobblette after that.

But maybe the kid can help her.

Maybe she can help all of us!

*****

Word Count: 922

Autocorrect insists McFluffins is actually Malfunctions, Cufflinks, and Self-defense...
Idk how I feel about Cufflinks. Is Ricky secretly kinky or-
NO NO NO OH GOD NO FUCK NO