Robotic Hearts, and The Terror Soon To Come

The Sweetest Lies From Your Favorite Person.

You'd cried yourself to sleep, and woken up alone and shaken. A few sniffles escaped you, was it even real? Did you have a nightmare? Did it even matter? You were scared and your person was nowhere to be seen. You slowly got up and peaked out of the tunnel. There you'd see Moon, sitting hunched over with his face in his hand.

".. Oh, hey little buddy.." He mumbled, standing up and helping you through the tunnel. He picked you up, holding you close to his chest.

"What happened yesterday.. ?" You asked quietly as you wrapped your arms around him.

"Well.. We built a fort.. And you took a nap, and then we played in the ball pit.. After that, we ate dinner and went to bed. Does that answer your question?" He watched you nervously, maybe he could convince you none of it ever happened, maybe.

You nuzzled your face against his neck. ".. Why- why weren't you with me?" You asked quietly.

"Wha- Oh, at night? Well I went to.. Grab something, and you were already asleep... I didn't want to wake you." Moon said softly, watching you closely, every breath, every movement, every twitch, this could fall apart in mere seconds if he wasn't careful. "... Why? Did you get scared? Have a nightmare?"

A moment of thought, a desperate attempt to remember clearly, it was almost as if your own mind was keeping it from you. You wanted to, no you needed to know, but you couldn't, and this felt more likely. Or maybe it's just what you wanted to believe. You nodded, if it was real it would've been clearer, hopefully.

"Ohhh..." The animatronic squeezed you tenderly. "That's not good. I'm sorry I wasn't there, little one... Are you okay?" The loveliest of tones, probably the kindest anyone had ever taken with you.

"Mhm..." You clung to Moon like he was your lifeboat. Were you okay? It would make him sad if you weren't. And that was the last thing you wanted to happen.

He rubbed your head with one hand. Then took the other and pressed his fingers against your spine, gently massaging up and down your back. "I'm glad you're okay... Just.. If you ever need anything, come get me." He held you there quietly for a while before speaking up softly. "... The daycare's closed today.. And Sun feels a little... Under the weather.. So he's gonna stay up here today, and I thought we could go down to the theater, is that okay?"

"Yeah." The theater? Did that mean you could watch a movie on the big screen together? That sounded fun, a good way to take your mind off things definitely. He rubbed his head against yours and started taking you down to the daycare theater. He got you a snack, then started piling blankets and pillows. Once satisfied, he put you in the pile. "You stay there, I think I know how to work the projector." And then off he went, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

This would be fine. None of it was real, it was all okay. It was nice having someone with you. You'd never been held that much. Hopefully this would be fun. When were your parents coming back again? You'd have to ask later. Moon sure was taking a while. Maybe he was having trouble picking a movie.

You were pulled from your thoughts when you were abruptly lifted up and dropped in his lap. A blanket was wrapped around your shoulders accompanied by Moon's arms. He propped his head up on your shoulder. "Eat up, little one." You did as you were told. The movie was nice, the type that was cute but made you sad at the end. Well, it ended with a parental figure reuniting with their surrogate child, it was sweet. Moon's grasp on you tightened significantly, it was almost painful. He loved you a painful amount, painful for everyone involved. It was horrible. He saw an ounce of himself in those characters, oh but he would've done better. He'd never let his child go. He'd do anything, absolutely anything. But you couldn't know. Oh god, you couldn't know. Keeping you in the dark was part of keeping you there. No matter how much lying and force feeding melatonin candies it took.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yep."

"That's good."

He snuggled against you, humming, or maybe it was mumbling... Whatever it was, he sounded almost hysteric.

"Moony?" Oh, such concern. It was kind of sad how much you loved him.

He stood up, still squeezing you tight. "Let's go play now, my baby."