Not by the Strings, Please.

To Make Your Aquaintence

I never realized how lonely the place got when no one was around. The sun rose, just as it always did, but it seemed as if the rest of the world was locked in time. The morning passed into the day, and not a single soul came in or out of the pizzeria, leaving the restaurant locked in stillness.

It was to be expected. I knew they would close the place down for a day while they worked out yesterday's...incidents. Hopefully, things will return to normal tomorrow. There were countless bad possibilities, but for the good of my sanity, I ignored them and slumbered peacefully. Sleeping during the day rather than in the night was an irregular change, but I had not been sleeping the past few nights, and it was refreshing to finally doze my worries away.

When I awoke, the time was somewhere in the evening, but not quite the night. To be more precise, it was dusk. The sun was slowly making its way down the sky behind the hills at the moment.

There isn't a window in the Prize Corner, so I never get to watch the event take place. But I could sense it. I could sense the temperature dropping as the sun's light dipped out of sight, enveloping the world in darkness. It was somewhat frightening, actually. Occasionally I found myself worrying the sun wouldn't come up again, leaving the world dark forever. Leaving the animatronics to roam. Forever.

No. I can't bear to think about this right now. Tonight was not the best night to be worrying over petty things such as that. Mangle would be coming back, and I had to be in my best set of moods. Depression and anxiety aren't on my list.

I waited a few moments before I nodded myself fully awake. Night had finally fallen.

I reached my hand up to the lid and pressed it open. The hinges were soundless as the outside darkness was released into my shelter. Reaching my hands up to the lip of the box, I slinked my way out onto the checkered floor, hoping to make as little noise as possible. I'm actually quite impressed with myself. Not a single shuffle. I never knew I could be so quiet.

I seated myself on the floor in front of my box and waited patiently for my new friend to arrive. When I heard the clanking in the hallway, I immediately felt a grin crease onto my face. I had never been so happy before, but it felt nice to finally be able to relax around one of the other animatronics.

"I'm back, Marionette." Mangle's voice whispered, the blue glow her eye gave off hovering in the doorway.

"I'm so glad you came back. I greatly appreciate it." I said, bowing my head slightly. Then I heard another voice from somewhere next to me.

"Hiya, mister! What's your name?" A very high-pitched voice said. I instinctively jumped to my feet and scrambled into the farthest corner of the room away from the voice. Whose voice was that?! It...it sounded so...squeaky! No, no. Not squeaky. Young! It sounded so young!

"Oh, come on, Marionette. Relax. It's just Balloon Boy." Mangle said, trying to hide a laugh even though I could sense it. She couldn't hide laughter from me so easily. I looked around the room, trying to find the glowing eyes of the other animatronic but finding none. Then I heard breathing in my left ear. Slowly glancing to my left, I saw two big, blue eyes that were ominously close to my face.

"Aah!" I let out a yelp, then fell backwards onto my back. A childish laugh followed my startled outburst.

"Ha! I got you! That was so funny! You were all like what? And I was all like this, and then you were all like eeeeeek!" The voice cracked up into an uncontrollable giggle. I glanced at Mangle, who stood in the doorway grinning at me.

"Who-?" I was too confused to spit out any words besides the one question I already knew the answer to. It was obvious that the good-spirited animatronic that had followed Mangle into my Prize Corner was Balloon Boy, but I knew not why he was here.

"My. Name. Is. Balloon. Boy. Do. You. Under. Stand?" Balloon Boy spoke to me as if I was stupid. I frowned, making sure Mangle saw. The white fox simply shook her head smiling.

"Oh, give him a break, Marionette. He doesn't know any better. I thought you could use some new friends, so I brought him down here." She said, looking between us and smiling. I sighed, sitting up and rubbing my forehead. This animatronic was making my head hurt. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be agreeable.

I looked up at the balloon vendor and returned his goofy grin with a pleasant smile of my own.

"Well, hello there, Balloon Boy. My name is Marionette." I introduced myself. Balloon Boy made a face.

"Huh. My name sounds weird when you say it. How 'bout you just call me BB, kay?" Balloon Boy said, twisting his sign around in his hand. I glanced at Mangle, who nodded once, then looked back at the balloon vendor.

"Er...certainly. I'm happy to make your acquaintance, BB." I said, holding my hand out to him for a handshake. Balloon Boy looked down at my hand, then made a disgusted face.

"Eew, your hand is weird! Why do you have fingers like that?" Balloon Boy said, pointing at my hand with his sign. I drew my hand back to examine it. There was nothing wrong with my hand...was there?

"BB! Be decent, would'ja?" Mangle snapped, clouting the balloon vendor in the back of the head with one of her protruding endoskeleton crossbeams. Balloon Boy whined, plopping himself down on the floor and rubbing the back of his head with his sign.

"S-sorry about that. He doesn't get good company very often. He hasn't learned proper manners yet: one of the reasons I brought him to you." Mangle said, sitting beside me.

"I noticed," I sighed, shaking my head. "he certainly needs lessons in decency. However, I'm not sure if I could take on that much stress."

"I see what you mean." Mangle snickered, glancing over at Balloon Boy, who was fiddling with his sign, completely oblivious to their conversation.

"How was your day? A nice break from being torn up, I suppose?" I decided to break away from the previous subject. Mangle let out a idyllic sigh.

"Oh, it was wonderful. I actually got some rest for once in a looong time." She said. I smiled.

"That does sound nice. I'm very happy for you." I said, putting my hands in my lap. Mangle grinned at me, then nuzzled my left cheek.

"You're very good company, you know?" Mangle sighed happily, her white tail brushing my back as it wagged back and forth. I glanced at her quickly, then immediately looked away.

"Thank you, Mangle. It means a lot to me." I said quietly, avoiding eye contact. I was too embarrassed to look at her. Mangle nuzzled me again, this time putting her good arm around me and cuddling up to me. I gasped, looking down at her. She let out a relaxed sigh.

"You're a good friend." Mangle whispered, her ears perked. I smiled down at her. It meant a lot to hear someone say I was their friend. I put one hand on her back and embraced her in return. I was comforting to be caught in a hug, and it was actually rather unusual. I didn't think any of the other animatronics liked me. But now I had Mangle. A true friend. Maybe something even more.

"Hey! Hey, you guys! You should totally kiss!" Balloon Boy exclaimed, grinning mischievously. Both of us shot him a scowl.

Such an annoying child.