thinking thinking thinking... im kind of writing the opening for this and the sun fic back to back at 1am because i had a brain blast and i know if i dont jot down my ideas now im going to forget what i had planned by the morning
notes: gn human reader, pre game/virus, youre an assistant/handler for them, youve been going through it and part of the context is that its been eating away at your sleep, moon will make you rest and hes willing to cover your ass so you dont get in trouble, reader has depression and admins modeling it off of his experience and hes not universal
word count: 2.2k
cws: none
You’d think with the past few weeks feeling like a trial sent from God himself, you’d have more will power to wait until nap time in the daycare rolled around. Alas it seemed weeks of slowly descending into the darker sides of your mind were nothing compared to sitting for multiple hours of screaming children running around in an enclosed space.
Who knew being in the presence of a small pack of children eager to see their favorite mascots was far more grating than whatever hopeless thought your mind could conjure as you tried to sleep at night in the cold sheets of your bed.
Truly, you were God’s strongest soldier for enduring it just enough to pull a soft smile across your face as little Tommy ran right over your foot- tripping, and nearly instantly starting to bawl. You tried not to hold it against him, he only just realized he could move faster than a staggering walk with his short legs.
The smiles never quite reached your eyes. Never stretched from cheek to cheek… and despite the tugging of tiny hands on their striped pants and mumbled observations as chubby hands pointed your way- your tired dragged down form slumping forward against your arms at the employee’s desk- …you remained oblivious to the looks the animatronic you were meant to be helping gave you.
All you could do was ignore them as you tried (and failed) to rub the exhausted look from your eyes.
“You know, maybe the kids will go down easier for nap time if you take a mat too,” Sun had lightly joked as he approached your desk during snacktime. Despite the lightness in his tone you still caught him staring down at you- you could hear the crease of his brow in his tone. You had to hand it to the engineers, they made him able to convey so much emotion while having a hard plastic placeplate. You only offer a half hearted shrug and a thick hum.
You never cared much for speaking when you were in this state.
A clicking sound from Sun as he lingered around your desk for about thirty more seconds before hastily rushing off to stop a child from smearing some horrific cheesy- if you could call it that- amalgamation into another’s hair. Usually you’d find the scramble entertaining but Sun’s shrill voice only made you shrink back into your folded arms.
A glance to the overly bright lights from above the daycare forced your beary eyes to squint and warp the light until it broke apart in fragmented and blurred lines. You really needed to get your eyes checked- or maybe you really were just that tired.
Maybe Sun had a point. Maybe laying down with the children for a nap wouldn’t be all that bad of an idea. If not to sleep then to convince them to go along with it… even if most of the children were used to the routine some still refused to lay their heads down for the hour or two that the lights were dimmed.
You glance at your watch.
Thirty minutes before noon.
Or maybe you could load your system with so much caffeine that you’d be able to see the end of your shift without needing to slip away to rest your eyes. Sure it’d aggravate the headache forming behind your eyes but it’d get you through the days.
Maybe. Hopefully. Possibly.
Or maybe it’d make you vacate your bowels on the spot.
The thought is shoved aside as Sun returned to your desk and gently placed a small sleeve of crackers in front of you.
You’d think since the Pizzaplex didn’t have the animatronic in question, much less a Glamrock version of it, they wouldn’t have put Foxy across its front. Maybe it was because he was the only one they could reasonably say would have a parrot. Afterall what is a pirate without his winged companion?
“A little something,” Sun hummed softly as he patted the crackers before falling back to his previous position stationed closer to the tiny plastic tables scattered across this side of the daycare. You glance down at the crackers… you prefer the filled kind.. But you didn’t have the heart to fully ignore the snack.
You’d eat it later, but for now the package will find itself home in the top drawer on the right hand of the desk- where it will likely be forgotten, but at least you can say you tried to save it for later.
The transition to naptime was hardly ever smooth. Children with extra energy were usually the main issue- always able to outrun Sun as he tried to gently prompt them into setting down their sleeping mat somewhere on the floor. You tuned out the chaos to the best of your ability as the grating whines threatened to spike the pain growing in your head. It was a mercy when the noises finally died down and the lights of the daycare dimmed- leaving behind the faint glows of false stars strewn up around the ceiling.
Moon had already taken Sun’s place by the time your eyes darted to the jester, and unlike Sun he didn’t glance over his shoulder repeatedly to check on you- instead focusing on wrangling the last couple of fussy children down and appeasing them with a story.
It was only when the animatronic finished reciting the last lines of the story- his eyes hardly ever darted to the pages of the book in his hands, no doubt he had long memorized every word and line. A quick scan over the tiny limp bodies… and almost too quickly his eyes snapped to your position.
Precise. Calculated. There was intention in the way the tiny pinpricks of light shrank in the darkness. If you weren’t so used to the attendant a shiver would have crept down your spine, but you held the same face as he weaved through the sleeping children with practiced ease. The dull and near muted whir of his mechanics clicking into the background of the soft music box like tune that floated into the air.
Step…… step…… step……
Slow and deliberate as his faintly glowing face plate remained still. It kind of reminded you of how a bird’s head remains still when the rest of their body moved. Again, if you weren’t so used to it you would have shrunk back as he settles his long hard fingers along the edge of the desk. Soft, drumming, and tapping as those eyes remained focused right on your face.
Set but not cruel. Resting somewhere just under your own stare as you settled your stare on the soft fabric brim of Moon’s sleeping cap.
Maybe Sun wasn’t asking you to lay down for the children’s sake.
“You’re tired,”
You had to hand it to the themed animatronic, he was straight to the point. If anything his voice sounded clipped as it dawned that he was staring at the dark circles under your eyes. Then tracing around the faint look of your skin, the stray strands of hair that you couldn’t be bothered to tuck back into place with uneasy fingers.
A gentle wave of your hand. It did nothing to appease him.
Moon could be just as stubborn as Sun, even if his energy was more controlled and subdued- you don’t think you’ve ever heard Moon speak louder than a whisper outside of when he was reading stories out. He was soft but not in a weak way. Soft as in gentle and careful, but you never missed the subtle sharpness that laced under his words when he didn’t get his way. A funny connection to the children he was meant to look over but you never had the confidence to say that to his face even in moments of hushed banter shared over this same desk.
“Why don’t we get you some shut eye,” His voice still hadn’t gone sharp. Yet.
The hand you held in the air grew still, limp at the wrist. Shifting… and then falling palm down to the cold top of the desk. Instead you shook your head.
“Can’t, you know I’m just as responsible of watching the children as you are,”
“Handled it before,” There it was. Clipped and short. The animatronic's eyes remained locked on you. Steady and controlled, you couldn't quite tell if it was meant to be a glare or a simple look of disapproval at your refusal. "…before you came around," Moon clarified after a moment's pause. Your teeth shift around against the inside of your cheek.
…Right.
It's not like they always had someone to keep an eye on them before.
The fact they needed a glorified babysitter now sat weird in the back of your mind but you always chalked it up to an extra hands being needed with the influx of children.
The curves of your teeth rolled against the inside of your cheek again. The music in the daycare had long since quieted- the tune swapped out for something softer. Almost like a wordless lullaby. You may have been a grown adult but the notes tugged at your heavy eyelids.
"Answer's still no, I've got things to do just like you," You finally managed to spit out. All you were given in response was a tilt of the attendant's head. Even the click of his hinged neck sounded muted. Moon's faceplate inched closer over the top of the desk, the lights of his eyes blurring in your own vision as he crossed the distance.
Before you knew it your back had been pressed to a lazy pile of mats on the floor… at least a few placed around to accommodate you… the tiny foam things weren't exactly made with adults in mind… a couple of spare blankets tossed over your body. Soft, fuzzy… vaguely smelling like a storage closet- dust and supplies, almost chemical.
Honestly the quick interaction that led you to being on the floor hardly registered to you. It seemed it wasn't just children they were good at convincing.
You only made a single attempt to rise back from the mats under you. In return Moon's long fingers curled around your shoulder and forced your spine back down. One single glance was all it took for you to give up on the second attempt.
He stood over you.
And honestly it was terrifying the way he stared down at you.
The soft multicolored lights from above did next to nothing to make him look any less menacing. Hues of gold and blue warping the blues of his plastic body. The casing was freshly clean this morning… shiny… now stickers and hardened pieces of glitter glue clung and crackled along the joints as he finally lowered himself to settle next to you.
Sitting. Crossed legged.
He wouldn't lay down with you, not while there were still children to keep an eye on. Asleep or not, the Daycare Attendant had a job to do… even if their handler wasn't being all that useful.
You felt bad about it. You really did.
It's not that you meant to keep yourself held up at the desk the past few hours… past few shifts… you did at least leave your seat when you had it in you to offer an extra set of hands. It was far more than what their previous handler's had done if the muttered words under Sun's breath told you, when he thought you weren't paying attention.
You could never tell if some of that irritation was aimed at you. The instant turn around he did when you asked for his attention always threw you for a loop… Sun… for all his energy and general positivity, was hard for you to read.
Moon was easier. Kind of. Just this once the roundabout answers and vague riddles he'd usually give you were completely gone. Replaced with something straightforward. Present.
Concerned.
Moon's long fingers curled around the edge of one of the blankets draped around your form, and gently tugged the material up to your shoulders.
You could hear the soft whir of his internal parts working under his hard shell… it was much better white noise than the hushed music of the daycare could ever dream to be. Surely if you said it out loud the jester would hold it over your head forever.
"Rest."
Again with the bluntness as Moon's eyes scanned over you. It felt heavy- no- you felt heavy. All of the exhaustion you were holding onto for the past few days became a firm weight in your bones, replacing the marrows with lead. The base of your skull ached as it sank into the beaten pillow Moon had shoved under your head.
…When had he pulled your hat off…?
The lights above looked like water color smears.
And he smelled like artificial lavender. Chemical, but it still served its purpose of forcing your eyes shut. It was for the better, if you remained awake to pinpoint where it stopped smelling like soft sleep and started to become hard bitterness you'd develop a headache. Make the one you already had worse… but even the ache behind your eyes was starting to slip away as your vision blurred and warped.
The brush of his fingers across your face as he pushed your hair away went unnoticed to you, as Moon remained positioned- almost standing guard should you begin to toss and turn.
His own hands would soothe your fingers when they began to twitch around nothing.
So it starts out pretty normal you’re a crew member of the Aroura that manages to escape the crash and ends up on planet 4546B working hard on surviving and finding a way to get home.
One day while out exploring, you stumble across the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. It vaguely resembles some kind on animal skin and the texture is that akin to fur but the way it catches the light and how it moves when you turn it this way and that it's almost like scales. It’s a deep iridescent black that always seems to be shifting in colour.
You decided to take it with you.
Later that evening after you have successfully returned to your base and are putting all of your supplies away. When your attention once again returns to the mysterious pelt, after multiple failed attempts at scanning it and the results coming back inconclusive. you're at very least able to determine that it's not in any way dangerous. So you decided to use it as a blanket. Its soft enough after all and you could do with some new bedding so that night you go to sleep with it.
The next day you are both shocked and horrified to find that you are no longer human. After some awkward wriggling and accidently falling down a small set of ladders your finally able to reach the nearest reflective surface to see what exactly has happened to you.
To your surprise you see a seal like creature staring back at you after confirming that it is in fact you (this involves doing a series of silly movements to see if it will copy). You immediately start freaking out and it takes a good few hours before you finally manage to calm down. it's during this time you find that you’ve grown incredibly hungry and without any way to access your storage (cuz the lack of opposable thumbs) you resolve to venture out and find something to eat instead.
Using your moon pool your able to gain easy access to the open ocean and while on the hunt you begin to discover the certain advantages your new form has. For one you’re a much faster swimmer and are able to hold your breath for increasing long periods of time. Two you discover that your new skin has the ability to dazzle and stun prey drawing them in, before your easily able to finish them off and you also find out that it also the ability to camouflage after one close call involving a stalker.
After spending the day in your new form you gradually grow to enjoy it however you still want to turn back into your original self. As night begins to fall you make your way back to your base fully prepared to spend the night on the floor as there is no way you're going to be able to get up the ladder to your bed. But it's while you're getting comfortable ready to go to sleep that you suddenly feel a shift and after some wriggling your finally able to shed the skin and return to your human self. Happy but also completely drain from today you put the pelt in storage and head to bed deciding to deal with it all tomorrow.
Meanwhile your time as an alien seal didn't go unnoticed as you've unknowingly managed to attract the attention of two of the local apex predators.
Sun and moon both witnessed the aroura crash. Living within the kelp forest they both got a front row view of the crash and the subsequent chaos that followed.
Over the course of the next few days they end up finding a bunch of the escape pods. All of which have been abandoned or partially destroyed. And at first they're curious, trying to figure out what these strange things are but after a certain point they eventually lose interest. Going back to their normal daily routine and focusing on more important things.
That is until your arrival in the safe shallows. Sun is the first one to spot you. He was out hunting, following a stay peeper as he chased it through the kelp forest and into the safe shallows when he comes across your newly constructed base. At first he is content to just ignore it for now, more focused on filling his belly with an afternoon snack than exploring. But then his attention is immediately caught when he sees seal you emerge from the moon pool.
He's never seen anything quite like you before but one things for sure he is extremely curious. He quickly hides behind some rocks so he can watch you further. And for the next few hours he watches, silently stalking you from a distance as you try to get your bearings and explore the safe shallows for yourself, before eventually returning to your base.
He immediately goes to tell Moonie about you. And later that evening they both return to investigated your base and to see if they can spot you again as sun really wants to show moon "the creature with the pretty scales". Unfortunately, they have no such luck but that doesn’t stop them from coming back again and again.
Taking turns through the night and day, to observe you from a distance as they try and figure out a good way to approach you. They are even more surprised to see an equally strange creature (you in human form) leave your base one day. And it's only after a few more days of watching do they eventually realise that you are one in the same.
Leaving them even more curious and eager to finally meet you.
