#rebranded

Ayala and the unnamed child were allowed to sleep undisturbed under the watchful eyes of Moon. He stayed with them in the Livingroom while they rested, assuring that they would be kept safe and sound.

The couch was not the best place for rest. It did not provide enough room for potential tossing and turning. All it would take was one wrong move and the boy could be dropped onto the hard, unforgiving floor.

For as gruff as he was, it was still in his nature to protect. And while he and Ayala weren’t on the most affectionate of terms, that did not mean that he wanted to see her hurt.

He worried that she would get hurt by sleeping in such an inappropriate place.

Likewise could be said for the traumatized boy. More so, even.

They were weak. Harmless. Without any means of self defense. Entirely dependent on Ayala and the animatronics.

He would hate to see them get hurt.

And so he looked after the two of them. He kept near them, ready to reach out and catch them should either roll off of the couch. And just to be safe, he gathered up every blanket and pillow that he could find and he laid them down upon the floor around the couch. That way, if his reaction time proved insufficient, there would be something soft there to cushion their fall.

He made sure that they were safe. Because that was what he was made for.

Sun, meanwhile, stayed with Louis. He kept watch over the boy while they rested. He made sure that he would be there when they woke. And when they did finally wake, he was perfectly capable of looking after them while Ayala rested.

He was the Daycare Attendant, after all. He had literally been built to take care of children. And Louis proved to be a very sweet, caring child. Once he was up, he made sure to keep quiet as he followed the daytime attendant downstairs. When they went to check on Ayala and the other boy, he made sure not to disturb them. Even though he wanted to.

He was worried about them. Specifically about the boy, because he had already been told what happened. But he knew that they needed to rest, and so he let them be.

Sun and Moon only needed to exchange a brief glance to confirm that all was well. There were no issues on Moon’s end, and there were no issues on Sun’s. So the two went about their business as they deemed fit.

Louis began to follow Sun around like a baby duck. He felt rather lost, given all that happened. He was in need of reassurance. He wanted to do all that he could to be of help to everyone. The Solar animatronic did not mind that one bit. There were plenty of ways for them to be of help! And for now, he could focus on helping the animatronic make breakfast.

Not that he really proved to be all that helpful. For the most part, Louis just clung to Sun’s leg while he cooked. He wasn’t yet old enough to be trusted with any real cooking tasks. But the animatronic made sure to make him feel included so that he would feel as though he had helped.

And it wasn’t as though he were in the way. The animatronic just had to be a little more careful when it came to walking by cupboard doors so that he wouldn’t accidentally bump Louis on the handles.

Together, the two of them prepared a simple but filling meal for everyone to share. French toast and bacon. With milk to drink.

Louis eagerly dug into the food once it was given to him. Surprisingly, he managed to do so without making a mess! He was a very polite and thoughtful boy. He would have been a little blessing, back at the daycare.

As he ate, he continued to peer over his shoulder to see if Ayala and the other boy had woken up. And they did! Eventually. At least Ayala did.

Just as Louis seemed to be finishing with his food, the woman jolted awake.

The animatronics caught an abrupt spike in her heart rate right before she woke up. She responded as though she had been abruptly jostled. She jolted, but she did not sit up. She took a sharp intake of breath as she rose. The inhale was clearly heard even from the kitchen.

For a moment she seemed disoriented. But she remained entirely aware of the small child that still lay asleep on her chest. She continued to cradle them even as she snapped back into consciousness.

Louis tentatively crept to the edge of the doorway as she woke up, and Sun allowed it. He clearly wanted to go and check on her. But he was being patient.

The other boy was clearly still asleep.

When Ayala sat up, she did so slowly. Very slowly and very carefully. Because she did not want to wake the sleeping child that she cradled against her body.

Once she was properly seated, she carefully slid the boy off of her body to settle them down atop the couch. Then she got up.

She tiredly muttered something under her breath as she got up, but only Moon could hear her.

She had to go to the bathroom. With the boy asleep, this was probably her best opportunity to do so. There was no telling how little time she would be able to get to herself now that she had two children to look after.

She only needed a few minutes to use the toilet. But when it came to such a young child, it would only ever take a few minutes for everything to dissolve into chaos.

Having lost the warmth of her embrace, the recently orphaned boy soon began to stir. He stretched and he squirmed in his sleep. He quietly whined, instinctively reaching out in search of the warmth that had been lost.

Moon hovered nearby the entire time, watching and waiting for the inevitable.

When the boy rolled off of the couch, Moon was there to catch him.

And catch him he did. He held his large, robotic hands out and allowed their delicate little body to roll right onto them.

He was gentle as could be. No grabbing. No squeezing. No scratching. He merely caught them as they fell off of the couch.

But he had not been prepared for what came next.

It had been so long since he felt the warmth of such a small, frail body supported in his hands. The sensation brought about feelings of nostalgia and anxiety that he was not prepared to face.

And so he froze. His body locked up and all that he could do was stare down at the fussing child as they dragged themselves from the depths of slumber.

When the boy woke up and locked eyes with Moon, everything was calm.

For a split second.

Panic flooded the animatronic’s system. He realized then that he had not held a child since the incident. An unfamiliar terror overtook him, and all that he could do was stare down at the boy with wide, panicked eyes.

Eyes which glowed bright, ominous red.

Just as quickly as fear took hold of Moon, it took hold of the boy. What remained of sleep was quickly chased away by raw, uninhibited terror.

He threw his little head back and released the loudest, most distressing scream that the animatronics had ever heard.

Immediately, Moon dropped him. He pulled his hands back and allowed the boy to roll off of his fingers.

Their small body landed safe and sound atop a pile of blankets and pillows. They were completely unharmed. They were completely safe. But the fear remained. And so they released a second, equally petrified scream.

The way they sounded, anyone would have assumed that they had just suffered a lethal injury.

Louis was so startled by the sound that he ran back to Sun, who pulled them into his arms and held them tightly, all the while he stared at his disoriented twin.

Moon looked terrified. He was terrified and confused, unable to decide between wanting to run and wanting to tend to the wailing child. But he ultimately did nothing. He merely stood there and hovered with his hands outstretched as if he meant to pick up the boy again.

Having obviously heard the screams, Ayala came rushing back into the Livingroom. In her haste, she nearly fell down the stairs. To her, it must have sounded like something horrific had happened.

Wide eyed and panicked, she haphazardly stumbled upon the scene.

Moon stood awkwardly over the screaming child with his hands outstretched.

He must have looked particularly threatening from her perspective, because she practically flew over to the boy to scoop him up into her arms.

Just as she had done the night before, she held him. She shushed him. She rocked and bounced him gently in her arms. Only now she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Moon.

He had a history. He had a well known, negative history. A history which involved hurting kids and killing people.

She looked at him as though she believed that he had done something.

The nocturnal animatronic made no movements whatsoever. He did not tremble. He did not curl into himself despite desperately wanting to. He just stood there as if he was frozen.

His expression was what gave him away. He was clearly terrified. He stood there wide eyed and confused as he just stared into Ayala’s defensive, skeptical eyes.

“H-he fell off the couch...” Moon eventually managed to mutter in a quiet, trembling voice.

He snapped out of his daze just enough to start to back away from the humans. He took slow, unsteady steps back.

He had to keep away.

It wasn’t his fault!

He didn’t do anything! The boy wasn’t hurt!

There was no blood. It was just an accident.

Accident!

Accident!

Accident!

He didn’t do anything! He didn’t do anything wrong!

Ayala continued to stare at him as he backed away. Gradually, her expression changed. The skepticism in her eyes was soon replaced by relief. Then by painful realization.

All that she could do was cast Moon one last apologetic glance as she understood the horrible mistake that she had just made.

“Okay... It’s okay.” She managed to murmur. She was speaking not only to the child, but to Moon as well. He was very clearly distressed. At the moment, he seemed to be just as terrified as the boy was.

Shaken and unsteady, she awkwardly carried the boy into the kitchen.

She didn’t know what to do. Having suddenly heard the boy’s terrified screams, she panicked. She had jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

In doing so, she overlooked how terrified Moon was.

In doing so, she wounded Moon in the worst possible way.

Both he and the child were in need of comfort now. But she could not be there for both of them. Not at this moment.

She had no choice but to pick one over the other.

Ayala locked eyes with Sun. If not for the fact that the boy was clearly afraid of animatronics, she might have passed them along to him.

She wanted to make things right with Moon. But she couldn’t. Not when she was the only one around who could look after the terrified child that clung desperately to her trembling body.

She had no choice but to prioritize the boy. It was the right thing to do. He had just lost his parents. He was in a stranger's home. There were big, scary robots standing around him and he didn’t know what to do.

He needed her. And so she needed to tend to him first…

Despite knowing that this was the correct course of action, it did not make her feel any less guilty for abandoning Moon.

Sun helped her get up the stairs. Though he did so awkwardly, as he was also afraid of setting the child off further. Louis followed close behind them.

Ayala knew that she had to separate the boy from the animatronics. That was the only way that she could hope to ease his fears.

Once she had made it to the top step with the boys and was sure to make it safely to the bedroom, Sun rushed back down the stairs.

Moon needed him.

He had moved to the far corner of the room in an attempt to hide. But he was trying to hide in plain sight. He was too afraid to try and go back to his closet. If he did, then he would be so much closer to that tiny, terrified child that he needed to be kept away from.

Sun found him. He rushed over to him.

The two pressed their bodies tightly together and huddled in search of comfort.

They found comfort in the close physical contact. They found comfort in their shared traumas.

Now it was Sun’s turn to protectively hover over his twin.

They were safe. Everything would be alright.

The children were safe. Everything would be alright.