Chapter Text
Donuts.
The most simplest yet undeniably delicious treats known around the world.
Baked and fried. Filled with jelly goodness or cream filling. Glazed in chocolate. Round or long. There were many different types of donuts to choose from.
Too many in fact.
She didn’t know what type of donuts Sun or Moon preferred. She didn’t even know if either of them liked donuts. Maybe she should have brought something else. Something that wasn’t so plain and simple.
Not that I have any choice anymore. She sighed, opening the shutter to the Daycare. I already paid for these and it’d be weird if everyone saw me bringing a box of donuts to my room for myself. Would of made more sense if Chica wasn’t staying over with Monty tonight. Oh well. Who knows, maybe Sun might like–
“Do I smell DONUTS?!”
A small shriek that may or may not have left her lips echoed in the large room, staring at Sun as the mutant stuck his head out the slide and gazed at her with bright sparkling eyes. “Sun?! You–did you stay in the slide all day waiting for me to come back?”
“Whaaaaaat? Nooooooooo! … maybe.”
The solar mutant smiled sheepishly, ducking behind his rays. Okay, weird. But at least she didn’t need to try to get the mutant’s attention.
“Okay, so.” She lifted the lid up, showing Sun the assortment of sweet confections inside. “I didn’t know which donuts you preferred the most, so I got a mix of different types and fillings.”
“… donuts can have fillings?”
“Yeesssss?” She answered with uncertainty. How long exactly had he stayed here not knowing donuts had fillings? “There’s blueberry. Cherry. Raspberry. Cream. And chocolate filling.” She held the box out, watching Sun stare hungrily at all the choices presented to him. “There’s also a few without filling if you prefer.”
“Ooooooo! They all sound so good! Which is your favorite?”
“Mine? I don’t normally eat donuts.” She shrugged as Sun reached into the box. “I don’t normally indulge myself in sweets too often. Have to keep my figure perfect for the show after all.” She brushed back some of her hair. “Though, if I’m honest, I do like the powdered donuts. The taste and flavor are nice, but I like when my fingers get coated in the white powder so I can just lick it off when I’m done.”
“Hmmm. I don’t think I would enjoy powdered donuts then. Seems too messy.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it.” She shrugged, watching as Sun took out a Long John and started digging into it. “By the way. I wanted to say thank you.”
“Fmor mat?”
“For the bracelet.” She held up her wrist. “It was really nice of you, and it helped when the lights went out.”
“Wha–?!”
Sun looked at her in shock, hand hovering over a cream filled donut.
“The lights–Oh! Did Moon get you?! Please tell me he didn’t do anything to you! Oh goodness, goodness, GOODNESS! I’m so–!”
“It’s fine Sun!” She held up one hand, stopping Sun’s spiel. “He didn’t do anything to me. The light kept him away.”
“Really? Are you sure he didn’t do anything to you? Anything at all? He still never tells me anything even after I confronted him about it!”
“He didn’t do anything Sun, don’t worry.” Though he did give me a horrible glare while I was heading back to my room, but he doesn’t need to know that. “At least he’s keeping his part of the deal. Speaking of which, it’s going to take some time for me to get those photos. Despite being horrible at their jobs, staff is usually good at storing personal information away and keeping others from getting it. I’ll need to come up with a good excuse or reason to get my hands on them.”
“Why can’t you just say it’s for Moon? I’m sure they’ll let you if you just explain. You already told them about Moon, so maybe they’ll listen.”
A small hiss passed between her teeth. “About that…” She looked to the side. “I, um… might of not told them about Moon?”
“… what?”
She let out a deep sigh, shoulders slumping in defeat. “Okay. Look. I was going to tell staff about your brother when I first found out about… that.” Even though she should have considering how much chaos Moon caused for everyone over the years. “But then when you got angry at me for calling him… that, I might have been too nervous to mention anything to anyone about what I learned.”
“Oh… oh.”
Sun was silent for a moment. His face shifted into a few conflicted emotions before he spoke again.
“So… no one knows what Moon did?”
“They don’t even know anyone lives here.” She confessed. “The Daycare’s been abandoned for so long, nobody’s thought to check here. So, no. Nobody knows what your brother did. Though I really think he should at least apologize for what he did.”
“But the Daycare isn’t abandoned! It’s just closed for the time being!”
“But–” She looked at Sun oddly before shaking her head and sighing. He still believed this place hadn’t been abandoned? Either he was in deep denial about the whole thing, or he was completely oblivious to the situation he was in.
Oh well, ignorance is bliss as they say.
~*~
“Sandwiches!”
At least he knew what those were. “Brought a few bottles of water as well.” She set two of the bags down next to the slide.
“But we already have water?”
“It’s clean water.” She sat down next to the slide, reaching into her own bag. “You and your brother can’t drink out of the dispenser all the time. That thing is probably dirty.”
“But we can’t bring food into the Daycare. It’s against the rules!”
“Then why not bring it up to your room? If you’re allowed to eat up there, then you can just take it up there.” She opened her own bottle of water. “It wouldn’t really be breaking the rule, would it?”
Sun made a few sounds before going quiet. She spared a small glance at him, seeing him making faces before shrugging. He seemed to do that quite a lot.
“Not really a fan of breaking rules, are you?” She asked as Sun dug around in his bag.
“Nope! Never have been, never will!”
He pulled out his sandwiches, staring wide-eyed at the thickness. She had gone with one of her regular favorites, white bread with thick roast beef, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes.
“Oh goodness.”
She could see a bit of drool leaking out his mouth before opening his mouth wide open, giving her just a moment to see his sharp dentures before biting down into the sandwich.
“Thought you might like it.” She smiled, hearing Sun moan in delight as he chewed. “It’s one of my favorites because they put a lot of meat in it.”
“Smo. Mood!”
“Glad you like it. There’s also one for your brother in the bag.”
“Thanks! By the way, I have a quick question.”
“What is it?”
“Do you know why one of the jungle gyms has a big hole in it where one of the walls should be?”
She nearly choked on her drink. Ooooooh boy.
~*~
“I feel very conflicted.”
“I wouldn’t blame you.”
“It’s our job to guard the Daycare! Not tear it apart!”
She cast a small look of pity at the taller mutant, hearing the clear hurt and distress in his voice. Not that she could say that it wasn’t misplaced.
High in the jungle gym, there was a noticeable large hole right where a wall should be, with bent bars jutting out with sharp edges. She was no health inspector, but this would clearly count as a health hazard for small kids.
“How did he even manage this? It just isn’t like him to damage the Daycare so carelessly!”
She could only shrug. Honestly, she didn’t even know how he managed this either. The bars looked sturdy enough and it should have kept him there till she escaped. At least then she could have pretended that it never happened and it was all just a dream.
But, Her eyes traveled to Sun. If that happened, I wouldn’t have met Sun. And if that didn’t happen, I might of had the threat of an angry mutant hanging over my head every night. She shuddered at the thought, the memory of burning red eyes crossing her mind. Hopefully he doesn’t hold any grudges…
“Whelp! Better get to fixing before the kids show up!”
“Kids?” She looked at Sun confused.
“Of course! Everything in the Daycare has to be perfect for the little ones when they arrive! Though that’s going to be a while considering the ah… obvious health hazard right here.”
He motioned his hands at the hole with a deep frown.
“Only problem is that Moon seems to uh, hidden the missing parts and is very inclined not to tell me or even hint as to where he put them.”
“Oh really? Have you checked everywhere?”
“I’ve checked all the usual spots in the Daycare where he likes to hide things. I even checked our room! They’re nowhere to be found!”
“Well have you checked outsi–…oh.” Her ears went down a little, looking at the taller mutant with a bit of mixed pity and realization. “Right. You can’t go outside the Daycare.”
“Nope!”
Sun shook his head with a smile while she sighed heavily, already knowing where this was going.
Two nights later she was able to find the missing parts hidden away in one of the party rooms surrounding the Daycare, cleverly hidden on the ceiling.
~*~
As much as she wanted to say the constant broken music that played on a loop overhead was the most annoying thing she ever heard in the Daycare, it was nothing compared to the loud banging of a hammer on metal she had come to associate with during her visits recently.
“Sun, not to be rude, but maybe you shouldn’t just swing a hammer wildly at it.”
“Well how else am I supposed to get the dents out?”
She flinched as the hammer came down on dented metal, feeling a pang of sympathy for the poor structure. It hadn’t been too bad. The edges had needed straightening and bent back into shape. She had fixed plenty of go-karts to know how to fix frameworks back into their original shapes.
What Sun was doing was chaotic.
The moment he had a hammer in hand, he started swinging the heavy item at the dented structure, bending the metal out of proportion with each strike. She tried giving him pointers, but Sun had insisted that he could do this on his own after all the trouble she went to finding the missing pieces. Still, the way he was going at this wasn’t the right way to fix this.
“Done! Wait…”
Sun held up the smaller piece, frowning at the new dents and twists in the frame.
“This isn’t right.”
He tilted it, moving his head side to side, pushing out his lower lip in thought.
“Maybe if I…”
He set the frame down, grabbing the hammer and started swinging again, continuing the onslaught of banging once again in the Daycare. She could only handle it for about two minutes before she had enough, getting up and taking the hammer out of Sun’s hands. “Give me that.”
“Hey! That’s not–!”
“You’re doing it all wrong.” She huffed, pointing the hammer at the mutant’s chest. “You can’t just keep swinging a hammer at it. You need to properly measure it, make sure everything is aligned, and control how much force you’re putting into each swing. If you just keep hitting it with a hammer like that, it’ll just mess up the framework more.” She grabbed one of his hands, handing him back the hammer. “Here. Let me show you.”
“O-Okay.”
She started showing him the correct way to go about it. With a few swings and careful measuring, there was already a big improvement in the frame’s structure by the time she had to leave.
~*~
“You know, I sort of knew this would happen.”
“Really? You did? Are you psychic?!”
“Nope. Just went on a hunch.” She admitted, scratching her nose.
It took a few days for Sun to get all the dents and edges sorted out, mostly due to trying to finish fixing the frames on his own without her help which led to more dents that needed fixing. It felt nice to work on something, even if it was a minuscule task of shaping metal back to its original state.
Once the frame looked close to its original form, Sun had taken over finishing fixing the play structure. Seeing his work with a hammer, she doubted that he could make it a simple fix as he claimed it to be, though she didn’t stop him from trying.
She was still taken off guard when she saw the finished product.
Globs of glue. Roles of tape. An assortment of different stickers and colorful strings.
And glitter.
So.
Much.
Glitter.
“So whaddya think? Am I a master builder or what? You can hardly tell that there was ever a hole in it!”
“Sun, as much as I am impressed that you managed to put the frame back, are you sure it’ll stick?” She surpassed a small shudder as a glob of glue slowly trailed down one of the rails. “It doesn’t look very… stable.”
“Whaaaaat? Pht! Of course it’s stable! I mean look at it!”
He motioned to the mess.
“It stays exactly right where it’s supposed to–”
He didn’t get to finish the sentence as the frame suddenly popped out, clattering to the ground and landed with a thud. She and Sun stared at the frame, watching as glue, stickers, tape, and glitter slid off the frame and covered the padded floor. Then came a sort of strangled sound coming from Sun, his expression tight as his rays twitched, straightened and curved many times as his cheeks went bright red.
“… I… don’t think glue and tape are going to cut it Sun.” She lifted one foot, feeling disgusted as a trail of glue stuck to it. “How about I get you some duct tape tomorrow?”
“… haaaaaaaannnnnnn ffffffffiiiinnnnne.”
~*~
It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.
The duct tape wasn’t colorful or blended with the bright colors of the play structure so it stuck out like a sore thumb, but it held the frame in place so she considered that a win. So to celebrate, she brought one of her favorite foods.
“Noodle bowl?”
“Yep! Dig in!” She grinned as she handed Sun a plastic bowl, not waiting for a second to dig into her own. Her tongue burned as the sweet spicy flavor touched her taste buds, but having long gotten used to it since she was a teenager, she paid the small pain no heed and easily dug into her food. She was nearly finished when she noticed that Sun hadn’t even started on his bowl. “If you keep staring at it, it’ll get cold.”
“Huh?”
Sun blinked, looking up at her.
“O-oh, oh. Sorry, I was just uh… lost in thought.”
He looked down at the bowl of noodles.
“Why? You don’t like noodles or something?”
“No! No no no no no no! It’s not that! It’s uh…”
He stared at the bowl for a long moment.
“This… doesn’t look like normal noodles. Well, no, it’s noodles. It looks very much like noodles. It’s just, um. The, uh, vegetables look kind of… shriveled?”
“Well, yeah. They were dried out for packaging. Plenty of vegetables look shriveled in microwave food products.”
“Microwave? What’s a microwave?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “… you can not be serious.”
“About what?”
A snort tore out of her nose, shaking her head in disbelief. He had been in the Daycare for far too long. “Unbelievable. I get that you never leave the Daycare, but at least I assumed that Moon would tell you some things about the outside world.”
“H-He used to.”
Sun traced a finger around the edge of the bowl, staring sadly at the food.
“He used to. But then one day he just… stopped. H-He wouldn’t tell me anything, even when I ask nicely…”
His voice trailed off, hovering his finger over the noodles as his other hand rested on his cheek. She stared at him for a long moment, wondering if she should feel bad for him or not.
It was starting to become obvious to her that Moon was deliberately keeping Sun in the dark about everything outside the Daycare. Why? If they were brothers, Sun should have the right to know what was happening outside since he apparently can’t leave the place. If something big happened, Moon should at least be obligated to tell his brother so he would be up to date on any new changes happening in the Pizzaplex.
“Sun? Can I ask a bit about Moon?”
“About what?”
“Well.” She tapped her fork against the bowl, trying to find a good way to ask without sounding too insensitive. “What’s he like? You talk about him a lot, but at the same time I know very little about him.”
“Really?”
“I only know that he’s your brother. He’s part of the night security.” Even if he does a rather horrible job at it. “And he’s only allowed out of the Daycare when all the lights go off. Nothing about that tells me anything about his personality or what he likes.”
“… oh.”
Sun nods his head.
“I guess that makes a bit of sense. Although, I really shouldn’t talk about Moon.”
“Why not?”
“He likes his privacy.”
Grabbing his fork, Sun twisted it about in the noodles, gathering a bunch of wet, warm, slick strings in his utensil.
“He’s not much of a people person. Whether human or mutant. At most he likes to keep to himself because he doesn’t trust others too easily and really worries when someone–!”
He flinched harshly, letting out a grunt of pain and dropping his fork into the bowl.
“Sun?” Concern rose in her chest as Sun clutched his head in pain with a pained grunt. “A-Are you okay? Do you need a Advil? I can run back to my room or grab a medical box and–”
“N-no. No.”
Sun waved a hand at her.
“I-I’m fine. Just–”
He let out a hiss, sliding down the tube. She only caught a pained murmur of ‘Be right back’ before he disappeared around the corner, leaving her alone wondering if he was okay.
~*~
Two months.
It took two months, a lot of planning, hours of waiting, plenty of nights lying awake in bed with a small orb of light wondering if it was worth risking it, she finally got her hands on the photos of every employee.
Well, not exactly all of them.
She was able to get at least around ten photos or so. Most of them with faces she recognized easily. It hadn’t been an easy thing to accomplish, but she enjoyed the challenge it gave her, and she wasn’t calling it quits until she managed to get every photo of all the mutants in the Pizzaplex.
“Who’s this?”
“That Juan. He’s a Spanish Scottish mixed bull mutant. He works as a bouncer at one of the bars.” She moved her wrist about slowly, swirling her drink around in the plastic cup. “I can’t remember which. Though I do know he’s usually put around the bigger bars as extra muscle.”
“He certainly looks like he has a lot of muscle to spare.”
She hummed in agreement, taking a sip of her drink. She could feel eyes on her, looking over at the slide entrance to see Sun staring at her. Or, more accurately, her drink. “What? You got a problem or something?” She snapped lightly, not in the best mode due to having a bad work day this morning.
“Ah! No no no! Just curious.”
Sun ducked down into the slide, just enough that his nose and eyes peeked out over the rim.
“About what?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he just pointed to the cup in her hand.
She looked at the cup, raising an eyebrow. “What about it?”
“Well, not to be rude or anything mean like that but what is it? It smells odd yet veeeeery familiar. I can’t put my finger on it or remember when or where I’ve smelled it but I’m certain I’ve smelled something like this before!”
“Coffee?” She guessed.
“Yes!”
Sun exclaimed happily, pulling himself halfway out the tube and startling her.
“That’s it! Coffee! I knew I recognized this smell!”
He looked happy with himself, smiling wide with pride.
“Good for… you?” Well at least he knew what coffee was. Not too surprising, she guessed. Coffee was probably a common thing back then, so she wasn’t going to question it.
“You know, I never had coffee before.”
Her ears perked up at that, looking at Sun from the corner of her eyes as she took another swing of her drink.
“A lot of workers used to drink it when they worked here, but I never had any. Moon says that I’m not allowed to have any.”
Sun huffed with a cute pout.
“Says it’s gross and icky and I wouldn’t like it. But how could something that smells soooo good taste bad? It doesn’t make any sense!”
“Well, it can be kind of bitter.” She looked down at her drink. “But coffee can come in a different variety of flavors. Bitter, sweet, and plenty of other flavors depending on the freshness of roasted coffee beans. Though people can add condiments to help improve the taste as well.”
“Oh.”
“Yep.” She nodded, sipping on her drink. She wasn’t too surprised when Sun requested to try coffee.
Even with the bit of warning, she still found it funny when Sun spat out the drink after she told him not to down the whole thing the next night. It was even more hilarious that Sun kept trying different types of coffee for the next few nights, stubbornly refusing to give up which led to many nights of twisting his face in amusing ways that were so funny and cute she doubled over in a laughing fit till he settled on a mocha breve. Though that didn’t stop her from teasing him about it for a while.
~*~
“I won’t be able to stop by tomorrow.”
“WHAT?! Why?!”
“You know why Sun.” She rolled her eyes, trying her hardest not to feel a little bad at Sun’s pained look. “I told you already before, I can’t come here every night. It’ll look suspicious if I keep dropping by here all the time every night after closing. Someone might get curious about what I’m doing here and come investigate.” And discover a pair of hidden mutants who hadn’t realized that they’ve been abandoned for years and one of them being the terrible Night Monster. “Plus, it’s group game night tomorrow. I’ve always been present at them and I’ve been dying to hang out with my friends this month.”
Sun’s rays drooped, looking at the ground sadly with a quiet ‘Oh, okay’.
“… if you want, you can tag along too.” She offered, watching as Sun’s rays perked up as his eyes widened at the offer. “Everyone usually brings along a friend or two and they don’t mind having extra company over.”
“Oh I would love to!” Sun’s eyes lit up, rays wiggling in delight around his head. “Oh it’ll be so much fun! Meeting new people is always a delight! Oh! Maybe we should bring snacks and–!” He cut off suddenly. His smile quickly deflated as his rays wilted like a flower that had gone days without water. “… no. No we can’t.”
“Can’t what?” She kneeled down next to the slide, trying to get Sun to look at her.
“Can’t leave the Daycare.” Sun stated with a small sigh. “I’m sorry Roxy, I forgot about the rule. I want to go, I really, really do! But I can’t leave the Daycare without breaking the rule.”
She frowned deeply at this. “Why not? Can’t you break it just this once? No one knows about your rule and I won’t blab if you leave.”
“But if I leave, who’ll watch the Daycare?!”
“You’re brother?” It was an obvious thing. Moon could watch over the Daycare while she and Sun go have fun with her friends. He did seem like a reclusive type.
“No. That won’t work.” Sun sighed deeply, laying his face down on the rim of the slide. “He’s very strict about the rules. And I am too.” He admitted with a small bit of reluctance. “And we really can’t break the rule! If I do, I’ll be fired! I don’t want to be fired!”
“Okay, okay.” She held up a hand before Sun could start to panic. “I get it.” She let out a deep sigh, shaking her head. “It just seems a bit unfair that you guys have to stay locked up in here while every other mutant gets to roam around freely at their own pleasure. You guys had to be allowed out sometimes, right?”
Sun shrugged. “A few times, but only in a case of emergency. Like a fire or a natural disaster happening or a very special situation that was happening.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I recall a fire that happened here before. It wasn’t a big fire, but it did do a lot of damage. Enough to be on the cover of the newspaper for a week! I don’t recall how it started or what happened, but I do recall helping all the little stars out of the building!” He smiled brightly for a moment before it quickly went away. “It’s… been a while since I stepped out of the Daycare… even more outside the building itself.” He looked up at the ceiling, biting his lower lip. “I wonder how much has changed out there since we’ve last stepped outside the Pizzaplex.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. What could she say to that? She honestly didn’t know what to say that could make the solar mutant feel better about his situation.
~*~
The first thing she did was chastise herself for not thinking about it sooner.
The next thing she did was grab a roll of measuring tape and all but demanded Sun to stay still as she took his measurements.
“What are you doing?”
“Measuring.” She stretched the tape over his arm, jotting down the numbers on the notepad.
“W-Why?”
“So I can get your measurements right.” The tape wrapped around his wrist, more numbers written down, slowly moving up the mutant’s arm that was bare of clothing.
The sleeve had torn off yesterday. She had questioned the celestial being how he wasn’t shivering from the cold air in the Daycare, to which Sun expressed how he didn’t feel the cold at all despite wearing such flimsy and thin clothing and somehow accidentally ripped the sleeve off in the process. She should have realized sooner that he needed new clothes.
BADLY.
She looked up at Sun, smiling at him to reassure the taller mutant as she moved the tape over his chest, writing down the measurement as she went.
“Uh. R-R-Roxy? Not that I… mind this.” Sun stammered as she went behind him, putting the tape along the spine of his back. “… Maybe a liiiittle bit. But, um, w-why do you need measurements soooo badly exactly?”
“So your clothes can fit you.” She spoke around the pen in her mouth, looking at the numbers carefully on the tape before jotting them down.
“Fit me?” Sun looked at her questionably as she moved to his side, lifting one arm up with the tape wrapped around his chest. “What do you mean fit me?”
Sighing, she looked up at the mutant with a disgruntled look. “I’m taking measurements of your body so I can send it off to a tailor to make you some new clothes. No offense Sun, but you really need a wardrobe upgrade.”
“What’s wrong with the clothes I’m wearing?”
She grabbed his shirt, pulling it out and motioned to the holes, rips, and various patchworks in the fabric that were stretching out with visible holes in the seam-line.
Sun stared at his shirt for a moment before shrugging. “So? It’s still covering my body, plus it’s nice and comfy!”
“Sun, I can practically feel your skin through the fabric.”
“So?”
“So it’s old, worn, faded, stretched, and on its last leg. You need new clothes.”
Sun scoffed, batting her hand away. “No I don’t, silly! Sure my clothes are a little old and most of the color has sort of bleached out and needs a bit more patchwork here and there, but it’s still holding together!” He tugged at the fabric, which immediately ripped and fell into pieces.
They both stared at the fallen fabric for a long while. “… Maybe I could use a new shirt… or two.”
~*~
Today had been awful.
If there were certain types of beings she never wanted to deal with, it was Karens.
She had to deal with Karens on a daily basis, mostly one or two. Some would rant that her racetrack was unsafe while others raved that their child should be allowed to drive a go-kart without a driver assistant despite the child being too little and young to drive on their own. She tried her hardest not to be snappy or let her anger get the best of her.
These were common complaints and she could deal with it. What she couldn’t deal with was the fact that not one Karen, not two, but a whole GROUP of mothers and other customers decided to ganged up on her, making ridiculous demands and complaints that she hardly understood why they would request or say such things. It got worse when one of them decided to throw their drink at her, causing a chain reaction for the other to start getting violent.
She was able to get away thanks to security, but the damage was already done when she raced back to her room, gazing at herself in the mirror.
The reflection of her vanity mirror didn’t show Roxy the coolest and best mutant of the Glamrocks. What stared back at her was a she-wolf covered in filth with ruined mascara running down her face like black waterfalls. She could see that her hair had been ruined, her tail covered in filth and dirt, and her makeup damaged beyond repair.
Hot tears welled in her eyes, breathing hitched as she examined the damage. She didn’t understand why she had been ganged up on or why they had done this to her. She was used to customers being upset before and having one or two drinks thrown at her face, but this was too far even for a Karen.
Emotions boiled deep inside her, ducking into her bedroom to hide her shame and weakness, burying herself in her sheets and wished the day away. At some point, Chica, Monty, and even Freddy came to check up on her, having heard what happened in her raceway.
Chica had been upset that she had been abused, hugging her closer and refusing to let go while Freddy apologized over and over again that this happened, promising to get things better in the near future. But Monty was the most furious, shouting and raving like mad in her room as he swore up and down that none of those people had the right to treat her like that, threatening to bite off their heads if he saw any of them.
It made her feel a bit better that her friends cared so much about her, but she couldn’t stop the tears from falling from her face. Even after a hot bath and Chica cooking dinner for everyone, she couldn’t get out of her slump.
Freddy was generous to let her have the rest of the day and tomorrow off, which she accepted without complaint, soaking in the company of her friends who cared about her.
The morning after wasn’t much better, staying hidden most of the day in her room with covers wrapped around her as if they could shield her from the world’s cruelties. She wished her Pop was here. His presence always made her feel better after a bad day.
Why did he have to be so far away?
Around noon, she finally got out of bed, deciding to eat out instead of just moping all day long in her room. Putting on baggy clothes and a hood to hide her identity, she snuck out of Rockstar Row, making her way through the Atrium to the Lobby of the Pizzaplex. She didn’t want to eat at the restaurants or food courts. Not around a bunch of guests who could recognize her easily.
Immediately, she went to the Faz-Pad, grabbing herself a quick cup of coffee and left before anyone could recognize her, chilling out in the corner by the doors that led to the Superstar Daycare. She stared at her drink, feeling the warmth from the cup slowly fading as she stared at the dark liquid inside.
She didn’t feel hungry. She didn’t feel like her normal self. She shouldn’t feel like this but she did, vexed at her own problem.
She wanted to talk to someone. She needed someone to vent to and listen to her. Someone who could give her some advice or understand what she was going through.
She thought about going to Chica, but immediately pushed it aside. She had extra yoga classes today. She couldn’t bother her friend with her own stupid emotional wreck. Monty wasn’t a good option as he was still angry about what had happened yesterday, and going to him might set the gator off. Freddy was her last option but she didn’t feel like confiding in the bear as much as she did with Chica. Freddy was nice, but she didn’t trust him with most of her emotional problems as she could with her best friend.
She couldn’t think of any other mutant or worker who would be able to listen to her during their free time, and she wasn’t particularly close to anyone to drop her woes onto.
Sinking to the ground, she thought of just heading back to her room and hiding away for the rest of the day till her eyes looked up at the cheery colorful sign above the double doors.
SUPERSTAR DAYCARE PICK-UP
She stared at the colorful display for what felt like forever before slowly standing up, checking over her shoulder to be sure no one was looking before ducking inside. The cool air was welcoming against her face as she walked down the long hallway, opening the shutter door with little energy and made her way towards the slide.
She was halfway there before Sun’s head popped out from the opening, smiling up at her with a greeting on his tongue but stopped when she pulled down her hood and stared at him. “Roxy? What’s wrong?”
The gentle warm tone of his voice made something in her chest crack, gripping her coffee cup tightly as she stared at the solar mutant, tears threatening to fall again from her eyes before she shoved them away, taking a deep breath. “Sun… c-can I come into the Daycare?”
~*~
“And that’s what happened.” She felt drained, having finished retelling the whole incident to the solar mutant.
Sun had been more than understanding, allowing her inside the Daycare and let her vent, listening quietly as she told him of the incident that occurred yesterday. She was rather grateful that he didn’t interrupt her or spoke up as she talked, feeling somewhat better after talking about her experience to someone.
She was snuggled against the celestial mutant’s side, having taken his offer for a hug and glad she did. He was warm. Radiating the perfect amount of heat that kept the cold air of the Daycare away while being warm enough to snuggle up against without burning.
He was warm enough that she could almost fall asleep against him.
“Golly. That’s…” Sun shook his head, hugging her closer to his side. “That’s just terrible. How could anyone do that?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged, wiping away a stray tear with her sleeve. “People are just awful like that sometimes.”
“That still didn’t give them any right to do that to you! I mean, they should have at least tried to talk to you calmly. Throwing things at someone is just plain rude!”
She smiled up at Sun, appreciating his words. “I bet you hardly had to deal with Karens and Kevins when the Daycare was open.”
“Karens and… Kevins?” Sun looked at her questionably, and she couldn’t help but chuckle at the cute look.
“It’s what we tend to call rude people who make ridiculous and outright crazy demands, thinking that the world revolves around them and everyone else is below them.” She explained with a small huff, lifting her cup to her lips for a small sip.
“Ooooh. I get it. Well, I don’t get why they’re called Karens and Kevins, but I know what you mean. Me and Moon had to deal with them all the time!”
“Really?” She looked at Sun in surprise. She had assumed that, being a Daycare Attendant, Sun hardly had anyone coming to complain to him. The Daycare wasn’t fancy or over the top, and there wasn’t much to complain about it as far as she could see.
“M-hm.” Sun nodded his head. “There wasn’t a single week me or Moon could go by without encountering an angry parent or two.”
“How come?”
“Oh the usual thing.” Sun sighed. “They usually complain about how we handle things, how we’re not doing it the right way, how we treated the kids, why their child shouldn’t have been banned, how they were entitled to do whatever they wanted and why everyone else was the problem.” He huffed, letting out a puff of smoke from his nose. “Ooooooo they just make me so angry! I tried to be nice and civil with them, but they just kept at it!”
“That sounds rough.” She patted his shoulder in sympathy, knowing his pain all too well.
“It was the worst! Especially when they start using no-no words!” His rays shrunk, looking down with a small whine. “Some of the words they used were really hurtful.”
“That’s… I’m sorry you had to go through all that Sun.” She could relate to Sun’s plight, knowing the years of horrible Karens and terrible words being thrown at her when she was just trying to do her job. “You didn’t need to go through all that.”
“I know.” Sun sighed deeply, leaning against her. “Moon kept telling me the same thing every time I had to deal with an upset parent.” He threw his head back with a small hum. “I wish I could have been able to talk back at them like he could. Moon was always better dealing with an upset parent.”
“Really? Did he scare them away or something?” She meant it as a joke, but to her surprise Sun nodded his head. “Wait, really? He scared them away?”
“Weeeeelllll,” Sun lifted his head, scratching the side of his head with a small huff. “Kind of? I mean, we’re usually polite and kind to everyone, but Moon tends to be a bit eeeeeeeehhhhhhhmmmmmmmm aggressive when confronting someone.” Sun narrowed his eyes, biting his lower lip as he continued. “He’s usually the one with more backbone and doesn’t like being talked down on, so he tends to ‘bite back’.” He lifted his hands, making a few air quotes. “Not, not literally biting back, but he tends to just be aggressive with his words and keeps his ground.”
He leaned closer to his, dropping his voice a little to what she assumed to be whispering, though he clearly didn’t seem to realize that the volume of his voice wasn’t all that quiet as he thought it was. “He also likes to intimidate people into submission with his looks. He likes to scare them off with his appearance and keep things in control that way.” He leaned away, speaking back in his normal tone. “Usually they tend to listen to Moon, but he was usually the one to handle them the least.”
“Why?”
Sun merely pointed at the ceiling, which she nodded her head in understanding.
With a sigh, she leaned her head against Sun’s shoulder, feeling him tense a bit before relaxing. “Well, I have no plans for today. And I don’t feel like going out there any time soon.” She looked up at Sun, giving him a small smile. “Mind if I hang around here for a while?”
Sun stared at her for the longest moment, eyes widening as a large ear splitting smile grew on his face.
~*~
“You seem to be in a good mood lately.”
One of her ears twitched, gazing around the rim of her cup to look at Monty. The gator was looking at her curiously, tilting his shades down enough for his eyes to peek over the rim. “Something good happen to you, Wolfy?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, you’ve been smiling a lot more these past few days.” Her eyes darted over to Chica. “You haven’t complained much about not racing in your racetrack. And you’ve been less grumpy at the staff workers.”
“Which we’re not complaining about.” The gator added in, leaning against the table and narrowed his eyes at her. “But you’re usually not this happy for long. Not unless there’s something that’s been keeping ya happy.”
“So you want to pry into my private life now?” She narrowed her eyes at Monty before Chica quickly cut in.
“No! No, we’re just curious. You were so down when we couldn’t use the attractions anymore, you were hardly happy about it for a while.”
“Hardly anyone would be happy if they were told they couldn’t play or relax in their attractions anymore.” Monty huffed.
“But then you started being happy after every big show. And you’ve been heading off somewhere before we get the chance to talk to you.”
Her ears went up. Shoot. They’ve started noticing a change in her behavior.
“I mean, it’s nice that you’re happy.”
“Really nice!”
“But we’re just curious as to why. Ya don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, it’s up to you.”
She stared at the pair for a while. She had suspected they wanted something from her since they invited her over to the Faz-Pad during break when they usually took the time to be with each other. She couldn’t turn down some much needed coffee, so she agreed.
It had been pleasant, trading stories and catching each other up with things going on in their respective attractions, even sharing a few jokes to lighten the mood. But of course, Monty had to stick his nose in her business again, though she had expected Chica to do so a lot sooner.
She could lie, tell them there was a new show she had been invested in for a while now, but then Chica would probably try to pry for details. Or she could fib and say that she had just been in a good mood lately for no reason, but Monty might not believe her.
She looked over to where the Daycare entrance lay briefly, wondering if she should tell them about Sun and his brother, but decided against it. It’d be too much trouble to try and explain why there were two abandoned mutants in the Daycare and how one of them was the terrible Night Monster. Plus, she wasn’t sure how Monty would take it. “I’ve just been hanging out with a new friend, that’s all.”
Chica jumped up in her seat, loudly gasping as her eyes went wide with excitement. “A NEW FRIEND?! Oh Roxy, that’s wonderful! Who are they? What’s their name? Are they a mutant? A human? What are they like? Can we meet them? Can we?!”
“Babe, calm down.” Monty chuckled as he guided Chica to sit back down in her chair.
“Sorry, sorry! It’s just!” Chica squealed, wiggling in her seat. “A new friend! Roxy has a new friend! Oh it’s so exciting!”
She rolled her eyes, already feeling Chica wasn’t going to stop bothering her about it till she gave her all the details. Oh well, at least she could omit a few things about Sun till she knew she could tell her friends about the mutants in the Daycare.