It's All Been Oh - So Overwhelming For The Young Boy. He Had Been Certain That Being Captured By The

★ — It's all been oh - so overwhelming for the young boy. He had been certain that being captured by the animatronics that night he had been locked inside the pizzaplex would be a death sentence. Even more so, as they presented him to the security guard — Vanessa, Vanny. But she'd only dragged him down with her, down to the very depths of the pizzaplex, far deeper than he could have possibly known the place extended. And she had shown him the secrets. The truth.

He was wanted. Needed, even. That had never been the case before. He wanted to do good — wanted to stay wanted.

( but he is still a child, and children get scared ).

"I — I'm not a brat, you're just — you're not listening to me!"

Not that Gregory expects her to. In the end, she was just a proxy. An extension of what lurked behind it all. Perhaps it would be better, to tell him himself, than to go through the follower. ( he'd been a father, once. maybe he'd understand ).

"I can't do this, I don't know how — not as fast as you need me to. I want to, but I ... I need more time."

the  animatronics  stalking  him   &*   capturing  him  ,   vanny's  won  .   much  like  how  glitchtrap  weaved  his  purple  tendrils  around  her  to  get  her  under  his  influence  ,   gregory  suffered  the  same  fate  .   they  are  on  the  same  wavelength  whether  he  liked  it  or  not  .   it  was  the  last  thing  on  her  mind  whether  or  not  the  kid  was  comfortable  .   hating  kids   &*   even  more  now  .   she  could  use  gregory  though  .  squeeze  out  every  bit  of  innocence  this  child  has   &*   make  him  exactly  like  her  ,   like  afton  .   could  get  him  to  be  better  than  he  could  imagine  .   if  he  stopped  bitching   &*   moaning  at  every  turn  .  

tough  love  is  the  only  thing  that  vanessa  knows  .   well  ,   there's  no  love  .   she  was  just  tough  on  the  kid  .   you  don't  realize  how  different  you  have  to  treat  someone  else  .   only  knows  how  it  is  afton  treats  her  .   it's  not  like  he  mistreats  her  aside  from  the  occasional  insult  .  

though  gregory  seems  to  be  a  few  seconds  away  from  having  a  full  blown  temper  tantrum  .   one  that  the  rabbit  will  not  tolerate  .    ‘  gregory  .  ’    warbled  tone  emitted  from  her  voice  box  almost  singsong  like  .    ‘  n̴o̸   o̸n̷e̵   l̷i̶k̵e̵s̵   a̵   b̵r̸a̴t̶  .  ’    shifting  from  something  singsongy  to  a  little  angrier  .    ‘  we  need  you  r̸e̵a̸d̸y̸  .   want  you  to  have  fun  with  us  .  ’

tlou au my beloved,

read ggy in one sitting and then started rewatching tlou I have so many thoughts bouncing around in my head but they are only for painful aus hello

[ JACKET ]:          sender notices the receiver beginning to shake after an immensely distressing incident, and removes their own jacket to wrap it around the receiver’s shoulders.

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒.

★ — Gregory's throat feels hoarse from screaming ( feels as though he's been screaming for hours, for help, for someone to hear him, for the blind panic that felt as if there was no other outlet than to scream in anguish ; though it can't have been more than a few minutes since he escaped. since the fire started ), and yet he starts once more the moment he feels a hand on his back, desperate and tired, sure that he has no more fight left in him — if this is William crawling his way back out of the fire, then Gregory is going to die here.

He's flailing in his potential assailants arms, weakly hitting at them as his screams meld more into exhausted sobs, pleas for them to let him go when a familiar voice ( one he's long associated with safety ) cuts through the haze of panic, and for the first time since the flames started Gregory truly sees.

He sees Michael.

Michael, who he had been so certain was dead in a basement because of him, because of his inability to take care of them both. He thought he was never going to see him again.

He's holding onto him tightly, not letting the teen fight out of his grasp, but still at arms length distance so that he's not smothering Gregory, not invading his space and increasing his panic. His expression is deathly serious, full of concern — still pale, but alive, his blue hues worriedly scanning over his smaller frame. Gregory is covered in blood.

( he's not sure how much is his own, and how much is the blood of his guardian's father ).

A long moment passes as they stare at each other in similar states of disbelief. Michael is mumbling words of reassurance that Gregory doesn't hear. His shouting sobs pitter off into quiet cries as the fight leaves his body, slowly and then all at once. Pure exhaustion takes its place. Gregory's knees begin to buckle, and he falls forward onto Michael, trusting that the man will catch him. He does. Without a second thought, Gregory wraps his arms around his neck. He's trembling.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but I — I thought he'd leave me alone if he saw it. I didn't know he was looking for it. I'm sorry. I didn't know ——."

Half - babbled apologies that Gregory is hardly conscious of, just overcome by the need to make sure Michael knows he's sorry. Michael returns the embrace just as tightly, pulling Gregory in tighter as he tucks himself into the man's collarbone. He feels safe. He wants to stay here, forever.

Everything begins to blur together as the adrenaline begins to wane. Michael shifts, and Gregory allows himself to be maneuvered around easily ( not noticing that even as he's moved, michael never once lets him fully slip from his hold ), still muttering apologies under his breath that are softly forgiven and excused. Something heavy settles on his shoulders, the weight of it solid and warm ( not that it's the cold causing the teen to shake like a leaf ).

It feels safe. Michael is safe.

An arm wraps around his shoulders, pulling him in close to Michael's side and Gregory goes without resistance — burying himself into his guardian's side, leaning his weight into him ( something in the back of his mind reminds him that michael isn't fully healed yet, he shouldn't be relying so heavily on him, but it's not enough for him to take back control of his body from moving on autopilot ) as the man begins to steer him away. Gregory stumbles as he moves.

The crackling of flames continues behind them, though neither looks back.

in vanessa’s defense, it was a genuine question…

adopt gregory before the night at the pizzaplex and give him something to look forward to upon escaping but also let your muse deal with the terror of him disappearing for a night and coming back completely traumatized!