Feardrummed - Tumblr Posts

★ — The sudden voice startles him, clearly not expecting to get caught sneaking around the back door. It's too late to go in through the front, but he knows his way around — knows the back entrance is easily to slip through unnoticed as the pizzaplex has started to skip out on security. He spins around with wide eyes, clearly ready to bolt should she make any moves to grab him. But she doesn't.

"You're not supposed to be here either." ( a huff ). "And I don't care about Bonnie. I just ——. I need to get in."

@braveburned liked for a starter

"Yeah, I don't think you're supposed to be out here," she says as if she also shouldn't be lingering around the backdoor of the megaplex. The backdoor she'd been planning on getting open so she could sneak in. "Believe me, kid, getting to see Bonnie Bunny or whatever isn't worth it." She's not even sure trying to hunt down her family's charred remains is worth it yet.

★ — "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

Seems he's fully willing to call her out on that, expression scrunching up in obvious distaste. So what if he's a kid? Doesn't mean he's somehow not supposed to be here more than her! Her question ( and slight acquiescence ) does catch him off guard, though — for a moment, it's clear he doesn't know how to answer her.

Somehow, he thinks ' something in there is killing kids and tried to kill me and I need to figure out what it is ' isn't going to get him very far.

" .... there's too many people watching during the day."

"I'm probably supposed to be here more than you are." What does that mean, exactly? She's not even exactly sure, but it sure is what she said! She has at least some defensibly, in that this is a child. if she really wanted to, she could try the family history card, but she's not sure 'yeah I think my dad and brother are rotting in the basement' card would do much in this case.

"Okay, I'll bite—" bad choice of words? "What is so important that you can't wait until it opens up in the morning?"

★ — It's not the answer he's expecting ( not that he was expecting much to begin with ), breath hitching and a momentary flash of fear catching in his eyes. Did she know about the missing children, then?

"I told you I don't care about the animatronics."

Well, that's partially a lie ; he cares about one animatronic, but he's had enough up close and personal experiences with the others to last a lifetime.

"There's — somethin' I need to try and find, okay?"

She pauses for a moment, not having expected him to actually question her on that. "My dad owns the place." Not...exactly, sure, but it was something like that. She didn't need to get into it. Besides, weren't kids usually gullible or something? Hopefully that's enough for him to leave her be oh, if only she knew what she's getting herself into with Gregory.

She raised an eyebrow, "And why exactly is the number of people watching such a big deal? Again, seeing the animatronics up close and personal, not worth it."

★ — The ghost of a smile tugs at the corners of his lips thinking he's pushed her into giving in, only for his expression to twist into one of disbelief the moment Ollie insists on him staying by her side. Disbelief gives way to frustration and — oh, great, now he's pouting.

"That so not fair! I told you, I'm going in there for a reason. I'm not gonna be able to do anything if I'm stuck following you around!"

He's trying to look tough ( really, he is ), with his chin lifted, brows furrowed and arms folded over his chest. But it only goes so far when he's .... small. And ten. Quiet for a moment longer, almost out of defiance before eventually mumbling out a barely audible answer.

" ... m'Gregory."

She sees the fear from him, and for a moment, backs off a little. Ollie doesn't want to scare the kid, if only because she doesn't want him to go tell someone that someone claiming to be the owner's daughter is trying to break in. "Weird to go to the animatronic pizza place, then," she mutters, but looks him over one more time.

"Okay," she relents, giving up on the possibility that she's actually going to figure anything out tonight. "But you stay right by me, alright? No wandering off to go play Midnight Motorist or something." And with that, she turns her attention to picking the lock on the door. "What's you're name, kid? I'm Ollie."

★ — She's caught onto him completely ; a realization that's as embarrassing as it is frustrating. There's too much he can't say, but any argument he could build for the absolute necessity of him being inside the building without revealing the truth is flimsy at best. He's stuck, and the last thing Gregory needs is another adult to chase his tail like he's made of glass.

But maybe — maybe they both know more than they're letting on. His scowl softens a little, still a frown but with a pang of curiosity. He noticeably hesitates before speaking.

"I ... know it's not. It's not my first time being here after hours. But — there's some stuff I really need to see. And I .... have a friend inside who can watch after me."

She pauses, looking back at the kid with a raised eyebrow, her expression bordering on amused. Yeah, she sees a lot of herself and Michael in the kid, sue her. That doesn't mean she's about to let him run around unsupervised in there, though. "You told me you needed to find something. So we go find your thing, and you get out of there." She's not dumb, of course, and she continues with a slight smirk, "Unless there's something you're not telling me?"

She shuts her eyes for a second, taking a breath. "Look, Gregory, I spent a lot of time as a kid getting into stuff I shouldn't have. Still do." Like now. "So I'm not just over exaggerating when I say this isn't the kinda place you wanna be running around alone after hours, alright?"

★ — Gregory doesn't want to explain himself any further. He wants to go inside and head down to the sinkhole with Freddy — as much as he feels he has to go back, he wants to get it over with as quickly as possible. She's just taking up more of his time. ( more time for someone to notice he's gone missing again in the first place ). It would much easier if they could just go inside and go their separate ways, doing whatever it is they both feel they need to do without interfering with each other. Pretending they never met at the back door.

But by the way the blonde has stopped working at the lock and is instead looking at him, it's clear she's looking for an explanation. Gregory whines ( dramatic ), letting his head fall backwards as he looks to the night sky.

"Look. I have been inside before, and I know it's dangerous. But if I tell you why, you have to promise not to freak out, okay? And you can't call the police. You can't. Because I swear I'm somewhere safe now, but ... I need to go inside. I need to see something."

Her brow furrows a bit as she listens to him. "What could you possibly want to see in there if you've already been in there like this?" It's a mix of disbelief and hoping the kid might give her a lead. Maybe he's lying, trying to talk her into letting him go on his own. But just maybe he's telling the truth, and whatever he wants to see is what she is also looking for. Not that she's about to let him go see it, if that's the case. Putting a kid anywhere near her father is a recipe for disaster, clearly.

She finally processes the last statement, however. "Friend?" Well, now she's curious. She's still not sure what to make of the kid. He seems to know something, if she can trust his word. It's still a kid, and a kid who seems eager to get in at that. Maybe he's just making something up to try and get her to let him go.

Either way, she's not going to continue to pick the lock until he gives her more information.

★ — She doesn't, especially given that they're both trying to enter the building without the general populace knowing ; a fact which Gregory acknowledges with a reluctant shrug. Even so, he finds himself wary. He can't imagine most adults, regardless of how they appear, would keep their cool upon realizing he's a legally missing child walking around by himself in the dead of night.

Expression scrunches up at her offer ( endearingly childish where he's otherwise tried to project an air of seriousness ) as if weighing his options with her offer.

Somehow, he thinks Michael would disapprove of him wandering off with a stranger. But that also feels a little hypocritical, coming from him. And the last time he had gone to a diner had been with his mother.

" .... fine. We can go get pancakes. And then you can tell me what you think is in there."

"Do I look like the kind of person who calls the cops?" Considering the fact that she's also trying to break in or the fact that her general aesthetic didn't really make her look like the sort of person who put any sort of value in authority. Regardless of what crazy shit Gregory happens to say, she's not about to call the cops for a number of reasons. Not to mention, she's not even sure it would do anything, anyway.

Instead, she looks at the door, then back at the kid, and then lets out a sigh, stuffing the tools she was using to pick the lock back in her pocked. "Alright. Something's telling me we're looking for the same thing. And I don't think we should just go in blind. So let's talk, and we'll figure something out for tomorrow night."

Whether or not she'll actually be bring him back then, she's still not sure. But she's hoping it's enough of a compromise for him. "You hungry? I'm pretty sure there's still an all-night diner around here that, if i remember correctly, makes pretty good pancakes."

★ — Gregory's hesitant ; obviously so, lingering back and eyeing her warily even as she begins to walk away. Weight shifts awkwardly between his feet before he begins to follow her, half - skipping to catch up but still being careful to maintain a noticeable distance between them. Just in case. There would be no way for her to lean over and grab him, take him by surprise — enough of a distance to give him time to react, should he need to.

"Snuck in. It was during the day."

Muttered response, kicking petulantly at the pavement as they walk. He's looking ahead, but his gaze continuously flickers to the side, towards Ollie.

"They don't really, uh ... check all the kids in a big birthday party. So it was, y'know. Pretty easy. And the place is so big that even if they do notice you, it's pretty easy to get away before they catch you."

Of course, if Ollie knew he was missing, she likely wouldn't bat an eye. Sure, he's a lot younger than she was when she ran away, but she still knows the feeling of needing to get away. Knows the fear that can come with the idea of getting caught, of possibly getting sent back. Even with the kid so young, she likely wouldn't turn him in. Would make sure he has some sort of thing going for him and wasn't just wandering blindly. At sixteen that hadn't been great, she definitely couldn't imagine doing that at his age. Of course she's curious and concerned, but she's not going to push.

For now, she will just give a smile as he agrees. "Sounds like a deal," she says, nodding a little. Stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket, she starts moving away from the door. "How'd you get in the last time?" Since he'd already made that part clear. She figures it's a decent starting point.

"Hey, kid-" Ollie starts before Gregory has the chance to go into the particularly deranged kids entertainment center. She has a potentially more deranged idea, after all. "How about you come see a real band for once?"

@feardrummed

★ — He's already got one hand on the back door, a security badge he he'd managed to swipe the last time he was in the pizzaplex in the other when she calls out to him. He winces — an overly dramatic reaction, sure, but feels fitting as he's certain he'll be receiving another interrogation or half - assed lecture about how he should stay away. Even so, he lowers his hand from the door and turns around to face Ollie with a brow raised in question.

Oh —— .

That's — he wasn't expecting that. His surprise is obvious in his expression, in the way his lashes flutter rapidly and brown hues seem to widen. He stares at her for a second, fingers curling around the security badge before tilting his head.

"What d'you mean?"

★ — On one hand, it'd be really stupid to go to some unknown location with someone he barely knows — and really, Gregory knows next to nothing about Ollie.

On the other, if Ollie had wanted to hurt him, she'd certainly had plenty of chances to do so. Like right now, it was the middle of the night with no one around and only the two of them were behind a large, solitary building. And the last person he'd followed away from the pizzaplex despite knowing next to nothing about them had given him an escape from the foster system. So.

"You'd seriously take me with you?" ( a pause ). "Wait — if you've got a show tonight, why're you here instead of there?"

@braveburned from here

Her hands are on her hips, but Ollie doesn't plan on lecturing him. She's well aware of her own history of impulsive choices, and she's well aware of how little lectures did to stop any of that. If anything, she knew it could make that sort of thing worse. So hey, maybe a distraction would work better. It certainly couldn't be any worse.

"Well, I drum for a band, and the show tonight's probably chill enough for a kid." Doesn't mean a kid should be there, but that's neither here nor there. "I could probably get you in."

“I like perching like a little bisexual gargoyle” (feardrummed)

𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

★ — Gregory snorts, the beginnings of a laugh as the corners of his lips tug upwards half - noticeably. His eyes are bright, dancing with amusement and mischief ; a light that is only just now beginning to come back to them since that night. She's perched precariously on the edge, and without much further consideration Gregory decides he wants to come up too.

"Hold on ——."

All the warning he gives before he starts his climb up, a little bit more of a struggle given how much smaller his limbs are than Ollie's.

( he can practically hear Michael telling him to get down — not that he would listen even if his guardian were there ).