Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fear is a strange thing.

Such a powerful emotion that can take over your whole body just in the blink of an eye.

To fear something so strongly that you react by perhaps, running, freezing, crying, and perhaps, the most associated reaction, screaming.

On this day, in particular, I felt true fear... and I reacted with the latter, most expected reaction.

"AUUUGH!"

I sat up with a jolt, bumping heads with my little sister, Sophie.

"Ow ow ow! Sheesh, I'm sorry I woke you up, but that just hurt." Sophie whined while rubbing the sore spot on her forehead. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, still bleary with sleep.

"Yeah, well, would you do me the honor of telling me why'd you wake me up at this ungodly hour, dear sister?" I asked, with noticeable sarcasm in my tone.

Sophie grabbed my arm and tried to drag me out of my bed. "It's your day to cook breakfast, Me and Paityn are hungry!"

"Paityn and I, Sis." I corrected.

"Shut up."

Sophie let go of my arm and walked towards my door. "Just hurry and get up, ok? We're craving your blueberry pancakes." She said before she left my room.

"Guess I can't keep them waiting," I thought to myself as I rolled out of my bed onto my soft carpet. I stood up, pulled off my Star Wars nightgown, and grabbed a hoodie and black jeans. I slipped on some furry, colorful slippers before running downstairs.

"Ay girls!" I shouted when I reached the living room.

And I was greeted with a,

"Good morning!" From Paityn, and an "I want pancakes." from Sophie.

I snorted at my roommate's greetings before going into the kitchen and getting started on the pancakes. I knew the recipe by heart, so I never had to write it down.

I live in an apartment with my little sister and our best friend, Paityn. We've all been friends since we were in middle school and still are to this day.

Sophie works at a local burger joint for her job, Paityn works at a little bubble tea shop, and I have an animation/gaming channel on Youtube for my work. Though, I will admit it's not paying very well right now.

I spooned the pancake batter onto the hot griddle before opening a pack of bacon to put on the griddle as well. The combination of the sweet pancakes and the savory bacon gave off a pleasant aroma that caused me to inhale it with a sigh.

"Mmm, that smells great!" Paityn remarked, coming up behind me and resting her chin on my head.

"Good cause it's ready to eat!"

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"Artisan? There's something we need to talk about." Paityn said, taking a seat on the couch we had in our living room.

"Oh shoot." I knew exactly where this was going. I sat on the old recliner I got from my grandpa and looked at Paityn and Sophie for what they wanted to say.

Paityn let out a sigh, "Arti, we need to talk about your job." She began popping a piece of bacon in her mouth.

"Oh yeah? What about it?" I asked, and I could already feel myself getting defensive. I knew that I shouldn't feel that way. It was petty, but it's something I've always struggled with.

Paityn continued, "Well, we've just noticed that your channel hasn't been making a lot of revenue, and it's getting a bit harder to pay our rent. So, we just think that, um, well that-"

"You need to get off your lazy rear and get a 'Real Job'." Sophie finished while eating the last bit off her plate with a frown.

I groaned at Sophia's snide comment and sunk back in my chair. They knew I hated the idea of working some nine to five job for some rando. I have always wanted to be self-employed and live by my own rules. That's why I chose to try a career as a YouTuber. It's not a huge channel, just a couple thousand subscribers. I mostly do some gaming with friends and the occasional animation.

"Look, I know the channel isn't huge right now, and it takes time to build up a fan base, but I'm sure if I upload more frequently-"

"Arti, you've been at this for nearly a year now. You gotta do something else, or we're not gonna be able to pay our rent." Sophie objected, obviously getting annoyed.

Paityn looked at me with pity. "We're not saying you have to like, quit YouTube, but you're going to have to do something else as well. Just until your channel starts making more, y'know?"

I let out a long sigh. Yeah. I knew. It was inevitable that I'd have to do some work on the side while I built up my channel. Didn't mean I was very enthusiastic about it though.

"Ok, fine. I'll get a 'Real Job' or whatever but just until I'm famous or something I don't know." I grumbled, getting out of my seat, and grabbed our finished plates to bring them to the kitchen. I paused before leaving the living room and looking back at the girls.

"Say, y'all's jobs wouldn't happen to be hiring, would they?"

"Nope, sorry, Arti."

"Yeah, no."

Looks like I'mma have to actually put the effort in...

Chapter Text

Secretary? Nah, I don't wanna do other's paperwork.

Dental Assistant? Nope, I'd probably knock someone's teeth out.

McDonald's?....... Heck. No.

I slammed my laptop shut with a loud whine. Why was this job hunting thing so hard? Paityn peered into my room at the sound of my outburst.

"Having trouble?"

"No, I'm doing fan-fricken-tasic, thanks for asking." I grumbled, laying my head in my arms on my desk.

Paityn came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Still haven't found your dream job, huh?"

I sat up and spun my chair around to face her as she sat down on my bed. I let out a weak chuckle. "Nah, not yet. I just can't find anything that would work with my recording schedule as well as something I have the credentials for."

Paityn hummed thoughtfully at my predicament. "Well, there's not really much I can do to help you. I've been looking a bit too and nothing has come available that I know you would wanna do. I did grab this for you though."

I glanced up with curiosity at her final statement. Paityn smiled and tossed me a rolled-up piece of paper. I caught it and unrolled it.

"A newspaper? These still exist?" I asked, amused at the gift my friend had gotten me. "Where'd you even get this? I thought we didn't get a newspaper here?"

"We don't, I got it from the neighbors. They said they were done with it. I figured you might be able to find something in the help wanted section." Paityn said with a smile.

I shook my head while laughing. "Eh, you know what, it's worth a shot. Thanks!"

"No problem I figured you'd at least enjoy looking through it," Paityn responded before standing up, stretching, and leaving my room. "Later!"

I smiled to myself before flipping through the pages of the newspaper. I found some ads, conspiracy stories, fake news, the daily comics (which I saved for later), and finally, the Help Wanted section.

Does anyone actually ever get hired from using this?

Most of the job listings were obviously from businesses run by older people. An antique store, looking for a cashier, a few small grocery stores looking for baggers, and a really suspicious one from a massage parlor. While amusing to look through, nothing was catching my eye. I let out a sigh and was just about to roll the newspaper back up and toss it in my trash bin when a particular word caught my eye.

Pizza.

A pizza joint? Now that might be interesting.

I unfolded the paper once more to see the full listing.

A security guard? At a kids pizza restaurant?? Who's tryna rob a pizza joint?

I considered the ad for a moment. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. I remember that place. I'd gone there a few times as a kid. I used to love it there, the games, the food, the cool robot animals. It was practically made for eight year old me! It looked like they were hiring for the night shift, which would work with my schedule. Sure, the pay was super cheap, but for 6 hours a night? Heck yeah, I was gonna jump on that!

I typed the number into my cell phone and hovered my thumb over the call button. I tried to calm my nerves down so I wouldn't sound like a total idiot and miss my chance of getting a job if they were still hiring. I took a deep breath and tapped the button, holding the phone to my ear in anticipation. It rang twice before someone picked up and a man spoke.

"Hello, thank you for calling Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria, how can I help you today?" He spoke. He had a deep voice and sounded to be probably middle-aged.

"Um, hi, I saw the ad for the night shift security guard job in the paper and I was wondering if it was still, uh, available?" I mentally cursed myself for sounding dumb.

The man on the other end of the phone responded quickly, "Why yes, it is. Were you looking to apply?"

"Yes, sir, I am."

"Wonderful! Now If you could give me some information so I can get into contact with you and we can work a time out that we can do an interview." He said, sounding happy.

I gave him some info, and we agreed on meeting that night at the restaurant around six. After hanging up, I couldn't help smile to myself. I felt... Good. Like I had just done something big when in reality, I had only made a phone call. I got up and strutted out of my room into the living room where Sophie and Paityn were. I struck a stupid pose and got their attention.

"Don't look now, ladies, but I just got a job interview for tonight!"

The two looked up at me in surprise. Sophie was the first to answer, "Oh thank goodness, finally!" She said, throwing her head back in relief. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.

Paityn smiled. "Ooo, that's great Arti! What's the job?"

"It's a night shift gig as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria!"

"..."

The silence was deafening.

"Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria?"

"Uh, yes."

"As a night shift security guard??"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"......."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!"

The girls began laughing harder than I had seen them laugh in a long time. Paityn was clutching a pillow for dear life while wheezing, and Sophie was on the floor in tears.

"Hahaha!! Why would a kids restaurant need night security guards!?"

"And why did YOU apply to do that!? Haha!!"

I crossed my arms and huffed at them, getting embarrassed by their laughter. "Oh come on, y'all! It's practically perfect! It fits my recording schedule, it's easy, and it pays, so it works for me!"

The girls finally began to calm themselves down. Sophie sat up from where she was rolling on the floor. "Bruh, I'm sorry but that's just... SO something you would do! Hehe, working at a pizza restaurant after hours."

I looked at her with a frown. "Dude, gimme a break, you're just lucky I even found something I'd be willing to do." I huffed at her. I felt myself becoming defensive again. I knew I did not need to be. She was just trying to joke with me.

Paityn spoke up. "Look Arti, I'm sorry if we offended you. I'm happy you got a job interview, I honestly didn't think you'd find anything in that paper!"

I sighed and shook off my prior aggravation. "Yeah, me neither, but whaddya know? I got an interview for tonight. Oh, as a matter of fact, I probably should go get ready the interview is at six and it's already four-thirty!" I turned and went back down the hall to our shared bathroom to prepare for the interview, leaving the two girls still chuckling behind me.

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I pulled my car into the parking lot of the restaurant. I had about ten minutes before my interview, and I wanted to get a feel for the place to see if I'd actually like to work there. As I was walking up to the pizzeria, I looked up at the sign.

The cartoon renditions of the mascots made me smile. I remembered how much I enjoyed this place and the characters. I walked in through the double glass doors into the pizzeria, and I was immediately met with the smell of greasy pizza and the sounds of screaming children. Yeah, it would make sense they would be busy right now. Six PM on Friday sounds like the prime business hours.

I almost felt out of place in there, seeing as most customers are families with kids, so I mostly just looked around to try and figure out where I should go. An employee must have noticed my awkwardness and approached me.

"Hello! Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, "where fantasy and fun come to life!" How can I help you today?"

"Um, hi, I was supposed to have a job interview at six?"

The man perked up at my statement, "Ah! Yes, the Boss mentioned you'd be coming. Here, follow me." He said and started to lead me towards the back of the restaurant.

As we walked together, I learned that his name was Scott and that he'd been a part of the company for a pretty long time as a security guard. I mentioned that was what I was going in to be interviewed for, and he looked at me with an intrigued look and said that it was a pretty "interesting" job. We soon approached what I assumed was the "Boss's" office, and Scott knocked on the door. He was met with a "Come in." and he went inside.

"Miss Artisan Webster is here for her interview, sir."

"Wonderful! Send her on in."

Scott came back outside and gestured to the door for me with a smile. "Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great." He said before he gave me a thumbs-up and went back to what I assume was work.

"Come on in, Miss Webster."

I walked into the office and was met with a clean and pristine room. It was your typical business office, desk, chairs, shelves full of books and folders, and a filing cabinet. Sitting at the desk was a large man who the first thing I thought about him was "Broad". He was an older gentleman, probably middle-aged, with wide-set shoulders and a stern face. His light brown hair had some salt and pepper coloring to it, and his brown eyes were sharp and intelligent looking.

He smiled at me and nodded to the seat across from him. "Sit down and make yourself comfortable, Miss. And would you close the door behind you? Thank you." He said while reaching into a drawer, grabbing some papers.

I sat down in the plush seat and held my bag in my lap. I could feel myself getting a bit nervous. This was technically my first interview for something that was not glorified volunteer work. The "Boss" set down the papers along with a pen and looked up at me.

"Hello, Miss Artisan! Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. My name is Bryon Brown, I'm the Co-owner and manager of this establishment." Mr. Brown said, reaching out to shake my hand. His large hand engulfed mine in a firm handshake.

"Now then, I believe you're interested in our open security guard position, is that correct, Miss Webster?"

I nodded. "Yes sir, I saw the ad in the paper, as you know, and was very interested." I answered

Mr. Brown gave me a small smile. "Now then, ma'am," He said, folding his hands together on the desk. "Let's begin this interview, shall we?"

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After the interview, Mr. Brown closed the folder in front of him, grabbed the stack of papers, and evened them out.

"Well now, Miss Webster, you seem to show a genuine interest in working for the Fazbear Family, as well as the credentials for the job. When can you start working?"

My eyes widened at his statement.

Start working!? Was this that easy?

"Oh! Uh, I can start as soon as next week, I think. Yeah, I definitely can!" I said, sitting up straight with a grin.

Mr. Brown clasped his hands together. "Wonderful! If you could give me some measurements real quick for your uniform and I'll get a schedule for you so we can work out your hours." He stood up and grabbed a form for my uniform and a schedule paper before handing them both to me with a pen.

When I'd finished filling them out, I handed them back, and he shook my hand. "Thank you for applying, Miss Webster, I'm looking forward to you joining the Fazbear Family."

"Thank you for the interview and the job, sir! I assure you I'll work hard." I responded, still ecstatic that I'd actually been hired.

Mr. Brown picked up the phone. "Well, I'd better put in the order for you uniform, they outta have it ready by this Sunday, and I'll send it to you. Thank you again, Miss Webster." He said with a grin and a wave.

I thanked him as well and left his office so he could make his call. Once I was out in the hall, I let out a sigh I did not realize I was holding. I felt... Relieved? Happy? Proud? Yeah... I felt all of those things. I puffed out my chest and smirked to myself, and began walking back up the hall.

As I was making my way towards the exit, I felt a prickle on the back of my neck, like someone was watching me. My head did a quick swivel, not seeing the milky eyes that bore into me from a corner of the restaurant. I shrugged off the unsettling feeling after not seeing anything and continued for the doors.

I saw Scott standing by them, watching the guests coming and going. He noticed me and made his way over to me. " Hey! So how'd the interview go?"

I chuckled at him. "Well, let's just say I'm looking forward to working with you."

Scott's eyebrows raised, and he chuckled as well. "Oh, is that so? Well, then I'm looking forward to working with you, Artisan."

I thanked him, and he gave me a thumbs up. I walked outside and got in my car, taking a deep breath before looking in the rear-view mirror.

How's that for Adulting, eh?