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blackfairy312 · 4 months

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SONGS OF DISARRAY - CHAPTER 1

The Theater

BEFORE YOU READ: originally, this was a “just for fun” one-shot that Ronin🍷 wrote. I just edited it so i can use this as my way to tell the story of my FNAC 3 AU. Komi is a very complex OC of ours, so i have to be VERY CAREFUL when writing stories from her perspective. If there’s a reference that doesn’t make sense to new readers who don;t know anything about this OC, i will add () with a number inside by them and then explain the context at the end of the chapter. REMINDER THAT KOMI IS A MULTIVERSE OC AND SHE ISN’T HUMAN! THAT’S WHY THINGS ARE WRITTEN THE WAY THEY ARE! Keep this in mind when reading. Cause this AU does tie into our main project, VOID. and there is something BIG i am setting up in this chapter. So… hehe. - 🔥

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Komi stares at the reflection of her own form in the mirror, as if she were evaluating herself, trying to make sure everything was still the way it was all supposed to be. Her last job had been… mentally draining, to put it simply. And the one before that was even worse. She’d met too many overwhelming people in the span of… what was it? Just fourteen or so years? Maybe it was longer than that by now. She’d lost count ages ago.

Actually, the previous jobs before those two(1) weren’t very kind, either. Komi cringes as she thinks back on some of them, her sharp teeth grinding in disgust. It isn’t even worth going into any more detail about them. And that itself just adds to the very clear issue that Komi is struggling to accept right now: She needs a vacation.

Or rather, Komi needs to take a job in a universe that isn’t filled with literal planet-eating gods. Somewhere a bit more… grounded in reality. At least the ‘reality’ that Komi is most comfortable with. Cartoonishly supernatural. Not comically.

That's what led her back… here.

Sigh.

Komi’s eyes flicker down as she turns on the sink and wets her hands. She allows herself to take in the sensation for a few moments, before she begins gently splashing some water in her face. She slowly looks back up at herself again, her dull eyes staring into herself. They remind her of black holes she had seen in person before. An empty void, colors swirling into nothingness. The embodiment of pure destruction. The memories(2) send a shiver down Komi’s spine and she blinks, using a bit of illusion magic(3) to make her eyes… softer. More approachable. More… alive.

Komi frowns at herself. She isn't sure how easy it’s going to be to ‘fake it’ this time around.

“...Whatever,” She mumbles under her breath and takes in a sharp sniff. As she turns away, she dries her hands with a brown paper cloth before crumbling it up and throwing it onto the ground. She steps out of a woman’s bathroom and rushes down the hall. No one notices Komi as she exits the restaurant. It’s like she wasn’t even there.

The place where she’s in is a little town called New Harmony. She’s been here before, twice already, during two different time periods. Right now, it's about… early 1961, Komi thinks. At least twenty years before the whole Afton story is going on. The main section of it, anyway.

Komi refers to this section of the Multiverse as the ‘Aftonverse,’ as a lot of the stories vaguely connected together in this web all lead to one core ‘source,’ or ‘center.’ The story of a man named William Afton, and the establishment which he had forever stained with innocent blood. The connected stories all shared one or multiple factors with what Komi calls ‘Afton’s Story.’ Maybe there’s a group of haunted animatronic mascots. Maybe there’s a pair of business partners involved. Maybe it’s all just someone’s dream. Komi’s personal research is a little bit messy on the exact descriptors for these little shards in the Multiverse. But the mascot thing is what Komi mainly associates this Aftonverse with.

Komi’s comfortable enough with this place to immediately settle down here. This is what her ‘comfortable’ reality is. In the few weeks of her building up a presence in this world, she decided it was time to start looking for a place to work. As she’s walking away from the restaurant and along the street, Komi looks up and begins to take in her surroundings. Perhaps there will be a flier taped up on a window or something… Oh.

Komi notices a flier fitting this description, and inspects it carefully. It seems like the paper’s only been out for a few hours. Fresh out from the printer, that is.

Curious, Komi leans in and reads the details written on the flier;

HELP WANTED!

THE RAT & CAT THEATER

We are a small theater located in New Harmony, Utah who wish to give children happiness through the art of entertainment!

WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

Programmers

Set Designers

Musicians

Servers

Janitors

Security Guards

CALL THIS NUMBER FOR MORE INFORMATION: XXX-XXX-XXXX

“Hmm…” Komi hums to herself as she grabs the flier and looks over it one more time. There's some extra information and an address at the very bottom. It strikes her curiosity enough for her to then fold it up and put it into her jacket pocket. Something to think about for the rest of her morning.

She returns home a little later in the afternoon, to a small apartment she got for herself. Using the story, “I’m new in town, and just quit my last job. I bought this place with what I had left,” she signed the lease in one day.

As she walks over to her refrigerator, the flier comes back into Komi's mind. It sounds like something that would definitely work out for her. Maybe applying for the musician job would be a good choice.

“It's been a while since I’ve touched an instrument…” Komi talks to herself as her eyes scan the fridge, “I haven't really done any of the things I actually enjoy doing in… a long time.”

The brunette frowns for a moment before grabbing a bottle of whiskey and stuffing it into her pocket. As she's walking towards the couch, she brings out the flier from earlier and grabs the rotary dial sitting on the coffee table. She takes a seat right on her couch while inputting the numbers, then holds the phone to her ear as she waits for whoever it is on the other line to pick up.

Ring… ring… ring…

Click!

“Hello?”

It was the voice of a man, probably in his 30s, who sounded just a bit… irritated to be getting an unknown call. Maybe he’s having a bad day.

“Is this the Rat & Cat Theater?” Komi presents herself with a soft, friendly voice. “I’m calling because I want to know if you are still looking to hire any musicians.”

On the other line, Komi can hear the man knocking something over and exclaiming, “Oh, shit!” There's some garbled noise coming out through the speaker, which makes Komi chuckle a little bit. How endearing.

The man then clears his throat and replies after a brief moment, “Ahah, yes! This is indeed the Rat & Cat Theater… We’re so glad you called!” His voice just oozes with insecurity. Komi doesn't even need to see his eyes to know that. The overconfidence in his tone is too good to be real.

The man continues to speak, “My name is Vincent Allard, I’m one of the co-founders, and the manager here! I'm… ahem, We’re very glad that you've called!”

Did he repeat himself? Oh, this is too good. Komi raises an eyebrow as the man goes on, stumbling over his words a little as he puts on this performance of a man who has his life together.

Mr. Allard asks Komi a few questions, and she takes a few drinks from her whiskey as the “interview” goes on. From what Komi gathers from the clues hidden in Mr. Allard’s words… They really need a musician right now. Specifically, a pianist. Someone to play a few songs during the main shows.

“You know what? How about you come by tomorrow afternoon,” Mr. Allard suggests, and then specifies, “Around 1:00 or 1:30, I mean.”

“Sure,” Komi replies as she tosses her now empty bottle onto her floor, “You need me to bring in anything specific?”

“Uh…” The man over the phone pauses, “...Just any form of identification, your social security… billing address, all that.”

“Alright,” Komi notes those things off, “Anything else, sir?”

Then there's a moment of awkward silence. Komi figures that it’s his turn to speak in the conversation, and so she waits for Mr. Allard to respond, but he doesn't. Komi then clears her throat to get the man’s attention, and he gasps. There's shuffling on the other side, and then Mr. Allard clears his throat.

“So when you show up tomorrow, just ask for me,” he finally speaks again, “Vincent Allard. You got it?”

“Yup. See you then.”

Click!

Komi puts her rotary phone back in its place and leans back onto her couch. Now she has somewhere to go tomorrow… That was exciting.

She spends the rest of the day gathering everything together, and picking out what to wear for the interview. Once she gets that task done, all that's left is…

“Sleep,” The brunette mutters as she stands in her bedroom, hovering over the mattress laying on the floor. After her past few jobs, Komi has been going out of her way to avoid going to sleep altogether. Her body doesn't need it,(4) but it's the best option to choose to pass the time. She could do something stupid and reckless, but she's really not too interested in doing anything destructive yet…(5)

“I'm just gonna watch TV…” Komi mumbles to herself as she turns her back on her mattress and exits the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. For the rest of the night, the woman sits in the living room and watches pointless television for the next few hours.

The sun comes up, and Komi glances over at the clock on the wall. It's 8:30 in the morning. She figures now’s a good time to get up, so she hits the shower and gets dressed. She doesn't have much time to fix her hair, so she just brushes it and grabs everything she needs before rushing out the door.

Komi chose to walk the whole way there. She doesn’t own a car and is legally forbidden from ever driving again. She’s got a doctor’s note.

It's around 1:15 when she actually makes it to the Rat & Cat Theater, perfect timing.

As Komi enters the building, the first thing that comes to her attention is the carpet. Different shades of purple with an interesting argyle pattern, and it feels funny when she presses her boots against it. The blue walls are an odd choice… Something about the colors of this place feel too strong for her.

A few kids rush past, giggling and playing some kind of game together. She walks around the interior of the theater, and comes across a small area where a bunch of adults are talking together and drinking coffee. Some of them have infants with them, and other children too young to run around on their own. Komi figures these must all be the parents. It’s cool that they had their own place to relax.

Komi doesn’t notice anyone who looks like they work here. She walks past the restrooms and turns down a corner. There, she sees a man in a rat mascot costume playing with a few kids, who are all super excited to be talking with him. He must work here. That was obvious, though.

“Okay, I’m gonna count down now…” The Rat announced as he turned his back to the kids and covered the eyes of his mask. As he started to count down, all of the children ran off in different directions, each of them giggling and shushing each other. Their voices fade away as they run to the other parts of the building.

The Rat stops counting for a moment before he turns back around with an energetic, “Ready or not, here I come!” He snickers to himself, and Komi takes this moment to approach him.

“Excuse me, mister Rat,” the brunette begins to say, “Do you have a moment? I just have a quick question to ask you.”

The Rat turns to Komi, and rubs the chin of his mask. The actor stays in-character the whole time as he responds, “Oh! Hello, ma’am!” He waves at her, “Sure, I can take a second to help you out. The kids could use a little extra time to hide, hehehe!”

What a charming guy! He must be pretty popular with the children.

Komi takes out the flier from the other day, and holds it up for the Rat to see, “Is Vincent Allard here? I called him yesterday for an interview. If you could just point me in the direction of where he is, I’d really appreciate it.”

The rat man sighs a little bit, breaking character for just a split second before he puts the performance back on, “Ah! The Puppeteer! His show isn’t until later today, so he’s working right now. You can find him in there,” The actor points towards the gray door with a sign that says STAFF ONLY! on the front in big, bold letters, easy for the kids to look up and read.

The brunette glances over at the door, and then nods, “Thank you, Mister Rat.” And then she makes her way towards it.

As she places her hand on the doorknob, the Rat calls back out to her, “Hey! Good luck, miss.” The words of encouragement make Komi smile. The actor then goes off to resume his game of hide-n-seek with the children.

Komi slowly opens the door and steps into the small room. She immediately notices the giant puppet laying on the table, his wooden eyes closed as if he were sleeping peacefully. He has a big blue bow tie around his neck, and a black shirt with white buttons on the front. He has blue circles on his cheeks, purple tears and a frown on his face. Komi is disturbed. It looks like something from a child’s nightmare. There’s something… wrong with it. But she can’t put her finger on why…

Curiously, the woman slowly reaches her hand towards the puppet and pokes it, as if she expects it to jump to life. It wouldn't be surprising to her if it did. Though, he doesn't move a muscle. Komi stays cautious, however. Just because it isn't showing any signs of life now, doesn't mean it isn't alive.

“Hey, don't touch Vinnie while he's sleeping!” A man’s voice calls out, causing Komi to swiftly turn around. There, she sees a man roughly the same height as her, wearing an outfit that matches the puppet’s own. Except, he has large blue overalls. This must be Vincent Allard, or the Puppeteer, as the Rat had called him.

The man stomps over to Komi and shoos her away from the puppet, a scowl on his face. He starts scolding her about… whatever, but she isn't entirely listening. The aura coming from the puppet is distracting her. Though, she ends up tearing her gaze away from the puppet, and back to the man throwing a fit.

“Who are you, anyway?!” The puppeteer asks, his hands on his hips as he tries to use whatever authority he thought he had over her, “You can't just walk in here! There's a sign on the wall that says ‘STAFF ONLY,’ if you didn't notice,” he huffs, “Just so you know, I happen to be in charge here, and I could have you—”

“Komi Tchaikovsky, I called the other day about this,” The woman interrupts him as politely as she can, then she takes out something from her blouse pocket. She carefully unfolds it and holds it up; it's the flier again.

The man leans in closer, blinking while his eyes adjust to inspect the words on the flier. He suddenly looks embarrassed, his expression beginning to soften as he pulls himself away, taking a small step back and chuckling awkwardly.

“Ahaha, that's right…” He scratches the back of his neck, “No no no, I remember now. Musician, right?” He asks her with a simper. Oh, he's an absolute loser.

Komi nods, keeping her tactful smile, “Yes, that's me. And you're… Mr. Allard?”

“Please, call me Vincent,” He smirks at her, “No formalities,” he motions towards his desk and pulls up a spare chair gently patting the back of it as he sits down on his own, “Come here! Take a seat.”

Komi sits down, and Vincent goes on with the application process. He explains how the theater works to the woman across from him, who listens despite being a little distracted by the ugly puppet sitting in the room, just on the table by the door. There's something off about it, and Komi can't tell exactly what it is… It's enough of an issue for her to be struggling to focus on Vincent's words.

From what she can pick up, it sounds like the theater is open five days of the week. The actors get together on the weekends to write the scripts and rehearse for each show. Since there are new shows every day, it's a lot of work for them to do in such a short amount of time. Each performance is at least thirty minutes long, however, which makes it a bit easier, maybe. The Rat and Cat have their own show, while Vincent puts on his own afterwards. As the musician, all Komi has to do is pick a few songs to play during these shows. That shouldn't be too hard — Komi can play a ton of songs from memory alone.

After filling out some paperwork, Vincent clears his throat and slowly transitions out of the professional demeanor he had managed to keep up during the whole interviewing process. He leans a hand against his desk and chuckles under his breath, his gaze never leaving Komi as she folds up her papers and puts them into her pocket.

“So…” The man speaks with a bit of a smug tone, apparently his attempt at being charming, “Why don't you tell me about yourself, Komi? Your hobbies, your dreams…”

Komi sighs as she hears Vincent’s words, and she assumes that maybe it's the man’s attempt at being friendly. But when she glances into his eyes, she sees something else.(6) The colors and patterns switching behind the man’s strong blue eyes resemble a few different emotions. Confidence and arrogance, a little bit of genuine excitement and… attraction. The patterns remind Komi of a stained glass window in an old church. Weak enough to shatter it completely by simply throwing a heavy brick through it.

This glimpse into Vincent’s mind gives Komi an idea of the kind of person that he is. Prideful, and fake. Definitely someone who will cause her a headache later. But… he hasn't done anything weird yet, so Komi continues to be polite.

In response to Vincent’s question, the brunette shakes her head and simply states, “I don't like talking about myself.”

Vincent seems a little shocked by her response. His smile falters for just a brief moment before he goes on, “Oh, come on… You’ve gotta tell me a little bit about yourself. We're gonna be working together, after all. I wanna know more about who I just hired.”

Komi’s lips press into a straight line for a moment. Oh, alright. Her next response comes naturally, a simple cryptic smile with a, “Guess you're just going to have to be patient with me, then. I’m a very private person.”

She then gives him an almost intimidating look for a split second, just to make sure that Vincent doesn't start pushing it. Conveying a message to someone using only facial expressions was something Komi had mastered at this point. Usually, if that message is a threat, it works.

And it does work for Komi in this situation, as the man just nods while his lips turn into a crooked smile.

“I respect that,” He responds and then begins to change the subject, “Well, I guess I should show you the stage now. Let me grab Vinnie first…”

He walks over to the table on the side of the room where that ugly wooden puppet is laying on. Komi had almost forgotten it was in the room with them. She feels uneasy again, tensing up as Vincent grabs the puppet almost tenderly, and slowly lifts it into a sitting position. The woman feels a little off as she watches this, but she doesn't have any noticeable reaction.

That is until Vincent makes the damn thing stand up, and her eyes go wide as she sees just how tall the beast is.

“Oh, wow,” Was all she could say. Vinnie was shorter than her, yes, but it was still unnerving that the freaky beast was around five-foot-three.

“I know, right?” Vincent says with a bit too much enthusiasm for Komi’s liking, “Isn't it impressive? I made him myself! Back when I was in college, we learned how to make props and stuff. He’s not the first puppet I’ve ever made, but he's the greatest.”

Komi nods politely, “That's nice.” Please don't make him stand so close to me.

She doesn't say anything else as she follows Vincent (and Vinnie) out of the room and down the hall. They approach another door with the ‘STAFF ONLY’ sign on it, however, there's also an additional sign that reads ‘Backstage.’ The trio slip past the door, and Komi is immediately hit with the smell of the place. It's got the scent of… fresh wood. A hint of leather. It's very hot back here, as well, Komi notes.

Vincent motions for her to keep following him as he makes his way over to a piano. It’s pretty small, and looks like it can easily be moved around by two people. Though, Komi would have no issue moving it around herself.

“Ta-da!” Vincent waves Vinnie’s arms in a jazz-hands gesture, “Here is where you'll be performing! Of course, the piano won't always be in this spot! Ahaha, isn't that right, Vinnie?”

The puppeteer turns to the puppet for his opinion, the huge monstrosity sitting comfortably in the puppeteer's arms. Then, the puppet’s wooden mouth begins to flop up and down, and Vincent gives the puppet a whiny, sour-sounding voice that's almost high and low at the same time, “Yeah… He’s right. Though, we’ll have to get help to move the piano around… so you can play it and stuff.”

He's freakishly good at that, and I don't like it, Komi thinks to herself as her eyes go wide, stunned by Vincent's ventriloquism skills. She's never come across a lot of people who specialize in that… It's just one of those things that still manages to surprise her, despite how long she's been around the Multiverse.

“That's so cool,” Komi compliments the puppeteer, “That… thing you did with your puppet.”

This makes Vincent grin, and he sounds giddy as he replies, “Y-You really think so?”

Komi glances at his eyes again, seeing the color of his ego spreading across the pattern she had seen before. She decides to continue to stay polite, then nods her head at him. Big mistake.

“Ahah, wow…” The man chuckles, “Usually people just call me weird or say it's creepy… I’m glad you like it!”

There's a brief moment of awkward silence again as the two stare at each other, waiting for someone else to say something. Then, there's a little “ahem” coming from the puppet, turning the pair's attention to him.

“So… are you just gonna keep talking to the pretty lady and pretend that I’m not here? That figures…” Vinnie sounds like he's pouting, “I'm not that ugly, am I? At least introduce me to her…” The puppet hangs his head down and sighs, and Vincent has an expression of embarrassment on his face as he tries to fix his mistake. Based on Vinnie’s tone, it sounds like this… isn’t the first time the puppeteer has avoided introducing him to people. What a strange thing to even consider. Vincent is acting like Vinnie is his own person. Is this part of the act? Does he always do this? Komi is curious now.

“Right! I haven't given you a proper introduction yet! Where are my manners?” Vincent laughs again, “Miss Komi, this is Vinnie. He's my partner.”

The brunette nods, “So I’ve seen…” It's just a lifeless puppet, right? I don't want to be rude if that's not the case… But I don't sense anything. Not really, anyway. I just… can’t take my mind off of it, but… something isn’t right.

“And Vinnie, this is Miss Komi,” The puppeteer says to the beast in his arms, “She’ll be working with us.” He holds Vinnie closer to Komi and makes the puppet hold out his hand, as if he wants her to shake it.

Komi takes a deep breath and takes the wooden hand, noticing how large it is compared to her own. She's also trying very, very hard not to look at Vinnie’s piercing yellow eyes… there's nothing behind them. They're fake, meaning that Vinnie isn't a living being or possessed in any way. At least, not that I’m aware of, Komi reminds herself.

“Great to be working with you, Vinnie,” The woman smiles as politely as she can, gently shaking the puppet’s hand before slowly retracting her own.

Vinnie nods, speaking with that permanent frown on his face, “Yes… you, too… I guess.” The puppet sounds almost sheepish as he backs away, with Vincent now cradling the thing in his arms.

“Ooooh,” The puppeteer’s blue eyes twinkle as he gives a sly grin, “I think Vinnie already has a crush on you~”

Komi’s stunned again, unsure of how to react to this statement. What is she even supposed to say in this situation? Seriously.

Her expression fades into a more neutral one as her smile gets a little smaller.

“...Does he, now?” She says flatly, unintentionally.

Thankfully, Vincent ignores this and makes Vinnie speak again, “Hey, don’t say weird things like that! She’s pretty and all, but… I just met her.”

Oh, wow, Komi thinks, Is he being serious about this?

“Does that intimidate you?” Vincent teases his own puppet, “Come on, Vinnie, she isn't scary!”

Fed up with whatever the hell this was, Komi subtly changes her expression to something much more… threatening. Nothing too dramatic, of course. She wants Vincent to take a hint and drop the act, not scream and run away.

This works, as the puppeteer immediately notices the change and gulps, awkwardly shuffling his feet as he tries to laugh it off.

“Ahaha… ahem, anyway…” He adjusts his sweater collar and motions towards the piano, “So, why don't you uh… play a song? Just to make sure everything is working out…”

Calm now, Komi’s expression softens and she then steps over and sits down on the bench. “Is this thing tuned?” She asks as she presses a few keys, wincing at the loud, squeaky sounds that they make.

“Oh, shit!” Vincent curses under his breath, “I told Richard to make sure everything was ready… Ugh, why doesn't anyone listen to me?”

Komi ignores Vincent’s frustrated muttering as she simply gets up and begins to fix the issue herself. The inside of the piano makes her nostalgic, and a familiar song comes back to her mind. She smiles softly as she recalls the lullaby, humming it to herself as she finishes tuning the piano.(7) As the puppeteer continues his not-so-quiet ranting, Komi sits back down on the bench and takes in a deep breath.

Her fingers move gracefully along the keys, and the sound of her playing brings the puppeteer back into reality as the music begins to fill the backstage. He stares at her in awe, and notices that Komi’s eyes are closed.

“That's…” Vincent begins to speak, but his voice cracks and he gets flustered for some reason, then clears his throat, “Ahem… That's incredible.”

Komi's fingers slowly stop moving, the song coming to a gentle pause as she turns to glance over at him. She takes in his red face, and notices how he's still cradling that monstrous puppet like it were a cat.

Aw. He's cute in a pathetic, gross kinda way, Komi frowns, He's like a wet dog. Damnit.

There's another awkward silence. This time, though, Komi speaks up just so she doesn't have to sit through the cringe for a third or fourth time, “Thanks, for the compliment.”

Vincent smiles proudly, “I think you're gonna fit in just fine here.”

Komi smiles back. It isn't out of politeness this time, but of amusement. She responds to him, almost cryptically, as she glances down at the piano keys.

“Yes… I think I will.”

—

References Explained:

“those two” (previous jobs) (1) = Marvel AU we have, and a Batman AU we have, both with our own versions of the characters.

“the memories” (2) = Rifts are basically black holes. think of this as foreshadowing.

“illusion magic” (3) = She learned how to perform this kind of simple magic from Loki (our version, see 1)

“her body doesn't NEED it” (sleep) (4) = Komi’s body does not require sleep, however, she has the ability to sleep and dream. All of her dreams are nightmares.

“She could do something stupid and reckless, but she's really not too interested in doing anything destructive yet…” (5) = Komi has undiagnosed mental illnesses (this is a joke note)

“She sees something else.” (6) = Komi can ‘read minds.’ Very exaggerated term for it. To break it down, she can see someone's current emotions by simply looking into their eyes. It's a gateway into the mind. A person’s emotions will take the form of different colors and patterns. Sometimes they're very easy to read, other times they're a bit difficult. Think of a kaleidoscope.

“She smiles softly as she recalls the lullaby,” (7) = The Clockwork Lullaby. You know… Lu Li La and all that stuff. Evillious. Not the first reference you will see.

#five nights at candy's #fnac au #songs of disarray fnac 3 #songs of disarray #puppeteer fnac #oc x canon #fnac 3 #fnac vinnie #self insert x canon #rat actor fnac 3 #cat actor fnac 3 #fanfiction #fanfiction for an au #multiverse stuff #fnac 3 vinnie #five nights at candy's 3 #vinnie five nights at candy's #the puppeteer vincent #the puppeteer fnac 3

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blackfairy312 · 2 months

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SONGS OF DISARRAY - CHAPTER 2

The Rat

BEFORE YOU READ: uh any warnings? … uh the puppeteer jumpscare. And toni has a hangover. someone gets called a bitch in the first paragraph. mostly written by 🍷Ronin but i also (🔥) did stuff obviously i wrote most of the puppeteer's dialouge.. heh.

oh eyah Quinn name drop @krowblud 💖

—

Toni wakes up to the sound of the front door slamming shut. The impact makes the walls of the house shake, and the man instinctively dives his hand below his bed, reaching around for his wooden bat. Fight or flight mode activated. Suddenly, for a very brief moment, he’s a kid again. And then nothing happens. Toni is not a kid. He is twenty six years old. There's silence in the house for a few seconds, before another man's voice breaks it with a loud comment, “Bitch.”

It's just Brian... Toni calms himself and drops the bat. That’s all the context he needs.

The dirty blonde sits up in his bed in slow motion. His skull feels like it's squeezing his brain. His arms, his legs, even parts of his body he never really thinks about, he notices them now. Every inch of his body is in pain. Great. A hangover. Just what he needed. He groans and looks over at the clock on the other side of the room. 10:00 am. He's already late.

With a huff and a frown, Toni gets out of bed and grabs some random clothes from off of the floor. He sniffed them. Didn't stink, so they must be clean.

After 20 minutes, he finished getting as freshened up as he possibly could. He was going to be wearing a mascot costume all day. It didn't really matter, but Vincent was going to make an unnecessary comment about his appearance if he didn't at least try to look decent.

Toni walks into the living room, adjusting his belt. There, on the couch, his roommate is laying on his side. Brian, one of his friends from high school. He works at a laundromat, and engages in a bit of sketchy business on the side. That's how he met Jilian, his girlfriend that he sometimes brings over. They argue a lot, which just adds onto Toni’s ever growing pile of stress.

“You good?” Toni calls out, “That was Jilian who just left, right? Something wrong?”

Brian lets out a heavy sigh. His tiny body sinks into the couch, his hair is covering up most of his face. He's silent. He usually is, so Toni isn't too worried about him right now. Not worried enough to feel nervous about leaving Brian by himself.

“...Hey, man,” The taller man begins putting his jacket on while he talks, “I’m late for work and I gotta go. We can talk later and whatever, okay?”

No response.

“...Take care of yourself, man.”

Toni walks out of the house and down the sidewalk to his car. A red Chevrolet. He gets into the front seat and starts the engine. Quickly, he takes out a bottle of painkillers from his glove compartment. His headache is not going away. Hopefully the tylenol helps.

The drive to the theater was nerve wracking. It was so hard for him to see straight. The sunlight was right in his eyes, and it was pissing him off.

The walk out of the car is worse. Toni’s head is spinning. It feels like the ground is moving his body forward, like a treadmill. His hands shake as he looks around. Richie’s car is here. Vincent’s car is nowhere to be seen. And they’re not open yet. Technically, he’s not late.

A sigh. Toni’s shoulders relax.

To his surprise, the entrance is unlocked. Maybe Richie forgot to lock it?

The blonde shrugs. He’ll just lock it on his way in.

As Toni enters the theater, he heads towards the dressing room. Along the way, he hears the sound of a piano playing. Curious, he follows the music, which leads him backstage, close to where he was heading, anyway. Who else could be here besides Richie?

Then he sees her—the woman from yesterday. She came for that interview. Vincent told him and Richie about her before they went home. She’s going to be their pianist from now on. Today, she’s dressed differently, in a gray blouse and a black skirt with heels. There's an air of elegance about her, and she has cold eyes. And yet, Toni doesn’t get the feeling that she’s intimidating, like how Vincent described her.

Toni thought she was a nice lady, based on their brief interaction.

“Looks like you got the job,” He says to her. The pianist slowly stops playing, and then she turns around to face him. Her lips turn up slightly, and her eyes soften.

"I did," She says, standing up and speaking with a polite, formal yet friendly tone. "My name is Komi Tchaikovsky. And you must be..."

“Antonio. But, uh… everybody just calls me Toni.”

The lady nods, “Ah, the Rat! Vincent said that you and Richard would be here before me.”

Toni scratches his arm and chuckles awkwardly, listening to what the lady is saying.

“Is, uh… Richie here?” He then asks.

Komi nods and motions towards the dressing room, “Yes, he was here before me. Last I saw, he went into the dressing room. He hasn’t come out yet.”

“He hasn’t?” Toni blinks, then marches over towards the dressing room. The door is slightly open already, so he sticks his head in. As expected. Richie’s in the Cat costume, laying on one of the benches, taking a nap. Toni rolls his eyes. At least he didn't have the headpiece on. Those things are already too hard to breathe in. Sleeping with one on would be torture.

“He's passed out,” The Rat actor calls over to Komi, “I’m just gonna…” He motions into the room, “Yeah, gimme a sec…”

He darts in and closes the door, and walks over to his snoring coworker. Toni frowns.

“Get up, man,” The blonde shoves him, “You shouldn’t be sleeping in that thing.”

Richie groans and opens his eyes, his face all scrunched up. He's pissed off, just a little bit.

“I was trying to make up for how many hours of sleep I missed last night,” The actor for the Cat explains himself, “I’m in my costume. I can just put my mask back on whenever it's time to head out and entertain the kids… And hey! You know we don't open until 1:00 pm, I’ve got plenty of time.”

“No, Richie, listen…” Toni huffs impatiently. He works with an idiot.

“I’m kind of a genius, actually,” The man with light brown hair goes on, oblivious to his taller coworker’s anger, “Oh! And for my lunch, I brought a few bananas and two peanut butter sandwiches… I left some of the bananas in the fridge, in case you or Vincent wanted—”

“Beep beep, Richie! It’s already past twelve! We open in, like, twenty minutes!”

Richie shuts up. There goes his excuse, or whatever story he was spinning there. Does he even know what time it is now? How did he get hired?

Toni takes in a deep breath and his shoulders relax. They’re not open yet… And Vincent isn’t here. He must be late. A smirk forms on the Rat actor’s face. Vincent. LATE.

Walking over to his locker, Toni takes out the Rat costume. It’s pretty impressive for such a small theater production. The big ass zipper on the back kind of breaks the immersion for the kids, though…

Toni changes into his costume, excluding the head. He then steps out of the dressing room and into the backstage area once again. He catches sight of Komi looking over some of the props. She doesn’t seem to notice him. Her attention is solely on the toys laying down on the wooden desk. She’s hesitant to touch them without permission, or so Toni thinks.

“So, uh, Komi… You like the theater so far?” His voice catches the woman slightly by surprise. Her head turns around and she faces him, a reserved but warm smile on her face.

She nods after a moment, and crosses her arms behind her back, and begins to make her way over to him. “It’s a nice little place. I think it could use a bit more color, though. The dark blue and purple everywhere just makes the walls feel…”

The pianist makes a closing motion with her hands. Toni understands immediately.

“Suffocating,” He finishes, “Like… the walls are closing in. I-I totally get it.”

“The grays don’t help,” Komi then shakes her head and sighs, “I’m going to bring this up to Vincent… There needs to be variety. That’s what the children need.”

Toni blinks. What is this lady saying?

“The rooms in this building should be color-coded,” She keeps going, pacing around as she speaks, “For example… The entrance. We could use a bright blue for the walls, and have a soft green for the floor, maybe? And the hallways are all the same; Purple. The auditorium can keep the dark colors.”

Toni sits down, holding the Rat head in his arms. Komi keeps talking.

“Then the room where those arcade machines are kept could have yellow walls. And the room where all of the parents stay could have orange walls,” She snaps her fingers, “And posters! String lights! All over the walls! Oh, there should be a small replica billboard sign with bright letters and—”

“Wooooooah, slow your roll, lady,” The Rat actor interrupts, holding his hands up, “We just opened, like, two weeks ago. Officially, anyway, but… you know.” He then shrugs. Now it’s awkward. Komi relaxes her body language and nods. She didn’t even realize she was rambling.

“You know, uh…” The tall man speaks up as he scratches the back of his neck, “I’m surprised you have all of these… ideas. I-I mean, you were only hired yesterday.”

The pianist looks somber for a brief moment. Then, the emotion in her eyes froze over again. Cold gaze, warm smile.

“It's been a while since I’ve worked with children,” Komi says in a low voice, her words slow and careful as they leave her mouth, “I’m not exactly a good role model, so… I’d like to do this right.”

Toni completely understands her, again. He’s the same way. And all he wants to do now is change himself for the better. For his family. For his siblings. That starts with this job.

I have to do better, He thinks to himself.

“You sound like a nice lady,” Toni smiles, looking back over at Komi. Her shoulders relax, and she nods at him. She’s just grateful that he didn’t pry.

“And you’re a pretty good actor,” She follows up with her own compliment, “I was watching you yesterday. The children really like you. And you know how to keep them entertained, and happy. That’s good.”

Toni is immediately embarrassed. It’s been a while since he’s heard a compliment, so he doesn’t know how to accept it.

“Oh, I dunno about that…” He chuckles softly.

Komi insists that she’s right, but the actor just brushes it off. Acting isn’t really something he sees himself doing in the future. He has no real interest in that industry at. Unlike his boss…

Richie comes out of the dressing room, holding the Cat costume head under his arm, his hand gripping onto one of the ears. In his other hand, he has the script for today’s show.

“Hey, Toni, bro,” The Cat actor goes over to the Rat actor, “I have a question about the show today…”

“Huh? What is it?” The taller man glances at the script as his coworker points at it.

“Why does MY character have to apologize?” Richie is sincere. His genuine concern causes Komi to immediately burst out laughing behind them.

The two men turn their heads to look at her, surprised. They wait for Komi to calm down, and for her to give some kind of explanation for her reaction. Richie’s just smiling, though.

“Sorry, sorry,” The pianist takes a deep breath and covers her grin with her hand, “That was really funny.”

Poor Richie is confused, “Funny? Why? You read the script, right?”

Komi nods, closing her left eye and stifling another laugh, “Yes. I read the script last night. Vincent gave me a copy before I went home.” She clears her throat, and brushes her messy, dark brown hair out of her face. She’s back to her default expression, but Toni can tell she’s really amused by this.

To be honest, the Rat actor has no idea why his co-star is so upset. It’s a show about a talking rat and cat who get into silly hijinks. Crazy plots. Bizarre adventures.

“Don’t worry too much about it, Rich. You’ll hurt your head,” Toni says as he gives his co-star a pat on the shoulder, and then walks past him. They’re about to open soon. It’s time for them to put on their heads and go out there.

Ah… my head is killing me.

—

There’s some time before the show starts where the Rat and the Cat actors will walk around the building interacting with the children and parents alike. Sometimes, the Puppeteer and Vinnie will also be out. Though, that was only later in the day, since the Vinnie Show happens only two hours after the Rat and Cat Show. Some people really stay that long.

Speaking of, Vincent did finally show up. He didn’t talk to anyone and immediately ran into his office, holding Vinnie tight to his chest. Toni really doesn’t care enough to wonder what his boss does in his evil lair. He’s sure Vincent would be thrilled by the prospect of people making theories about it though.

In the hallway outside of Vincent’s office, the Rat and Cat duo are playing a game of “red light, green light” with the kids. Everyone is laughing, having a good time. Toni doesn’t even notice his headache. Maybe the painkillers worked?

While in the middle of playing their game, Toni sees Komi, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. She’s sitting right outside of the office door, so she probably has something to ask their boss. Since it’s her first day, she isn’t going to be performing with anyone. That’s what Vincent told Toni and Richie yesterday. He mentioned something about wanting the woman to get familiar with the Theater… Wait, actually. Now that Toni remembers that conversation… Vincent’s supposed to show Komi around the place. Did he get busy at the last second? That’s probably the case. There’s still a lot of work for the co-founders to do.

Two hours go by in a flash. It’s time for the show!

Today’s show is called The Rat’s Devious Trick. It’s about the Rat and the Cat going on a picnic together. The Cat begins eating eagerly, and chows down everything before the Rat can get a single bite! So, the Rat retaliates by putting a spicy hot pepper in the Cat’s sandwich. The Cat burns his mouth, and gets really upset. They both have to apologize to each other in the end.

The kids enjoy it! No, they love it! Especially the part where the Cat eats the pepper and goes, “MEEEE-OUCH!” That really got a laugh out of the audience. Toni and Richie are great performers.

During the whole show, Komi stood with the parents, and watched the show with everyone else. And when it ended, she stayed behind, and stood there with her arms behind her back. Vincent never came over to give her that guide.

Toni’s starting to feel bad for her, seeing her stand there all confused, waiting to be told what to do. He wonders if she’s nervous. He wouldn’t blame her at all if she is.

“Hey, Miss Komi,” The Rat approaches the brunette woman, “You seem tense. What’s up?”

He figures it’s better to hear it from Komi, herself. She turns to look at him and puts on that same smile she had on earlier.

“Oh, it’s nothing… Just, uhm,” She brushes her bangs out of her face and glances away from the Rat’s soulless eyes as she speaks, towards the hallway where Vincent’s office is, “I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing right now. Vincent is still in his office, and I don’t want to bother him if he’s busy… But I feel like I should be doing something.”

She sounds a bit embarrassed, so Toni laughs to ease the tension, “Ahaha, yeah… I get ya. First days can be really scary.”

Komi laughs, too, and looks at “him.”

“Well, no… I’m not scared,” she clarifies, “ I’m cautious. And, uh… maybe a little fidgety. I hate just standing around, doing nothing...”

“Well… What if you were standing around, doing nothing and talking?” Toni smiles underneath the Rat mask.

Komi’s quiet for a brief second, and then her lips slowly turn up into a grin, She giggles.

“If you’re offering,” She begins, “Then that would be wonderful. I wanna talk to you and Richard more… since we’ll be working together now.” She folds her arms in front of her and stands up straight. It’s funny, Toni thinks. She’s acting like this is some kind of super important office job, and not a fancy daycare. Oh, Vincent would be so mad if Toni ever says that to his face…

Toni chuckles at Komi's formality. She reminds him a little bit of his older sister, now as he talks to her more. Except, unlike Sofia, Komi isn’t shy.

“So,” The pianist tilts her head, “What do you guys usually do after a show?”

“Uh, you know… Richie and I, we go backstage and take a break,” Toni explains. “He’s probably back there right now, eating his… late lunch. Whatever he brought today. He’ll share with you if you ask, y’know.”

“Hmm,” Komi hums, “Good to know.”

“Yeah, Rich… he’s pretty chill,” The tall man in the Rat costume shrugs, “He’s a bit of a kiss-ass, though. I mean, like, the guy is just friendly, but like… he’s always trying to impress everyone. Get everybody to like him.”

Komi nods thoughtfully, her eyes narrowing slightly as she considers Toni’s words. “He wants people to like him. His friendliness might seem annoying to others, but it comes from a genuine place. He seems like a good guy.”

Toni blinks in surprise. This lady keeps saying shit that just baffles him.

“How did you guess that? Are you, like… psychic or something?” he asks, half-joking.

As soon as the word ‘psychic’ leaves the man’s mouth, Komi’s eyes go wide. Her arms cross and her right hand hovers over her lips. She’s completely silent, her posture stiffening slightly. She looks directly at Toni through the mask of the Rat, her expression serious.

“No,” she replies firmly.

Toni laughs, not noticing the exact seriousness of her reply. “Alright, alright. Just checking. You had me wondering there for a second.”

Komi blinks and nods her head. Her eyes soften again, and she slowly twists a lock of her dark hair around her finger.

“Uhm…” She speaks, her voice quieter this time, “What’s… What’s Vincent like?”

Oh. My. God.

“...Really?” Toni’s shocked.

Komi blinks, her expression unchanging. Oh. She’s being serious? No, she had to have noticed that guy’s… weird. She spoke to him yesterday. Everyone can tell Vincent is weird. Is she actually…

“What, are you, like… interested?” Toni asks, his tone of voice sounding very strange coming from the almost haunting Rat mask with that frozen expression of soulless joy.

Again, it takes the woman a second to react. She scoffs and rolls her eyes, and mutters something in… Well, it wasn’t English. Maybe Japanese?

“Not like that. Oh, my god. I meant what is he like as a boss,” Komi facepalms and shakes her head. That’s embarrassing. For both of them. Toni misread her tone.

Toni lets out a sigh of relief. Komi, as weird as she may possibly be, is too good for that guy. He’s only known Vincent for a few months, maybe a bit longer, and the things he has heard that man say… The things he has heard that man say to his PUPPET…

“AHEM!”

Oh, great. Speak of the devil… or should Toni say, the creep.

The Rat and the pianist both turn their heads over to see the Puppeteer standing there. He’s wearing those soft blue overalls and that stupid beret. His face is painted white, as well as some spots and smudges on his ears and neck. He obviously did his makeup in a hurry. The blue circles on his cheeks are uneven with the rest of his face.

Yet, despite all of that, Vincent wears a big smile on his face. His eyes are wide, and he’s only looking at Toni.

“What are you two talking about?” The Puppeteer says with a friendly tone that, to the Rat actor, is very obviously forced. He does a very bad job at hiding how he feels when he’s upset with someone.

When no one responds, the man clad in blue chuckles and says, “Nothing about… me, I hope?”

“I just asked Toni why you chose to be a puppeteer instead of another animal,” Komi lies, “It… seems like an odd choice to me.”

Vincent immediately looks at the pianist instead, his expression brightening a little, “OH! Really?” He grins and raises his hand, then places it on his chest, his white glove right above his beating heart, “Well, if you’re SO curious… You could just ask me that.”

Toni makes a face, and he’s so glad he’s wearing this stuffy mask. He had to see it for himself. Of course. It’s the other way around. Just look at the way Vincent stares at her. He’s like a puppy. It’s so sad.

“You were busy,” Komi explains, “And I didn’t want to bother you.”

“No! No… no, don’t…” Vincent stammers, his sharp blue eyes glancing over at the Rat for a split second. It’s like he’s trying to figure out what emotion to focus on right now.

“Listen, dear Komi…” The Puppeteer finds his voice, smiling so wide, “I will make this all up to you. I just got a little… busy. Paperwork, haha, you know how it is. Just give me a few more minutes, and I will do as I promised.”

The brunette woman slowly blinks her eyes, and says simply, “Okay.”

Vincent stares at her in silence for a second, before fully turning his body to face the Rat that has been standing there, in shock. They both stare at each other before the Puppeteer finally says, “Russo. My office. Now.”

Oh, shit.

Toni sighs as he follows Vincent just down the hall, where some guests are scattered about.. They enter the office, shutting the door behind them. The air is thick with tension, and the muffled sounds of the children chatting with their parents about the show around the theater fade into the background.

Vincent takes a seat at his desk, his forced smile now gone. He motions for Toni to sit, but the taller man remains standing, arms crossed.

“Take that off,” The Puppeteer points at the Rat mask. Toni does this, but not because his boss told him to. Because he already wanted to take it off.

Once they can see each other face to face, Vincent clears his throat and begins to speak, his tone icy, “Were you… saying bad things about me to our… pianist?”

Toni frowns, genuinely confused. “No, why would you think that?”

The Puppeteer tries to keep his voice calm, but there’s a tremor of frustration in his words, “I don’t believe you. Tell me, Toni, why is it that every time we get a new hire, they start avoiding me after their first day, hm? Take Quinn, for example. He’s the theater’s mechanic, and he thinks I’m… weird because you and Richie have been telling him that I am.”

What the fuck? The taller man blinks, taken aback. “Quinn thinks you’re weird because you are weird, dude. That’s got nothing to do with me or Rich. That’s all you, man.”

Vincent takes a deep breath, and forces another smile. He’s trying so very hard not to snap, Toni can tell.

“No, Russo, it’s because you and that… idiot are describing me as some kind of pathetic… man… If you weren’t filling their heads with nonsense, they wouldn’t think that.”

Toni stands his ground, trying to keep his tone steady. “Dude, I haven’t said anything about you to Miss Komi yet.”

The man in blue scoffs, “But you will. I know you will.”

“Yeah, probably after you make yourself look like a freak, first,” The other man snaps back, “You wanna know WHY everybody already thinks you’re weird? It’s because you talk to yourself… to that puppet!”

Vincent gasps, offended, “Excuse me? Vinnie is more than just a…” Then, he stops himself, and takes in a deep breath. He’s visibly struggling to regain his composure. He straightens up, trying to smooth the edges of his frustration into a veneer of calm.

“Listen, Toni.... I simply wish for at least one person to… respect me around here.”

He pauses for a moment, his body sinking in his chair. “Since Miss Komi is new here, I want things to go well with her. I want her to… have a good impression of me. I don’t want her to think poorly of me because of… rumors or misunderstandings.”

Toni nods, though he still feels uneasy. “...Okay?” It’s odd. He expected a bigger reaction, but today it seems that Vincent chose to give up this time. A very rare outcome to these arguments.

Vincent nods firmly, his demeanor now more controlled, though his eyes still hold a trace of the previous tension. “Good. That’s all I ask. Now, you’re dismissed.” He motions his hands, shooing the Rat actor out of the room from his little throne.

The actor puts his head back on with a heavy sigh. My headache is back…

As Toni exits the office, he walks down the hall, his mind racing. The muffled sounds of children fade as he heads toward the backstage area. He tries to shake off the weirdness of the encounter but can’t help mulling over Vincent’s strange behavior. Toni could already tell that his boss likes the pianist. Likes. Toni’s just surprised it happened so quickly. Komi hasn’t even been here for a week yet. Is she just his type? Or is it the simple fact that she’s a woman, and he’s a man?

Toni frowns, trying to wrap his head around it. How could Vincent already be this invested? I mean, Toni thinks to himself, it’s like he’s trying to win her over before she’s even had a chance to get to know him properly. It’s almost like he’s treating her like… a prize. Like the guys I knew in high school.

He sighs, rubbing his temples. Is that how it works for straight guys? Do they just see someone new and immediately start thinking about… getting with them? Or is Vincent just… a creep? Maybe it’s that last one.

Toni shakes his head, feeling a bit disoriented. Being homosexual, he’s never really had to think about how straight men perceive romantic interests. It’s all a bit alien to him. He knows that feelings can develop quickly, but Vincent’s behavior seems almost… frantic.

…Which makes sense now that the Rat actor thinks about it. He’s making his own headache worse thinking about his boss. There’s just no way he’s going to get used to working with this guy. He’s given it all the time he could, and… No. It doesn’t matter. Who cares?

Toni slumps down backstage, finding a quiet spot away from the bustle. He closes his eyes, trying to escape the swirling confusion in his head. The noise of the theater fades into a dull hum as he seeks solace in the darkness behind his eyelids.

----

mmhmm noo notes this time , nayway yes vince gets an instant crushon komi . he has, a few mental disorders/

#songs of disarray #songs of disarray fnac 3 #rat actor fnac 3 #oc x canon #five nights at candy's #fnac 3 #fnac au #puppeteer fnac #🔥🍷posting #antonio russo #rat actor antonio #rat actor toni #the puppeteer fnac 3 #fanfiction for an au #snuppeteer 🐍🎭#the cat actor fnac #fanfiction #fnaf au #fnafverse

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