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Bonnie fidgeted with the corners of the poster he had been recently gifted. Not enough to peel the image from the wall, but enough to jostle the already folded corners. He had been absentmindedly messing with it for a while now. Freddy had only given it to him around two hours ago and he already ruined the corners of it. He was like that— always messing with things until they reached their breaking point. He made no effort to stop until the familiar sound of ripping paper filled the room. His blue ears shot upward and swiveled towards the noise. He stared at the small damage he’d caused and reluctantly pulled his hand away.
He glanced over the writing once again.
“You and Me, Forever and Ever! Love, Freddy.”
A smile crept onto his face despite the disturbance from earlier. He felt warmer inside each time he read it. The blue bunny wasn’t sure that they were supposed to love as deeply as he and Freddy did, but he’d never cared much for rules. He’d already filled his quaint little room with memorabilia of Freddy. Nobody was allowed back there, so it wasn’t an issue. It wasn’t for the public eye to see. It was Bonnie’s safe space.
Perhaps he’d never liked the attention. He liked his bass. He liked performing. But he hated all of the eyes on him. He just cared for one person’s attention and that person was Freddy. It seemed unfitting for a robot to long for romantic affection. Bonnie simply couldn’t resist the temptation.
And the poster had driven him wild. Love? What kind of love? Bonnie knew there was platonic love as well. He felt it for the rest of the band members. But he didn’t express that often— had he heard Freddy express it? They’d been painted to the public as best friends. Always together, the bunny and the bear. He’d heard stories of a golden duo and something about him being a puppet at one point. He didn’t like the unsettling image the puppet thing put into his head, but he liked the idea of them having history. Like they were always meant to be together in every version of themselves.
It explained the matching earrings, why they were almost always together off stage— it was easy to say they were close friends. Humans had a tendency to do that. Downplay what they didn’t understand.
Bonnie understood. He understood the rush of heat that flooded his systems when Freddy smiled in his direction. The reason his tail would fiercely wag when the lead singer praised him for a job well done. It was all for a reason.
He wondered if Freddy had the same reasoning. He was very true to his programming. His programming would always agree with the public. And if the public deemed them friends, Freddy would resonate with that idea. It frustrated Bonnie beyond words. Why couldn’t he just be an individual? Bonnie was capable. Bonnie knew what he wanted outside of ones and zeros. Why did Freddy not share his individuality?
He didn’t let that get him down. He believed Freddy had some bits of himself. Maybe it was just unreasonable hope, but he would rather have hope than give up and regret. He rose to his feet and made eye contact with the painted image of Freddy on the poster.
A large part of him wanted to do something in return, but he was concerned that staff wouldn’t approve of it. He just wanted to know the true intentions behind this gift. If only.
He traced his fingers over the smooth image, his claws almost catching on it. He snatched his hand back unhappily. Why did he always seem to destroy this poster? He cared about it so much and yet he had folded over the corners and almost clawed it open.
He was too busy brooding over the image that he didn’t notice an animatronic enter his room. He continued glaring at the poster, completely lost in his own mechanical head.
“Bonnie?” a meek voice mumbled from across the room. Bonnie’s elongated ears pivoted to face it before his head turned. A familiar orange tinted bear stood, rounded ears wiggling curiously atop his head.
“Oh. Hello,” Bonnie dipped his head in a greeting, nose twitching inquisitively. “What’re you doing here? Thought you were busy with a birthday party.”
“No, sadly. The child fell ill and it was canceled. I decided I would come see you!” Freddy beamed, sending Bonnie a fanged smile. “It is always nice to visit you.”
“Happy to have you,” the blue rabbit responded, stepping away from the poster discreetly. Freddy motioned to the bent corners and Bonnie’s ears immediately drooped.
“Have you been fidgeting with the poster?” Freddy asked, his voice giving no indication of a positive or negative emotion. “Roxanne warned me that you would. She did not say why.”
“I dunno why either. Just kinda blanked out,” Bonnie shrugged, trying to not look nervous. He was worried Freddy was upset that he’d altered it.
“I see. Maybe next time I will give you a frame so you cannot mess with it,” Freddy teased, although his robotic voice didn’t give off as much of a playful aura as he was hoping. Bonnie understood. He knew how to interpret Freddy’s actions by now.
“Yeah. Good idea,” the bun laughed, flicking an ear. “It’s a thoughtful gift though. I appreciate it. Looks nice on my wall.”
“I am glad to hear that!” the bear clapped his hands together, an unreadable expression plastered on his face. This was normal. Bonnie couldn’t interpret facial expressions as well as he could interpret Freddy’s words. Irritating, but intriguing all the same. “I enjoyed giving you a gift. The Daycare Attendant told me all about gift giving and how you give gifts to show people you really care about them.”
“I don’t have any gifts to give you but I really care about you, too,” Bonnie nodded, desperately searching for a glimpse of anything on Freddy’s face. He was met with the same look as always. He wanted to dig his claws into something out of his sheer frustration.
“I am so happy that you have said that,” Freddy tapped his claws together. “Because there was something else I was supposed to tell you when I gave you the poster. But I was too scared.”
“What’s up?” Bonnie cocked his head slightly, now definitely interested in this conversation. He nudged his muzzle forward so he could look into the warm, blue depths of Freddy’s eyes. Synthetic or not, they were lovely.
“I— Bonnie, do you know how we are all friends? And you care about your friends, right?” Freddy said sheepishly, looking away from Bonnie’s face. His gaze was glued onto the wall behind the rabbit. Bonnie noticed, but didn’t comment. If he was afraid, Bonnie wouldn’t push him to discomfort.
“Yeah. I love all my friends,” he shrugged, quirking an eyebrow. Freddy frowned.
“Yes, I love my friends too. But I do not feel that way with you,” Freddy mumbled, almost quiet enough to miss. Bonnie’s superhuman hearing allowed him to pick up on it. He cursed the excited wagging of his tail— he had a good feeling about the rest of this conversation. “That sounded very impolite. I did not mean that I do not love you. I love you, but— differently. Different from how I love our friends. It is more intense. Roxanne told me never to tell the workers because they would try to correct me. But she told me that I should tell you.”
Bonnie’s foot stamped against the ground blissfully. His head was spinning and his brain frantically tried to calm down from this sudden high. He could hear fans running at their highest setting to cool the heat rising throughout his body.
“I feel the same way,” Bonnie purred, almost shaking with excitement. “I have. For a long time. I just— I didn’t know how to tell you since you’re a big rule follower.”
“I do not like that it is against the rules, but I think that I do not like being apart from you even more. So I will make an exception. For you,” Freddy gushed, finally meeting Bonnie’s gaze with a bashful gleam in his eyes. He walked towards Bonnie slowly, tenderly bringing his hands to cup the rabbit’s face. He ran his thumb over Bonnie’s cheeks and just beneath his eye, not close enough to touch it but close enough to feel the warmth. “You are warm. Does that mean you are happy?”
“Happier than you’ll ever know,” Bonnie laughed, pressing into the soft hands against his face. Freddy looked at Bonnie shyly before carefully pressing his nose against Bonnie’s, allowing Bonnie to feel a similar heat coming from the bear. “You’re pretty happy yourself, huh?”
“I am thrilled,” Freddy whispered against Bonnie’s face. “I have looked forward to this closeness for— I do not even know how long.”
Bonnie wrapped his own arms around Freddy’s waist, bringing them even closer to one another. The soft purring from Bonnie’s upper chest was rumbling against Freddy, filling the room with a mechanical sounding vibration.
“So, we cannot tell anyone?” Freddy abruptly spoke, frowning a bit. Bonnie nodded reluctantly.
“They’ll reprogram us or something. Maybe Roxy and Chica can know, though,” Bonnie offered, pulling away for a moment to speak. Freddy quickly pulled him close again, instead pulling him into a hug this time. “You’re touchy.”
“I have been waiting,” Freddy sighed bluntly. “Always and forever.”