The Bond

Ch 1

"Bold." : animatronic is talking

"Normal." : human is talking

=o^o=

Throwing himself into bed after coming home from work was Michael Afton's favorite activity. He can relax on a comfortable bed with a warm blanket, relax all limbs that feel stiff and achy, then sleep for hours.

However, today is different. Strangely, Michael had no intention of going to his room at all, instead sitting on the sofa and turning on the television which was rarely even on.

Sleepiness never came, until Michael was tired of waiting for his eyes to get heavy. In annoyance the man buried his face into the sofa cushions, holding back a lazy groan. Michael lay on his back afterwards, staring blankly at the ceiling and ignoring the television on, his mind blank—for whatever reason Michael just wanted to sleep now. Small curses were also suppressed, the eldest Afton puffed up one cheek in disgust.

"You lazy bastard."

Michael glanced at the source of the grumbling, an animatronic with incomplete units striding across the living room with empty basket in hand with a straight face. "You're like a maid," Michael snarled, then stifled a laugh as Ennard's eyes narrowed disapprovingly at him.

"Slacker," Ennard retorted before he entered the room to do the laundry. Michael decided to follow him—he had nothing to do at the moment anyway. "What, want to help?" Ennard said boredly, placing the basket next to the washing machine.

"No," Michael replied casually. "I don't know what to do."

Ennard snorted. "Then leave me," said Ennard as he left the room, but Michael followed him again.

"Why are you working so hard?" Michael said confused. "Is house cleaning also part of the program in your system?" he giggled amusedly, trying to keep the grin from widening. "Errand robot."

"Firstly, Eggs Benedict. I am an animatronic." Ennard immediately turned around and lowered his head to look at Michael who was now raising his eyebrows with a mocking smile. "Secondly, I feel sorry for your abandoned house like this because you are too lazy to even move your fingers," he continued.

Michael frowned, "Hey," he protested. "I'm not that lazy!"

A deep, low, robotic laugh came from Ennard. "I don't believe it," he waved his hand. "Usually you would sleep like you were dead until late afternoon."

"Firstly, Ennard. I'm dead," Michael replied, in exactly the same tone Ennard had said earlier. Ennard looked at him as if to say 'you're welcome'. "Secondly, I can't sleep!" Michael groaned in frustration, crossed his arms over his chest and glanced the other way.

"I can sing you a song."

Michael rolled his eyes. "No need. The last time you did it, you were singing a scary song in an ugly voice."

"Mhm," Ennard responded indifferently, leaning his back against the wall and his gaze fixed on the eldest Afton who growled in annoyance.

"I want to eat," Michael complained after that.

Ennard laughed softly again. "Want to spit out my cables again, Afton?"

"Hell no!" Michael glared fiercely at Ennard. "I don't even understand why I want to talk to you, you literally killed me years ago. But now? Look, now the spaghetti monster is cleaning my house like a housemaid," continued Michael shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's not my fault the person I killed had a high level of laziness," Ennard rolled his eyes in boredom.

Michael picked up a nearby book and tossed it at Ennard, who easily caught the book by the cord. "Don't bring up my laziness," Michael retorted, then looked away from Ennard.

"Are you mad, Afton?" Ennard asked in a playful tone, it was clear he was mocking as one of the cords ran across Michael's cheeks—intentionally to add to Michael's irritation, and sure enough he slapped the cord straight away. "Aw, you're mad, how adorable."

Michael's brow furrowed at Ennard's words, clearly displeased. "I guess it was a bad choice to chat with you," Michael said, exhaling a huff. He was walking away, but something made him slip and fall on the ground. "Ennard!" Michael exclaimed in annoyance, very annoyed that Ennard had purposely left the cord on the floor.

"You didn't take a look on the way and you blamed me?" Ennard replied in shock and disbelief, then chuckled.

"Never mind, I'll take sleeping pills instead of talking to you again." Michael cursed, "Why didn't I think of this." He walked away with a grunt, leaving Ennard with a small grunt.

Ennard watched Michael leave, then shook his head slowly before rolling his robotic eyes.

Such a weirdo.