Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

How did it get to this?

‘God this is so painful.’ Henry thought to himself ‘I’m loosing my head over here! Frankie’s the one whose face is blasted on every piece of merchandise, why is everyone coming to see me?’

Henry looked in his dressing room mirror and sighed. Pulling on the sides of his plastic head. He took a deep breath and let out another long sigh, hanging his head low. He slowly moved his head up to look himself into the mirror to get himself situated. He stared into his tired sunken eyes, they might not look tired to the other contestants or anybody coming through the attraction on a whim, but he could feel how he constantly felt like he was running on low battery, even though he was checked on for maintenance regularly from The Other, sorry, the REAL Frankie, as he calls himself from time to time.

The Other has informed every employee about that cover up story in case some idiot somehow finds out about him, which has never happened and most likely will never happen. On very rare occasions does anybody that’s not guests in the morning get past the entrance plaza, let alone to wherever The Other might be right now. Henry felt his constant headache get worse by the second. He knew he couldn’t hide in here for any longer, besides, he didn’t want to be sent to the time out corner, again.

Henry shivered and looked back in the mirror again, putting on a fake smile, hearing the telephone ringing getting louder and more frequent by the second. Henry dusted off invisible dust on his suit and fixed his gloves, walking out to meet guests at the trampoline park, none of them being aware of what happens when the park is closed after dark.

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“Thank you for stopping by and meeting me! THE Henry Hotline! Best friend of Frankie the Rabbit! Grab yourselves a box of Frankie’s Fruit Flakes on your way out near the gift shop! *Extra fees and taxes may or may not apply when leaving said attraction without a box in hand*” Henry said with enthusiasm. He waited for his door to slam shut and as soon as it did he turned and fell backwards to lean on the door, letting his weight slide him to the ground. His neck extending loosely, letting it hit the ground, somehow worsening his constant headache from the ringing guests have given him all day long.

Henry sighed, he hooked his head back to his shoulders, groaning from the pain in his head. He felt like it was throbbing uncontrollably. Henry stood up and went to sit back in his dressing room chair, staring once again at his face, analyzing every detail, as he always would, he would before and after a “performance.” He grimaced at the reflection, usually he’d be confident and boast to himself how darling he looked, but in this instance he wanted nothing more than to rub off the paint lining his plastic face if that meant he’d be anywhere but here ever again. He doesn’t know how long he can deal with such high demands at this point. He was a star! Not a toy to be thrown around.

He was lucky he hadn’t seen Frankie roaming around today, not that he ever visited him as much, at least, not anymore. Usually Frankie would never stop to see Henry, even though Henry could see him roaming in the shadows whenever a new guest would appear. Henry coughed and tried not to think about him, which in this place was close to impossible, especially considering his dressing room set up. He had his walls covered in posters from every “adventure” him and Frankie went on together, each set up in a beautiful frame, Henry had to admit. He looked over at them with a heavy feeling in his chest, most were just from the cartoon television series that was using their likeness, but others were art of them just, being together. He turned his head to the partners in crime poster, the feeling in his chest growing not only heavier but now it felt like it had grown thorns around it.

He remembers grabbing a spare poster and scribbling “NO” over Frankie’s face. ‘It was one of the first times I realized I had lost him. I don’t know what it is now, but that thing isn’t Frankie. That’s not my best friend.’ Henry thought, taking a deep breath, until he felt oil dripping down his face, not fully sure why, he’s thought about this a million times before but Henry guessed he would never get over it. He immediately jumped to grabbing a nearby wipe and rubbing it off in case The Other were to walk in, or worse, Frankie himself. Henry wasn’t sure which one of the two was worse. He couldn’t stand The Other, but he couldn’t even look at Frankie anymore without trying not to breakdown, or freeze and cower in fear. He remembered when he was first introduced to Frankie, Frankie had been around since 1954, so Frankie had much more experience considering Henry was just introduced around ‘86-‘90 margin, so Frankie had just about 36 years of experience! Gosh, Henry remembers the first time he got to meet Frankie, he seemed so energetic, interested in everything and anyone, any reason to make a new friend he’d try to make one, Henry included. Henry found it, adorable, genuinely. Such a big tough robot bouncing around and being energetic would not be the first thing you’d expect from Frankie’s great height, even though Henry was depicted as being taller in the cartoon series and movies. Had to make Frankie look more “grand” than he was and is now.

“And wow, he really did used to look grand.” Henry sighed, he missed him, the old Frankie, not “The Other Frankie” but the old version of Henry’s Frankie. He was bold, daring, confident, yeah he might be all that now, but not in the same way Henry saw as uplifting and charming. He remembers the way Frankie would look at him when he’d play the piano, the way they would both sing along to their old cartoon series songs together, sometimes make up new ones on the spot, god he missed those days. Oh how Henry wishes he could go back to that era.

And yet.

He couldn’t.

He had lost his Frankie.

He’s actively loosing his Frankie as he thought about this. He felt more liquid pouring down his sunken in eyes, he felt a sob escape through him, shaking his core.

“How did it get this bad? When did this all start? Why can’t he come back? Where’s my Frankie?” Henry sobbed loudly, trying not to get any of his oily tears on his outfit again, knowing the consequences. He grabbed more wipes and tried to stop himself from crying more. He couldn’t do this, he wanted his friend back, he ignored the pain in his metal chest every time he used the word ‘friend.’ He missed him, he missed him so much. Memories of the past hitting him like a raging tsunami.

He missed his hugs, he missed the innocent smile he always had, he missed the way Frankie would nuzzle into his suit whenever he was scared, which always never failed to make him smile, he missed the way he laughed at his sassy jokes he’d share with him, he missed playing the piano FOR him, he missed when they were in this together.

Henry wiped his stained tears as more came down, making a pile of oil stained wipes that he’d swipe into the trash can under the desk. He looked himself in his mirror again, his sunken eyes looked even more tired, he cried so much he almost completely forgot about the headache he constantly had. He remembers when Frankie would try to help distract him from his headache a lot, it always helped, even though Henry would give him a hard time about it jokingly. He loved when Frankie would hop around happily throughout the course to try and show off to Henry and keep him happy and distracted. Henry would always stay behind in a safe area to not ruin his suit from the parlor elements even though Frankie always tried to include him. Henry always giggled at his antics, and somehow, Frankie would always come back around with a new way to make him smile.

Henry snapped back to reality and wiped off whatever was left on his face, careful not to ruin his gloves he took a deep breath again, trying to fight off his headache once again. He groaned and walked out of his room. He had to find something to get his mind off this stupid rabbit.

He went down a long hallway nearby Hide N’ Henry next to a giant storage unit, where the old piano he would use around guests was hidden, The Other wanted “new and improved!” attractions to entertain the guests, so Henry himself hadn’t been allowed to preform in front of guests anymore but that didn’t stop him from preforming for himself. He remembered the first time Frankie had heard about it he was outraged, he sounded so hurt to not be able to listen to Henry play in front of guests anymore. Henry reassured him it’d be alright and he’d still play for him in private whenever he could.

He did for a while, and then..

Henry shook his head with a rattle, the phone rattling around from the sudden shake kicking it out of its placeholder, he tugged at the phone line and grabbed the phone itself to place it properly back on his head. He moved his glove over the crimson piano, looking back at his gloved hand to see it had dust littered over his fingertips. He dusted them off and sat in the chair, letting out a breath and just letting his hand rest over a couple notes. He usually played often, but as of late he had taken a break from playing, when was the last time he wasn’t sure, he was always too busy now trying to settle down his headache but to no avail. He looked down rethinking everything.

“What am I doing here? Why do I have to be here?” Henry thought to himself. He didn’t wanna be here anymore, he wanted to leave. There was nothing for him here anymore, there was NOBODY for him here anymore. Henry bounced his fingers over a couple of notes, letting his hand move the way he felt was fit, letting his emotions and body control the melody for him.

He slowly raised his other hand, trying to clear his mind and calm the fiery headache he could never put out. If only he had longer than a couple of hours of no ringing in his head maybe then it’d go away eventually but he knew that wasn’t an option. His fingers awkwardly pressed into the keys until he felt more comfortable, he let his fingertips dance around the keys in a way he hadn’t in a while. He played anything he felt he wanted to, he let his shoulders relax and just letting the music and emotions take hold of him. He couldn’t remember the last time he played, but he knew it would be connected to something heartbreaking so he just played faster. Letting his arms move around, he slide his hands across the piano in a passionate dance of music.

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While Henry was distracted, Frankie had been preparing for his new “friends” to come in. It had been a couple years now when the facility had turned into not only a trampoline park by morning, but a red room by night for the “lucky” contestants who were blessed to find a VHS tape in Frankie’s cereal brand. And within those couple of years it was clear the big metal rabbit had changed, in more ways than one. His appearance had taken a more nightmarish tone and his personality was close to gone. His voice box only consists of growls and snarls at this point, nothing short of an animal.

He was roaming around making sure he could slide through any vent and increase his speed and springy limbs wherever he could reach, as he was making his lap around the building preparing for when the new “friends” were coming, he felt a random twitch in his ear. He turned his gigantic head up through the vent he was currently roaming and stopped to listen better, not sure if he had heard it in his head or not.

He slowly crawled forward, pushing his head low through the vent so his hat or ears would not get caught on the upper part of the claustrophobic rattling air duct. He had time before the contestants arrived and were ready to be brought out, so he saw no harm in following the noise he wanted to investigate.

He crawled forward near the “Hide N’ Henry” area. Frankie knew he was close by as he has known this entire building like the back of his gloved hands. He should have known what he heard was coming from Henry. When was the last time he had visited Henry? Frankie wasn’t sure, and frankly (buh-dum-tish) he didn’t really care, he had been too invested in what ‘The Other’ had in store for him, his new not-so-kid friendly demeanor was basically taking over his hardware, deep down he knew he wouldn’t be able to fight what plans were in store for him so why keep fighting it? Just give in, Frankie could barley think anymore, he was never the brightest, at least compared to Henry, but he was never this animalistic until The Other decided to ‘rebrand’ him at night, as he would call it.

Deep down Frankie didn’t want this, and he knew it, but he couldn’t just fight it, he knows that would just make things much worse for him, and maybe even Henry.. Frankie moved forward, he followed the sound of music and fell through a vent that landed him in the beginning section of Hide N’ Henry, Frankie himself couldn’t fit through the narrow hallways but he had ways of going around. He listened to where the sound was coming from and followed through another nearby vent towards it. As he got closer he had realized it was near Henry’s dressing room. Frankie has not been in there for so long he could barely remember what it looked like. Hell if it weren’t for the cardboard cutouts lining the building with Henry he would believe he would forget what Henry himself would look like.

Frankie tried not to think about that, he tried not to think at all, thinking led to bad decisions. As Frankie found Henry’s dressing room he popped open the vent leading into it and looked around, not finding Henry or the source of what that sound was. Then Frankie realized that there was a strong smell coming from the room, he sniffed around and smelled something fresh, he sniffed near Henry’s mirror and noticed it was coming from the trashcan underneath Henry’s dressing room mirror. Confused, Frankie pushed aside the chair and reached out to grab the trashcan to see what the odor was coming from. He looked inside and saw oil covered wipes stained inside of the trashcan. Frankie stared bewildered at the sight of wipes stained with oil, thinking something might have happened to Henry he quickly turned around to listen to what the sound he had been hearing was coming from now knocking the trashcan over on accident. Maybe a rouge customer was toying with Henry? Certain customers tended to have a liking for Henry, a bit of a STRONG liking that bothered Frankie but he couldn’t do anything to prevent it, but if someone were to have done something to Henry why wouldn’t The Other be doing something? Frankie knew cameras were everywhere here. Frankie wasn’t sure why his first instinct was to immediately figure out where Henry was and make sure he was safe but all he knew in the moment was that he wanted to find out where Henry was as soon as possible. He listened closer and opened the door to reveal a long hallway, as Frankie moved in closer he realized the noise wasn’t just random noise, Frankie stopped walking to listen closer, it was a piano.

Frankie felt something within him jump out, he didn’t know what, but he didn’t want to try reaching for it, and yet it felt like it kept rising. One part of him wanted to suppress it, the other wanted to let it consume him. Frankie shook his head, trying to stop the battle in his mind. He felt his body move him forward on command, almost as if his body had a mind of its own, wanting more to investigate what was creating that melody. Frankie felt like he hadn’t heard a lovely piano tune in decades. Something in him calmed down. He couldn’t remember the last time that happened to him either, feel at ease, at peace almost not some kind of rabid animal.

Frankie moved forward and got face to face with a door with a small badge on it that said “storage” which was a glorified way of saying a giant empty room to throw old set pieces and even older broken course designs that had been ripped off obstacle courses. Kids could be so cruel.

Frankie leaned his head closer to the door, it was open, he cracked it open more to investigate further, slowly creeping in to see the culprit making that luscious tune. Frankie looked up and his head crooked. He watched Henry from behind as he played with no hesitation, Frankie couldn’t see much as Henry’s back was facing him but he watched as his arms fluttered around, almost gracefully. The music engulfed Frankie, triggering something within him.

Frankie couldn’t stop himself, he moved forward, the door creaked but Henry seemed too engulfed himself to notice. Frankie was big but he was quiet, not that he was trying to be. He persisted forward, his springy body moving him forward like a puppet on a string.

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Henry tried to keep his mind off anything, he didn’t want to remember but remembering seemed to be the only thing he could do, why couldn’t he just be a mindless animal too? He passionately played to get the rage boiling within him out somehow. Henry felt like he was sucked into his own little world, his own way of escaping, his own way out of this ringing nightmare he dealt with, all alone.

Henry’s not even sure how long he had been playing for. He didn’t care, he didn’t want to leave this world he had made for himself. He didn’t want to think, he didn’t want to be alone. He couldn’t handle the pain and headache all alone. What was he to do? Nothing, so he just played along and brought himself into this world of music whenever he could. Henry heard a creak but he didn’t dare to stop, thinking it was just the eroding of the building creaking the floorboards. Henry didn’t know how he felt in the moment, all he knew is that it felt better than being alone out there, without his music, at least he was together with the music.

Henry heard something else, this time it wasn’t a creak, it was breathing.

Henry slowed down his playing and turned his head slightly, seeing a slinky attached to a giant gloved red hand, he recognized that from anywhere. Henry’s voice box screeched and he jumped from shock, accidentally slamming his hands on the piano halting and ripping him out of the world he brung himself into. Now he was in reality. Henry breathed heavily and quickly fixed his way of sitting on the chair to turn to Frankie, him now pressed up against the piano, shaky from the sudden intrusion.

“F-Frankie! I-I didn’t see you there!” Henry chuckled nervously. “W-Was I playing too loud? S-sorry I-I-I don’t know what I w-was thinking haha silly me! I’ll stop now I-I’m sorry haha.” Henry chuckled, talking so fast he wasn’t even sure what he was fully saying, just letting anything spew out so he wouldn’t deal with any repercussions. Frankie stood in place, just watching Henry. Henry started shaking more now, trying not to anger him further. “D-Did The Other call you h-here? I-If it’s because of the music I’ll stop! I-I p-promise, I-I didn’t know h-how loud I was b-being!” Henry explained, not realizing how scared he had been until he heard the consistent shakiness in his voice, it’s just Frankie but him looming over his should unannounced couldn’t mean anything good in Henry’s mind.

This was the norm now, instead of Frankie and Henry together it was Henry being terrified of Frankie, of what The Other might instruct him to do. He was stripped down to nothing but a wild dog that does nothing but take commands for The Other, and Henry knew it. He shivered, watching Frankie as if he could somehow predict his next move. He watched as Frankie looked over him and over at the piano, Frankie moved over and walked closer to the piano. Making Henry Jump and watch Frankie’s every move, praying to whatever was listening to have him not smash the piano. Henry watched as Frankie maneuvered his way around the junk around the piano and sat on the ground next to the cushioned piano bench Henry was sitting on. Henry watched in confusion, breathing heavily while recovering from the sudden surprise.

Frankie looked up at Henry and slowly stretched out his springy neck to rest his mechanical head on the piano bench Henry was sitting on. Henry scooted and leaned away slightly thinking Frankie was going to do something, but after realizing Frankie wasn’t going to do anything he slowly threw one of his legs over, now both of his legs perched on either side of the bench. Henry hesitated before speaking up but ultimately decided to.

“Y-you, you want me to p-play more?” Henry asked, not sure if that was the right answer. Frankie moved his head up slightly slowly, Henry instinctively wanting to tense up but stopped his body from doing so somehow. Frankie watched him and nodded slightly. Henry eased his shoulders more, realizing he hadn’t stopped himself completely from tensing up. Henry nodded back to Frankie slowly.

“O-oh, okay, yeah, I can play more if you’d like.” Henry said, throwing his other leg over slowly in order to face the piano, careful not to accidentally hit Frankie somehow. Realizing he was able to lessen the amount of stuttering while he was speaking. Henry put his shaken hands back on the piano and played a couple keys slowly.

“Y-you know I haven’t played in front of anyone in a while.” Henry chuckled half nervously half awkwardly. “So, s-sorry if it’s not the best, I o-only play whatever now.” Henry said, trying to make up excuses in cause his playing doesn’t appeal to Frankie. Henry let out a sigh and looked over at Frankie, who looked like he had been listening to every word he said. Something in Henry lite up seeing him that way again. He cleared his throat and went back to focusing on the piano, trying to shake that uneasy feeling off.

He played random tunes he could think of, he would occasionally glance over at Frankie who now had his head lying on the piano bench comfortably. If Henry wasn’t so nervous of upsetting Frankie he’d find it adorable. Henry slowly let his guard down and decided to just play whatever he felt in the mood for, almost getting sucked back into that world he was previously put himself into again. But this time, he was going in with an audience, an old friend even.

Henry played and looked over at Frankie, a tiny smile making its way to his mouth. He finished up yet another song played for a while, but to the both of them it felt like nothing but pure, blissful minutes behind entranced by the music they both became engulfed in. Suddenly, Henry paused his music for a second, but a second had turned into a minute. Frankie now being ripped from the world he was brought into, rose up his head and looked over at Henry. Henry grabbed at his head again, his headache suddenly getting worse, his headaches were usually bad but he wasn’t sure what was hurting him now. Frankie sat up straighter now seeing the pain evident on Henry’s face. Henry placed his elbows on top of the piano cover to give himself a stronger hold on his head but they slipped off and slammed back down on the piano keys, adding to Henry’s headache.

Frankie sat up and reached a hand over to try and help but suddenly the silence and tension in the room burst when Henry’s phone line began ringing. The two of them tensed up suddenly. Henry looked forward at the piano breathing heavily trying to prepare himself for the call, Frankie just watching intently. Henry shaking and slowly grabbed the phone on top of his head to make the painful ringing stop.

“H-Hello?” Henry said shakily.

“Where is he?” The Other said sternly.

“O-oh u-um, who exactly? Frankie? H-he just um,” Henry looked over at Frankie worriedly. “He um, just walked by why do you ask?” Henry said nervously, looking over at Frankie again, who now suddenly realized he wasn’t prepared for today’s lineup. He sprang up and rushed through the door and hopped into a nearby vent to get to where he needed to be.

“Don’t you two worry! I’m just checking in!” The Other chuckled on the other end, as if to stay in character, Henry letting out a small nervous chuckle as well. “but make sure he won’t be late next time.” The Other said suddenly, as if snapping back to his previous tone. “I don’t care what you two were doing but you both have to be in position at all times.” The Other said, a mix of sternness and his usual happy cheery announcer voice now, trying to snap back into character. “Be prepared next time the two of you! Now get into place! You never know what kind of surprises are in store for these contestants!” He said hanging up the phone, not even letting Henry speak.

Henry sighed, he put the phone back on top his head and looked over at where Frankie ran out and back to where he was sitting. Henry sat there, trying to understand why suddenly Frankie was so tame, he stood up to get ready into place himself, thinking out loud to himself.

“W-what just happened?”

Chapter Text

Henry couldn’t get what happened out of his mind, even moving on to the next day. He hadn’t even realized his head was throbbing with pain from the constant ringing from the guests at the trampoline park, he had to stay focused all day making sure to attend to as many guests as he could muster but he couldn’t get the scene out of his head throughout the day. The more he thought about it the more he grew more and more confused, one possible answer just spiraled into more questions.

‘How did he hear the piano? Was he roaming the building and thought maybe a guest came in? No but he knows I can play the piano, doesn’t he? He should!’ Henry scoffed, smirking slightly at his sass. ‘Does he still remember everything or has he just gone completely rouge? Is he still in there? No no, because if that’s the case why doesn’t he act like his usual self? Is he trapped? That doesn’t make any sense at all, maybe he was calmed by the music? But why? How? That’s stupid.’ Henry’s thoughts raced in-between every ring he’d get from a guest, he’d quickly answer the line or politely greet a guest coming through his area. He luckily didn’t have to run the usual Hide N’ Henry today as most of the park was just for Frankie’s attractions and Connections with Henry Hotline today. Which was good for Henry so he had time to think. He thankfully was aware enough to not draw suspicion to himself and was able to talk with every guest accordingly and avoid any strange behavior. He did have a couple encounters of the usual touchy guest or two but nothing he couldn’t usually handle, he stayed professional (at least as professional as you get a parkour palace intended for children) and would use a line written in his system like ‘Sorry sweetheart, I only go for other telephones!’ Followed by a fake ring for him to take.

Henry quickly finished his duties and waved off the guests goodbye and the usual automatic spiel he’d always give before the guests left his area for the day. He smiled and waved to the guests waiting for his door to automatically shut again, and once it did Henry’s brows furrowed, returning back to his thoughts. he went back to his dressing room and shut the door leading to it. He looked around the room as if Frankie himself was hiding in a corner and he just couldn’t see him. Henry shook his head to try and rid of the paranoia.

He looked down at his knocked over trashcan in the middle of his room, amazed he just now processed it was there, he guessed he was too out of it yesterday to notice it was even there. He pushed all the stained tissues back into the can and placed it back in its usual spot. He looked in the mirror and plopped down onto his seat. He looked at his sunken eyes, but he wasn’t focused on that. It felt like Henry had nothing else to think about besides Frankie, even his daily routine felt taken over. He scoffed and plopped his chin on his arm that he rested on top of the small table. In his defense he didn’t really have anything or anyone else to think about. Who else would he think about? Deputy Duck? The Other? Guests? He barely knew any of the guests long enough to get to know them, let alone everyone else that was mentioned. Other than the more ‘excited’ guests who wanted to see Henry, he didn’t really know any of them. He was aware of the, ‘crazed fans,’ he had on occasion but he’d be able to get them kicked off the premises for “tampering with equipment” if need be. Henry preferred “assaulting a staff member” but he knew it’d raise suspicion if the company referred to Henry as a sentient or living thing.

Perhaps there were other things Henry could think about, but he’s thought this all out before. Same scenario, same thoughts,for the most part, different day, yet it all felt the same. He rubbed his head to ease the pressure that was built up in his head all day from the ringing. He scoffed and felt dizzy, he looked into the mirror and checked his eyes again, they somehow looked more hollow that usual. How did anyone want to be around Henry when he looked like this 24/7? Did anyone even recognize him as THE Henry Hotline? Did Frankie even recognize him? Henry paused his thinking, not knowing why he was lingering on that, he tried to shake it off but it turned into him talking to himself, mumbling and whispering under his breath.

‘He should, he recognized me yesterday didn’t he? Yeah, he did! What else would it be? The music? That wouldn’t make any sense, would it? It could be possible.’ Henry rambled and rambled and rambled under his breath, so many thoughts racing around, it felt like his mind just kept being filled with thoughts and he couldn’t ease them at all, more and more thoughts and explanations circled around, just felt like a jumbled puzzle and more questions were being thrown at him than answers. Filling up more and more even though his mind was already full, his headache somehow worsening. Henry grabbed his head with one hand and balled his fist into the other, slamming it down on the desk a couple times repeatedly. He sighed and placed his head in his arms, hoping him thinking about this wouldn’t be a daily thing.

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A couple of days have passed and Henry wholeheartedly was beginning to believe he was cursed somehow. He just couldn’t stop thinking about his interaction with Frankie, it was like he plagued his headache-prone mind now. Maybe it was the fact that it was such a sudden shift in character that it got to Henry, but it’s been a couple days? Why couldn’t he get over it? He began mumbling under his breath almost 24/7, trying to find excuses for himself to explain Frankie’s sudden shift in behavior. One part of him was still terrified, the reasons he tried to block it out of his mind, he’d do anything to try not to think about them whenever they popped into frame in his mind. But he knows what he’s done to him, to others, whether intentional or not Henry wasn’t too sure, but it still hurt nonetheless.

His thoughts raced so often and he mumbled under his breath whenever he could that he ALMOST started to mess up his wording around guests during the morning. Thankfully, any time he did it would seem intentional but he made sure to not slip up going forward nonetheless. Henry did his usual routine of waving to the guests and waiting for his door to close. Every day felt like he was overthinking more than the day before. He was currently sat in his dressing room chair and looked over at his mirror taking in the details of his head structure, always going back to looking into his tired eyes. Just his luck, he felt like every day he was driving himself crazy. Could he get any answers? He hasn’t seen Frankie since he played that piano, and Henry usually only played whenever he felt he needed to clear his mind or let out blind rage or boiling emotions that festered within his circuits.

Would that be a reason to play the piano? Seems like a sad way of enjoying a hobby. Would he be able to see Frankie again somehow! Would that give him the answers he can’t stop thinking about? Would that finally stop him for overthinking? At the very least he might be able to clear his headache induced mind. The new “season” was over but Henry wasn’t sure if there were new players tonight, he hadn’t heard anything from The Other but that usually stood as a hit or miss. Plus the cereal company had been slow to send out new cereal boxes out due to complications with some kind of ‘choking hazard’ decision, so there most likely won’t be any new contestants for the next couple of days. Speaking of The Other, Henry wondered what would have happened if he had not interrupted him and Frankie. Would Frankie just listen to Henry play the piano before running away to cause more havoc? Would he, have done something different? Henry’s mind raced again, his thoughts building up again as they usually would, in a place where you’re alone the only thing you can do is be alone with your thoughts, that terrified Henry. His mind spiraled, making his head hurt more, he wish he had gotten use to this by now but every day just felt like a constant battle. He was hoping to get his mind off of this, he was thinking too much.

He wanted a distraction.

Henry’s eyes widened. He scoffed at himself for giving in so easily. Begrudgingly, yet secretly relieved, he pushed himself off the chair and walked over to the hallway door again, pulling it open and unintentionally slamming the door behind him.

He didn’t care anymore, he didn’t care if Frankie came back and gave him a million more questions, he didn’t care if The Other rang his telephone line and yelled at him for distracting Frankie again, he wasn’t even sure if they even had guests tonight, which Henry hoped they didn’t for his own sake, he was sick of waiting in position just to not even have anyone anywhere close to his area. Besides, if someone was in his area Henry was sure he would know, those phones definitely don’t make it easy on him. He walked over to the door down the hallway with a haste and yanked it open, slamming it behind this time instinctively.

Henry looked at the old piano in front of him, a feeling of fondness washing over him again, it was rare he would be able to play this often, not that he would consider this ‘often,’ but it felt like he hadn’t played the piano in decades until a couple of days ago. How long has it been since Henry had a distraction? He tried to not think too into that. He wanted nothing more than to just stop thinking in the moment.

He sat back on his piano bench and instinctively looked over to the side. The same spot where Frankie sat to listen to him play. Something inside him sparked, some kind of hope, hope for what? Henry lingered for a second and didn’t want to admit anything to himself. He shook his head and bounced his fingers on a couple keys, slowly getting lost into his own world again.

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Henry would be lying if he said his mind was completely clear after playing. He would also be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed. Deep down he knew what kind of hope he was holding onto, he hoped Frankie would come back. He felt like he played for hours, even though it had only been around 40 minutes, at least according to Henry’s branded pocket watch he’d taken from the gift shop back around the time he was first introduced to the public. Henry let out a sigh.

“Even when I’m trying to forget him I’m thinking about him.” Henry mumbled. He pressed a couple keys and flopped his hand around making the piano keys sound like a jumbled mess of sounds. Henry groaned in frustration. What did he think was going to happen? It’s not like if he played the piano Frankie would somehow magically appear, he angrily stood up and pushed the bench to the side. Pushing invisible dust off of his suit, Henry sighed again, catching something in the corner of his eye nearby the door. He jumped back, unsure if what he saw was his imagination or not. He blinked at the jarred open door, hadn’t he closed the door this time? Henry was sure of that.

“Hello?” Henry called out, confused. He walked towards the door and pushed it open more, looking to his side and letting out a gasp of surprise, cowering back into the room. Henry took a breath and put his hand gently on his chest to somehow cool down his circuits, they felt like they were on fire from the amount of shocks Henry has given himself the past week. As Henry was calming himself down he saw the creature he saw peak its head in.

“Uh, I- um, hey! F-Frankie.” Henry said shaken, subconsciously making more distance between the two. He still didn’t know if being comfortable around Frankie was a good idea, better to be safe than sorry. “H-Hey, how long have you been here? For a while?” Henry said, trying to make some kind of small talk. Frankie just stared at Henry for a couple of awkward seconds but eventually shook his head to indicate a ‘no.’ “O-Oh cool.” Henry chucked. “Did you just get here?” Henry said trying to keep his composure better.

Another couple of seconds passed, but this time Henry got a faster response. Frankie just nodded his head up and down, kinda reminded Henry of a bobble head. Frankie ducked his massive mascot head through the door and walked into the storage room with Henry, who immediately took a step back to give him space to walk around wherever he wished. Henry eyeing his every move until realizing his was just staring, so he put his head down to not seem so timid, ultimately failing when he felt Frankie’s gaze on him. He put his head back up and tensed up from the sudden stare, Frankie turned around and stared down at the piano. Henry quickly catching on to what he was possibly thinking.

“Did- did you hear me playing again?” Henry asked, his genuine curiosity taking over his timidness. He knew he wasn’t going to get a direct answer out of Frankie, it had been a while since he’d been capable of talking directly, his voice box has basically been full of growls and snarls, the few words he could speak were illegible. The guests didn’t want to see Frankie for his speaking they usually only wanted to see him for the parkour and to take a picture with, so what did he need to speak for? Henry thought to himself, stopping himself from rolling his eyes. He stopped speaking almost entirely due to The Other programming him to be more animalistic and ‘terrifying’ for the Red Room show. He always wanted to have a conversation with Frankie again, but he knew that was no where near possible at the rate that their interactions have been going. Henry waited for some kind of response but never gotten a direct one, Henry looked back and forth between Frankie and the piano.

Frankie turned his head to the spot next to the piano, Frankie stepped over and sat down, looking over at Henry. Henry gazed at Frankie, he wanted him here and now that he was here, he didn’t know what to do, did he want him to play again? But why? Henry wasn’t sure, he tensed up after snapping out of his daze, almost like he had forgotten to be afraid and cautious for a moment. Henry tried to relax his shoulders, if this kind of interaction was to keep happening he really needed to find a way to calm himself down from being so cautious around Frankie. He knew it was a force of habit from the, incident, but he assumed it wasn’t him doing it on purpose, but, it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt still. Henry scoffed in his mind trying, to brush it off.

He considered asking Frankie what to do but he decided to just jump into it and see what happens. He timidly looked at Frankie and moved forward, pushing his piano bench back into place. He moved his coattail out of the way to sit on the bench comfortably. Henry looked over at Frankie and noticed he was watching him. Henry took in a breath and flashed him a small smile, not fully sure if Frankie reciprocated it. Henry put his hands on the piano and bounced his fingers on the keys, slowly finding a groove to play a song.

Chapter Text

Henry slowly pressed his fingers into the keys, he had been playing for a while now. Frankie seemed content with the music, he had his chin rested on the piano bench like he had before, his eyes closed listening in to the music. Henry stole a lot of glances at Frankie, sometimes even just stare at him while playing. Did Henry just want to keep playing the piano until Frankie inevitably got bored and leave him confused again? Henry wasn’t sure, he’s seen how animalistic he could be but he seemed so calm here. Henry wasn’t sure always known as the sassy sarcastic ‘best friend’ of the face of the show, if you didn’t count Henry’s late night talk show but even Henry himself knew he was supposed to be the right hand man to Frankie, the ‘best friend’ of the main character, always by his side and for a long time now, he’s only ever wanted to be as far away from ‘by his side’ as possible. Henry rolled his eyes at his own stupid joke that he himself didn’t fully find funny.

Henry sighed, unintentionally gaining the attention of Frankie, who brought his head up to look at Henry. Henry slowed his rhythm and eventually brought his playing to a stop. He half regretted sighing so loud but he knew this would eat at him if he didn’t do something to at least try to get some kind of answer he’d been looking for. He took in a long breath.

“I-I didn’t stop playing because I was getting tired or wanted to stop, if that’s what you were thinking at least.” Henry said, clearing out his voice box. “I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, and I don’t know.” Henry said trying to find the right words to use. “I-I.. I know it’s not completely your fault that you’re this way, hell, if I’m being completely honest I don’t even know if you can understand me now like you did before.” Henry said, just letting what he wanted to say come out. “I feel like when I’m done talking I don’t know if you’re just gonna rip me apart, throw m-me back to that, stupid room,” Henry stuttered. “or just leave me, and honestly? I’d take any other option than the last one.” Henry said, failing to notice Frankie tilting his head to the side, now listening more carefully than he already had been.

“I haven’t played the piano in a while, I don’t know if you noticed that,” Henry scoffed, cursing himself slightly, now’s not the time to get sassy. “hell only recently did I pick it back up. I would be lying if I said I didn’t know why I stopped, I didn’t stop because of all of these changes, I stopped because you didn’t come back, I stopped because you left.” Henry felt he was rambling nonsense at this point, he wasn’t sure if this was too much to throw after all this time, but he didn’t know if he’d ever have this chance to drop this on him again, and he felt like he needed to get this out somehow. “And after playing again and, somehow it bringing you back I just, I don’t know, it feels, nice? I think. I missed this, I hate being alone, yet doing this it’s like, all the good parts of being alone, not the usual bad parts of being alone.” Henry paused. “I missed this, I missed us, and god I missed you.” Henry chuckled, placing a hand on his head as if it’d somehow help his thoughts run more smoothly. “You know what? This is too much, this is stupid, maybe I’ve been alone in my head for too long. I’m just gonna go back to playing honestly.” Henry said shaking his head annoyed at himself, putting his hands on the piano keys again. He played a note and immediately felt a violent tug on his arm, making him gasp, instinctively trying to pull his arm back with the other, he looked down at the red glove gripping on his arm with great force. Henry looked up at Frankie and cowered slightly. Frankie looked at Henry and immediately loosen his grip, ultimately looking down, from what Henry assumed to be sheepishness. Frankie let go of Henry’s arm and looked away. Henry rubbed at his arm, making sure it still worked fine, as they sat in silence looking away from each other now. He took a second to cool his circuits down and took a moment to speak again.

“Y-you, you can’t speak anymore, right?” Henry asked. Frankie turned his head to the side and paused, eventually he gave a response by shaking his head ‘no.’ Henry looked down at the bench as if an answer could be found there. Henry sighed, not sure what to do now. He chuckled.

“Yeah, I think he would’ve ripped out mine too if I didn’t have that stupid talk show.” Henry scoffed. “I don’t know what that idiot did with your original voice box, it’s been a while since I’ve heard you ramble over a parkour course.” Henry said hollowly, hearing Frankie’s voice box give an automated laugh. Henry looked over at him and smiled, Frankie returning it back at him. At least he could tell if Frankie was laughing or not, that’s something at least. Henry looked down and played with the end of his tux sleeves, not sure what to say.

“D-Did, did you like the music?” Henry chuckled out hollowly, not expecting much of a reaction. To Henry’s surprise Frankie turned his head to him and shook his head up and down eagerly, reminding Henry of a bobble head again, making him tense but smiled and let out a small chuckle.

“Thank you,” Henry started, “I’m rusty I guess so I’m glad my memory box still has some songs left in them.” Henry said nervously, it felt weird being the one talking more, usually Frankie would go on a ramble but obviously he couldn’t do that now. “Well hey, you can’t talk but I can speak enough for the both of us, your parkour fixation was always a bore to hear anyways.” Henry joked, looking over at Frankie who gave an offended look and turned his head and body away from Henry, crossing his springy arms over one another, this time making Henry laugh.

“And everyone says I’m the dramatic one.” Henry said, turning back to the piano, playing a couple keys and watching for Frankie’s reaction, he whipped his head around, earning another chuckle out of Henry. Frankie smiled and turned his body back to Henry and the piano, he put his giant head back on the piano bench and watched Henry, who gave a tired, small smile to him and went back to playing the piano for a while longer.

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The next couple of days came by incredibly slow for Henry, he continued his usual routine, greeting guests, talking to guests, yada yada, his usual tasks. He thought more about the night with Frankie, today felt worse than the previous time he spent the whole day thinking about Frankie. Not worse as in he didn’t want to think about it, worse as in he wanted to do only that lately the past couple of days, and having guests constantly ring a phone alarm connected to your head isn’t exactly ideal. Henry sighed checking his pocket watch for the 5th time in a single hour. It felt like every day more and more people were coming to see Henry instead of Frankie. To be fair if you’ve been here more than once doing a parkour course you’re already done once before doesn’t seem very thrilling and sounds more of a chore. But lately it’s just been making his head worse. He just felt like he was getting to a point of getting use to the regular amount of pain in his usual headaches. Henry felt another painful ringing in his ears, he groaned and picked up the line.

“You rang? Henry Hotline here, how may I help you on this day that’s as dashing as myself!” Henry said in his cheery voice, rolling his eyes at the usual banter he’d play through his voice box. A random kid, at least he assumed it to be, continued to make a refrigerator running joke, which just made Henry’s eye twitch from the other line, at least today he was only picking up phone calls instead of being face to face with the guests due to encouraging new and returning guests to try out “new” rotating courses, they were the same courses but just swapped around in order to make it sound new. Not that Henry cared, he just cared that every 5 seconds he had to himself, someone else would ruin it and call on the line. As he says that another phone call comes through ringing throughout the room and in turn his ears. Henry groaned.

“You rang? Henry Hotline here, how may I help you on this day that’s as dashing as myself!” Henry said leaving his connected phone line on the desk, picking at his nails (yes, he surprisingly has nails in his death screen) leaning back on his chair occasionally starting into the dressing room mirror to see if he got dirt on his face somehow. A young girl, at least Henry assumed it to be, called in, she was talking about how she really liked his suit and continuously gave Henry more compliments. Henry’s had enough of these people to know where this was going, he mentally groaned and rolled his eyes. “Aww, you’re too kind! Make sure to pick up a plush toy of myself down by the gift shop! Now only 25.99! *Frankie’s Parkour palace is not responsible for non-up-to date offers.*”Henry said turning on an automated speaker in his voice box near the end, hearing the girl on the end squeal, making Henry’s head throb more, he put his phone line back on his head and groaned, rubbing at his head, was it time for everyone to go home? Henry groaned checking his watch again where he still had a long way to go. Who wants to call someone on a cheap plastic set when you’re at an indoor parkour, waterside trampoline park? Henry wasn’t even human and he already could tell how bored half these guests were if they were to call Henry on his line as often as today.

Henry soon his head annoyed and looked down at his hand, he felt a build up underneath one of his nails that he was subconsciously picking at, he grabbed a random old file that was randomly thrown into one of the drawers, guess Henry forgot how realistic they wanted this place to feel, like people actually lived here, well, they did, but more like sentient machines rather than people he’d say. He filed away any of the old rust building up, he only did it if dirt and grime was on top of his hands he was afraid to file them down too short as to not ruin his metal, there’s a reason Henry wears gloves at all times now, he needed to ask for more rust prevention oil, some of those “fans” out there can be odd at times and try to yank off his gloves and get confused seeing the rust on his hands. Henry remembers hearing over the intercom that a person attempted to take a life size, 7 ft cardboard of himself. He found it quite amusing at times but others were a bit more unpleasant. Frankie was a big lovable bunny and Henry was the charming sarcastic friend with a late night show, so he supposed he could see why some took a liking to him. Before he could linger on any of this thoughts the phone rang again, throwing Henry off guard and almost causing him to fall off the chair he was still rocking unstably, he groaned and basically yanked the blue phone off his head, placing it back on the desk next to him, he gave his automated speak again and put his feet back up, filing away anymore dirt that somehow got in his metal. Another girl was on the line this time, she sounded confused talking into the microphone of the phone speaker. Henry assumed she was gonna make another awful joke which was what was taking her so long to respond. Henry decided to help her out a tad.

“Well come on now darling I could be on live television chatting it up with ya doll, what do you need from your pal Henry?” Henry said in his usual talk show host. She sounded confused and mumbled something along the lines of “I thought this was supposed to help me talk to other people.” She sounded a bit more distressed now, making Henry feel bad for getting sarcastic with her at the wrong time.

“My apologies dear, all is good to talk about, you wanted help chatting with others right? Try it out with your new pal Henry.” Henry chuckled out, finding what he was saying incredibly cheesy but found it fun anyhow. It took the girl a couple of failed tries of trying to make a conversation before Henry decided to give a little push.

“Let’s start with your name, I already introduced myself, what’s your deets doll?” Henry said, shaking his head at himself. The girl gave her name and Henry gave a “mhm.” “Alright then Charlotte what kind of person are ya? What’s you like to do on your free time?” Henry half listened and half shook the dirt off his hand he finally got clean, moving onto the other hand. “Oh golly animation is lovely! We have millions of those old cartoons, check them out when leaving if you’d like. And as for any taking pointers,” Henry chuckled. “Well I’d say confidence is key doll, strut everything you have and don’t let others get in your way.” Henry heard the girl chuckle and say something else in the mic. “What’s that? You wouldn’t be able to do that? Well Charlotte I didn’t get my talk show just by being silent and keeping to myself, you gotta spread that love everywhere you go, now it’s hard to miss me.” Henry chuckled, shaking his head at the banter. The girl said thank you and tried talking more but Henry could tell he was already dragging out this conversation for too long. “Well I’d love to chitchat but I’m getting another call from my best friend Frankie, gotta make sure he’s not in Frankie’s Flash Flood beach (Trade Mark) and got stuck in the water slide again.” Henry said sarcastically. That actually did happen once and Henry was never going to let it down, whether Henry was scared of Frankie or not it was iconic to say the least. Henry was waiting for the girl to let out her last ramble and then to end the line. “Alright see you around- what was that?” Henry said listening to her response. “What’s my phone number?” Henry chuckled. “I’m a phone line, that’s private information!” Henry joked, thankfully earning a giggle from the girl.

“Sorry doll, unfortunately for you, I only go for other teleph- Rabbit??“ Henry looked into the mirror and whipped his head around. Almost knocking over the blue phone off when taking his feet off of the table. Henry saw Frankie climbing out of the air vent of his dressing room. Henry heard a mumble through the phone, something along the lines of “rabbits? What?” Henry reached for the blue phone and fumbled it in his hands by accident. “Apologies my dear you seem to be breaking up! Listen in to the live show the next morning at *Time Frame of Henry’s is posted on the door entrance and is subject to change*” Henry said hanging up the call himself but putting the blue phone back on his head.

“Frankie what are you doing here? We’re still on the clock!” Henry whispered at Frankie as if someone was listening into their conversation. Frankie shook his head and pointed to his springy wrist, as if to tell Henry to check the time. Henry furrowed his brow and rustled around for his pocket watch. Checking to see that they were closing in a couple more minutes. “What? I kept checking the time how did I not notice?” Henry said more to himself than to Frankie. He looked up to see Frankie shrug at his remark anyhow. He gave Frankie an half hearted awkward chuckle. Putting away his pocket watch and dusting off invisible dust.

“But seriously, what’re you doing here, did you forget something?” Henry asked, making sure to give Frankie a yes or no question, lately those have been able to give him the most information from Frankie considering he couldn’t directly speak to him. He was sure he was bound to mess that up later but for now he’s try to keep it in mind. Frankie shook his head and looked down, Henry assumed something was on the ground and followed his eyes, looking back up confused, Frankie swayed back and forth awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. It took Henry a moment before asking.

“D-Did you want to listen to me play again?” Henry asked, stuttering nervously, not knowing if that was the right answer directly. Frankie looked back up and nodded eagerly. Henry moved back in surprise, cursing himself for still being on edge around Frankie, he didn’t know if it was a good idea to let his guard down but it’s been a weird couple of days, even though he hadn’t seen him in those couple of days he’s had a lot to think about, Henry shook that feeling off, he let out a sigh of relief followed by an unintentional giggle pulling out his pocket watch again. “I mean,” Henry said popping it open. “Yeah it seems like everything should be closing now so.” Henry said earning an excited hop and clapping of his hands from Frankie. Causing Henry to give out an awkward chuckle.

Chapter Text

Henry now seated at his piano had started playing a bit ago and enjoyed being sucked into his little world again with Frankie, but had to admit he was getting quite frustrated with himself. He was attempting to play something different that his memory could somewhat remember, he had just played a couple warm ups, he’d already let Frankie know he was possibly going to be frustrated figuring out how to play the new music he was attempting to remember so if it sounded off that was hus reasoning. He tried a multitude of times and currently was trying to remember how a certain part of it went, after missing another key he stopped and put a hand over his head, his headache worsening somehow. Frankie looked over at Henry noticing his playing had stopped. Henry rubbed at his tired eyes and let out a sigh. Frankie waved over to Henry for his attention and pointed to him giving him an “ok” sign with his hand, which Henry took as his way of asking if he was okay. Henry chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah! Yeah,” Henry coughed. “I’m alright Frankie I’m just really tired is all, my heads been ringing all day. It usually does but I don’t know, it’s been really bad today, and not being able to remember this song is ridiculous.” Henry scoffed. Frankie gave him a frown, making Henry give him a soft smile and let out a small chuckle. This was the same guy he was terrified of a couple weeks back? Henry chuckled to himself. “I’m okay Frankie really, it’s the usual you remember how it is.” Henry said playing an overly jolly tune on the piano and chuckling, earning another automatic laugh from Frankie’s voice box. Beforehand, Henry found the creepy laugh unsettling but now he thinks he’s warming up to it. Henry giggled unintentionally and grabbed at his head again. Frankie’s smile slowly turning into another frown.

Frankie didn’t know how to help Henry, he couldn’t just tell him everything would be alright or sooth him in any way like that. Frankie looked over at Henry’s free hand laying on the piano bench to keep himself upright, Frankie gently reached over and attempted to grab his hand softly, yet, instinctively Henry jumped and snatched his hand away from Frankie, Frankie looking at Henry in shock for a second before frowning and pulling his arm back and resting his gloved hand on the piano bench, his ears lowered in a saddened expression, appearing apologetic to Henry. After he snapped back from the sudden shock of the motion Henry looked down at Frankie’s hand that was reached out originally.

“S-Sorry, I think I’m still getting used to all of this I g-guess.” Henry stuttered nervously, feeling bad about his sudden jolt. Frankie’s frown worsened, him now looking away from Henry. Henry frowned as well now, his face full of uncertainty and guilt. He glanced back at Frankie’s gloved red hand on the bench. Henry took a deep breath and let it out before standing up and throwing one of his legs over to the other side of the piano bench, one leg on each side to face him better. Making Frankie give a glance at him but turning away again after noticing he wasn’t getting up to leave. Henry reached over and lifted up Frankie’s hand, Frankie himself turning his head confused from the sudden contact. Henry flipped Frankie’s giant hand over with one hand and put his other lanky hand into his. Frankie looked into Henry’s sunken in eyes and Henry smiled at him.

“I’m okay Frankie really, if anything you’re the one giving me the headaches.” Henry joked, earning an unamused expression from Frankie, making him giggle uncontrollably. Frankie watching Henry’s expression change suddenly to something almost entirely giddy sparked something deep in him, he shook his head and tried to ignore it, pushing it away for now. “No seriously, I just wish they didn’t give me that feature, or like I dunno give me some kind of off switch or something to turn off these stupid headaches, or tell us if our guests had an off switch.” Henry scoffed, Frankie giving him a look that made Henry chuckle. He looked down at their hands on top of one another, it was hard for Henry not to think Frankie could easily crush both of his hands into one of his, he felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought. Henry’s gone through enough repairs, more than he’d like to think about, he could handle another repair, but that didn’t mean it suddenly wouldn’t hurt him still.

Henry tried to think of something else, and in turn, it helped him just now notice he was rubbing his thumb against Frankie’s palm subconsciously, noticing the red fading all over his palms. He made a mental note to see if he could find any left over paint for him, ‘if he didn’t prefer blood of his victims as a paint coat’ he joked mentally, finding the joke half vile and half amusing. He smiled lightly and looked up causing the two to lock eyes with each other. Making Henry’s face turn red and embarrassed, Frankie returning it with a soft automatic chuckle coming from his voice box, all included with an awkward smile. Henry returned it as well and stopped his thumb from moving along his palm, slowly lifting his hand out of Frankie’s. Henry trying to find his words again.

“I- uh I- thank you for, trying to help, sorry I jumped back randomly.” Henry said, Frankie gave him a genuine smile and flapped his spring attached hand up and down as to say ‘it’s no big deal.’ Henry returned the smile completely forgetting his headache was even there to begin with anymore.

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Two days go past since Henry and Frankie last saw one another, not that they didn’t want to but they had been busy with their areas. Plus Henry was the type to wait for Frankie to initiate something at this point instead of him due to the contestants at night. They both have been lucky with not needing to deal with new contestants as of late, more-so lucky for Frankie as Henry would rarely ever get to face a contestant, let alone see on. As of late, picking up contestants for the new season proved to be difficult for the higher ups to scam. It’s been bothering The Other but thankfully he’s left Frankie and Henry to their own devices as long as they were sticking to their schedules when guests were coming in and out. Frankie did his usual roam the water park and pop in to any other area every once in a while to have the guests take pictures with him in different spots while today Henry was running his least favorite area today, Hide N’ Henry.

If Henry’s headaches were bad any other day of the week, then they were diabolical on days he had to run Hide N’ Henry. Usual little kids running through, yelling as loud as they could, their muffled foot steps ringing through the carpeted floors somehow, speaking of which, the constant ringing of those stupid telephones everywhere was the worst part of it all. Henry felt like the top of his head was ringing every 5 seconds. He felt himself slowing down near the end of his shift. He checked his pocket watch and thanked whatever was watching down on him that it was finally over. He let his automatic speaker speak for him as he waited for his door to shut behind all the guests. Henry held the wall to help him walk back to his dressing room, he opened the door and leaned against the frame of the door to keep himself upright, squinting from being in such a darkly lit room with neon designs everywhere to the brightly lit room, he shut off the ceiling lights letting only the warm light of the lamp on his desk be the only source of light in the room. His robotic body felt like it was overheating, he wouldn’t be surprised if suddenly he shut down out of nowhere. He skipped sitting near his mirror and sat on the couch nearby the door. He laid down grasping at his head, both to try and ease his headache and keep the plastic phone in place, feeling the light of the lamp blind him adding to his headache, now wishing he turned off the lamp light too, he turned to face into the couch, practically digging his forehead into it.

His head felt like it was still ringing, he felt like everything was pulling him apart. Henry tried to ignore the pain and attempted to ease it out of himself somehow, he crossed his arms and curled slightly on the oversized couch, he closed his eyes in a way to calm down his circuits to avoid overheating anymore than he felt like he already was. As he took in a deep breath and let it out, he suddenly heard metal rustling around in the corner of his room. Henry shot up thinking a guest somehow got into his dressing room, feeling immediately that his body was regretting him doing that. As Henry looked around not seeing anything he assumed he imagined it, until he heard the vent pop open, making Henry’s adrenaline skyrocket for a moment, gripping the top of the sofa back piece throwing his head upwards to see what was the fuss. Until he saw a familiar light grey bunny leave the vent. Henry looked him in the eye for a second over the couch before flopping back down, immediately feeling all his energy crash out of him knowing it was just Frankie. Frankie walked over to Henry over by the couch, confused as to why the lights were off minus the lamp. Henry turned slightly around to say hi to Frankie weakly.

“Hey Frankie.” Henry said, his voice box more shot from overusing it today than he assumed it was, he cleared his throat and tried again. “H-Hey Frankie, sorry I’m like, really out of it right now.” Henry chuckled, wincing from another surge of pain in his head. Frankie moved down and gave a way to ask Henry ’are you okay?’ In which Henry wasn’t sure to decipher it as well this time.

“Did you loose something or?-“ Henry asked confused, Frankie shook his head and tried again, this time it registering better with Henry. “O-oh” Henry chuckled nervously. “Y-yeah yeah I’m alright Frankie. I just got a headache again.” Henry sighed. Frankie looked at him worriedly and Henry could tell through his squinted eyes. “Really, today was Hide N’ Henry today.” Henry explained. Frankie gave a sign of realization and nodded his head slowly, making Henry chuckle. “Yeah I’d assume you’d remember it’s not the best day for me.” Henry wheezed out. “Sorry if you came here to listen to me play today I don’t think I’m capable of that.” Henry apologized, Frankie made a ‘waving it off’ motion, making Henry chuckle, putting a hand on his head as if that’d stop the ringing rattling around his head. Frankie sat there with a furrowed brow and a frown evident on his face, Henry chuckled, attempting to reassure him with a smile. “I’m okay Frankie really.” Henry laughed softy. “Seriously, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to but you can if you’d like, as long as you don’t shake me awake or something.” Henry said sarcastically with a chuckle, earning his own automatic chuckle from Frankie himself. Frankie sat on the floor next to the couch and starred at Henry intently, Henry giving him a weak smile. He put his hand out in front of Frankie, Frankie not noticing at first and jumping back when he did, making Henry give him a look of shock for a brief moment and then he started giggling uncontrollably. Frankie returning it with a look of unamusement.

“Aww come on Frankieee.” Henry cooed, laughing at his own tiredness. “It’s okay we’re even now.” Henry said going into another small fit of giggles, turning on his side to face Frankie better. Frankie rolling his eyes and seeing Henry try again putting his hand out. Frankie copied his motion and Henry placed his hand on top of Frankie’s palm gently. Henry and Frankie both looked at their cupped hands together, Henry getting use to the size difference, almost completely forgetting his previous thoughts about Frankie being able to hurt him. Henry looked up at Frankie now who was too mesmerized by their cupped hands together. Henry felt a small, wobbly smile appear on his face with his eyes going half lidded. This was the guy he’s been terrified of for so long? He’s so… gentle now, nothing like before.

Henry felt butterflies flying around his circuits. God what was with him? Henry pushed his head into the pillow as if that would stop his mind from running wild. Henry felt Frankie subconsciously rub his massive thumb over his hand, he looked down and then back up at Frankie, which if Henry had to guess was doing it subconsciously, reminding him of what he did a couple days ago as well, maybe they were a lot more similar than Henry thought. Kinda like they were before all of this contestant stuff, Henry smiled.

He kept starring at Frankie and moved onto his features, he particularly liked Frankie’s beady eyes, they were so simple yet it made him look adorable, he cursed himself for using that word for Frankie lately. Some found it uncanny but it just reminded Henry of an actual rabbits eye. He chuckled at the thought, he moved into his fur, his usual fluffy fur looked so matted, thankfully it’d be washed whenever new contestants would begin appearing but now it just looked dirty. Henry didn’t care, he knew that wasn’t Frankie’s doing. He liked his design, he thought he was fun, he was also really soft looking, if Henry knew any better he’s say he looked warm. Out of curiosity Henry moved over and stuck out his free hand, this time waiting for Frankie to notice before moving in.

Frankie eventually noticed his own thumb rubbing against Henry’s hand gently subconsciously, he snapped back out of his own world when he noticed Henry’s other hand reaching for the side of his face, Frankie was confused but didn’t do anything to move. Henry’s body moved like it had a mind of its own, he leaned forward touching the matted fur against Frankie’s shell. Henry didn’t know if he was imagining it or it was just Frankie over heating or something, but he felt, warm, definitely not what he expected to come from a giant metal robot. Henry’s pupils widened from the touch, once he realized he left his hand there for longer than he meant to to he pulled his hand back slowly.

“S-sorry you, uh, you.. y-you looked kinda soft” Henry chuckled nervously, not sure how Frankie would respond. Frankie gave him a confused look but Henry could see his face flush, unless that was Frankie imagining it from overheating more somehow. Henry looked into Frankie’s eyes and gave an awkward smile. Henry looked away and attempted to push himself to sit up now on the couch with one arm, thankfully having enough strength to do so, but he also had help from Frankie from his hand that was still placed in his own. Henry was so enthralled with Frankie he didn’t even remember his raging headache when he got up, he flinched slightly from the sudden reminder but he tried not to think about it and distract himself from it again. Frankie looked at Henry with curiosity and made a motion with his hand, Henry assuming he was curious as to why he got up.

“Why did I wanna sit up or?..” Henry waited for a response before continuing, Frankie nodded, noticing his shadow on the wall coming from the only light source in the room bouncing up and down out of the corner of his eye. “I just, well, I- Uh.” Henry said trying to find an excuse, letting out a sigh in defeat. “Honestly I just wanted to see you better.” Henry chuckled out awkwardly. “You’re a mess by the way, your hair is all matted and gross, that’s why I keep touching it.” Henry said sarcastically, earning a low automated chuckle from Frankie, knowing full aware it was just Henry’s usual sass returning back to him. God, when was the last time he would crack a sarcastic joke like that? Henry’s eyelids became lidded again and he gave a small grin, feeling his own face heat up suddenly. Frankie jokingly moved back and crossed his arms again, turning his head to the side in a fake offended manner.

“Oh come on now not this again Frankie.” Henry said half cheery half sarcastically, sprinkled with him giggling at the bunny. “Come onn, come back Frankie I sat up on the couch and everything! I’ve done everything for you!” Henry said dramatically, faking wiping away a tear now playing along with the bunny. Which Henry could see he was snickering under his shoulder trying to mask it somehow with his springy body. Henry went into a small fit of giggles and moved his arms forward, softly grabbing the side of Frankie’s head and turning the bunny’s head gently towards him, a smile evident on Henry’s face. Until he realized the position he put them in and immediately let go of his face pulling back his arms. “S-sorry I didn’t realize what I was doing.” Henry chuckled out awkwardly, placing his hands on his own lap. What was with him today? It’s like his body was making him awkward on purpose today or something without thinking.

Frankie looked at his hands and back up at Henry’s eyes, some kind of awe was prevalent in his eyes, Henry returned the same expression, Frankie noticing him slowly turning confused. Frankie looked back down, Henry furrowing his brow in confusion but eventually slowly following his gaze to see what he was looking at. Frankie gently put his hands under Henry’s and brought them back up to his face, quickly glancing at Henry to make sure he was okay with it. Frankie let go of Henry’s hands and Henry blushed, thinking they both must have looked ridiculous. He let out a small unprompted chuckle and gently rubbed his fingers into Frankie’s fur out of curiosity, making Frankie melt into Henry’s hands. Henry stopped and quietly giggled to himself. Bringing his head to his own shoulder to try and muffle his laughter. Frankie giving him an unamused expression. Henry lifting his head back up taking a smiley breath.

“Gosh you’re just like some cute oversized rabbit.” Henry chuckled, cursing himself in his head once he realized the way he worded it. “Sorry that slipped out,” Henry chuckled awkwardly. “You’re like, all warm and fuzzy.” Henry giggled, scratching the sides of his face to even out his fur better, hearing something repeated randomly, Henry peeked over and saw Frankie’s foot thump up and down, trying his hardest to let out a big goofy ‘awwww’ escape. “God you really are just a big bunny huh? I wanna meet the guy who programmed you to do that.” Henry said alluding to Frankie’s leg thumping. Frankie let out an annoyed growl making Henry just snicker to himself silently again.

If you told Henry weeks ago this was what he’d be doing after not much time has passed he’d laugh in your face and lock you outside his dressing room thinking you were insane. Now that it’s happening Henry finds it, nice? It’s a side of Frankie he hasn’t seen in a long time, how was this the same Frankie? Henry questioned, getting yanked out of his thoughts hearing Frankie purr when Henry scratched near the bottom of his chin. Henry had to stop for a moment and snicker that quickly turned into laughter that Henry attempted to muffle with one of his hands. Frankie giving an angry embarrassed look, looking away as his face became redder, melting more into Henry’s other hand still on his chin. Henry calmed his laughter into a fit of giggles.

“What’re you supposed to be again? A deadly rabbit? I want a refund.” Henry said sending him into another set of laughs. Frankie pouted at Henry making Henry breathe through his laughter and tilt his head to the side and let out a loud ‘awww’ in between his uncontrollable laughs. Once he calmed down he fanned himself with his other hand and sighed. “That was mean I apologize Frankie, you know I don’t mean that.” Henry said in between more fits of laughter. Frankie pulled his hat down embarrassed looking down, whining slightly in his voice box, Breaking Henry’s touch with his face.

“Aww Frankie don’t hide you big bunny.” Henry said putting his hands on the sides of his face again, just now getting off his high fits of giggles. “I think you’re great silly, I would never ask for a refund, they can keep the change, tip included if that’s meant I got to keep you.” Henry said, unintentionally sounding more sappy than he meant to. Frankie let go of his hat and looked up at him, a big dopey grin making its way to his face, embarrassment still prevalent on his face. Henry chuckled, sitting farther into the back of the couch, he pat his lap and looked at Frankie. “Here, you’ve been sitting hunched over me all day, you might as well put your head down. If you’d like.” Henry offered, Frankie taking it and slowly resting his head in a comfortable position, in which Henry used to scratch at his fur matted fur again, sending Frankie into another set of purrs, Henry making sure to keep the giggling to himself now.

Chapter Text

A couple days had gone by now, Henry and Frankie have kinda gotten used to the routine. Frankie kinda needed time to process everything that would happen and Henry would be patiently waiting, while dealing with his headaches as per usual. Today Henry was in Connections (With Henry Hotline™️) he was doing his usual spiel when in connections of explaining to a younger audience how to safely contact someone on the phone, whether it be a family member or friend or even a stranger. Henry didn’t really need to show them how to use a rotary phone or a candlestick phone anymore, most families had corded home phones, and if not they had newer models. Henry, unfortunately, knew how to use basically all of them, any kind he knew how to use, a gowerball telephone, a land-line telephone, hell at one point Henry had a telephone booth to show kids how to use one in a case of an emergency. The higher ups used the attraction as a way to have kids hand over their nickels, and at one point it moved up to quarters but eventually it lost it’s charm and eventually the higher ups left it in storage. Which Henry was thankful for as every time they used that line it’d go right to Henry’s head phone.

So if Henry didn’t have to teach the kids how to use rotary phones? What was he doing? Nothing really. He explained to the kids what to do and how to communicate to adults and friends in his own way, even answered the usual questions of “what number do we call in an emergency?” “Why is the number 911” “do you have my mom’s number?” Henry would always answer the last one with a chuckle, he never could never get himself not laugh at that one. He did actually, but only due to needing an emergency contact in case something went south. Which, thankfully never really went bad. ‘Thanks higher ups for putting good ol’ Henry in charge of the youngest kids in the building.’ Henry scoffed to himself.

Connections basically turned into a glorified babysitter area, which to Henry didn’t really seem like a bad thing, despite his sarcasm. Kids got to play and communicate with one another while Henry got a break from the constant phone ringing in his head.

Ring Ring!

Sorta.

“Henry Hotline, who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?” Henry asked, giving a quick “mhm” indicating he was listening. “Gotcha, he’ll be out in a second.” Henry said hanging up the phone, placing it back on top of his head. “Do we have Mr. Micheal A. With us today? Now don’t you be hiding this time again Micheal.” Henry said in a playful tone, some of the kids giggling around him. Henry’s had a couple regulars come in every time connections was open, it was basically a small fee for a daycare service in the area for the kid to learn a thing or two while their parents went to work and come back to get them afterwards.

Henry couldn’t blame them, he himself has gotten close to a couple kids, but usually tried not to get too involved. Last time he got close, the kid took it as Henry becoming his new dad, needless to say Henry saw less and less of that kid every week. Which hurt a tad to see the kids be let go but he’d occasionally see the previous kids he’d have in connections come back to the park in the “big kid” area, as he liked to call it for the kids. Henry looked around and pretended not to see the kid he was searching for. Kids around him giggling. Henry walked up to a kid, scratching his forehead. “I can’t find Micheal guys! Have you guys seen him?” Henry asked in an exaggerated tone, the kids smiling shaking their heads ‘no.’ Henry snapping his fingers in fake frustration. Another kid ran up to Micheal and pointed at him.

“He’s over here Henry! How can you not see him??” A girl with a cat shirt and colorful beads in her braids called out, jumping up and down excitedly, much to Micheal’s annoyance.

“Come on Kate! He didn’t see me!” Micheal whisper shouted, even though Henry could clearly hear him. Henry had been doing this a long time now, he knew when two kids were about to start arguing, so he rushed over to keep the peace. Henry made a clicking noise rubbing his pointer finger where his chin would be.

“Oh Kate that’s not Micheal! That’s Little Mac! Tsk tsk, Little Mac you know we’re not allowed to hide under the chairs, I ought to talk to your mother about that!” Henry said gently picking the kid up. Micheal giggling at the sudden action. Henry liked to give every kid who comes through a random nickname based on their names themselves or special interests to make them more comfortable here, before he’d let kids pick their nicknames but stopped doing that after a kid asked him to call him ‘mountain destroyer 2000’ every time he saw him. Henry chuckled at the thought before snapping back into the moment. “Good job finding Little Mac for me tho Kat I’m taking him straight to Deputy Ducks” Henry said in a fake stern voice, now covering the side of his mouth to block it from Micheal. “Now if you can find that silly Micheal for me let me know, he’s in big trouble once I get him!” Henry said loud enough for both of them to hear. Kate giggled at the telephone.

“Henry that is Micheal!” She laughed. Henry looked back at the boy and squinted his eyes with an exaggerated gasp.

“Golly! You’re right Kat! Man you must have a good eye, he almost fooled me!” Henry said jokingly, checking to see if he already had on his shoes, basically sprinting to the door when he saw he did as his mom has been waiting for a hot minute now.

“Well you’re lucky I’m not taking you to Deputy Ducks, mainly because he doesn’t like me much,” Henry said concealing a laugh. “But next time don’t think I won’t rat out a fellow man on the run.” Henry said winking at the boy, who saluted Henry with a goofy smile. “I do have to take you to see your mom though, sorry kid. I still gotta turn you in.” Henry said shaking his head lowly, popping open the door, he’s already spent a lot of time with the kid since the mom called so he tried to bring him out the door smoothly, thankfully once he opened the door she was already waiting for him. He put the kid down and he ran over to his mom excitedly. He asked Henry a couple simple questions like “did he behave? Any accidents?” Or small things like that, even though kids were required to be potty trained for this area, Henry was not ruining his gloves for that and he’d refuse to touch the kid if he had to deal with that. Henry answered truthfully and said he wasn’t a bother at all and the mom thanked him, giving him a tip and told him to buy something nice for himself.

Henry forgot to mention that, all the parents think he’s just a man in a suit, he wasn’t going to tell them that he was a 7 foot tall telephone robot being trusted with their children, that was someone else’s problem, Henry just threw the money in a sealed case mounted on the wall for The Other to collect whenever he remembered it. Henry went back through the door and played with a couple of the other kids who wanted to play a game with him. Most of the kids believed Henry was a robot, he even told them flat out when someone asked him and it was well received with a lot of “whoahh!!” And “that’s so cool!!” Of course some kids were skeptical and didn’t believe him but he wasn’t going to prove to a 8 year old how real his body was. Besides, if the kids told their parents he was a robot most would just laugh it off or say ‘that’s nice dear let’s go home now.’ The rare few times a couple people have questioned Henry’s robot tendencies (ie. his neck just being a thin wire) he could easily just say that his head was a costume and it was his way of getting the kids to listen to him, and most would be happy with that answer. Not many who were crazy enough to try and rip off his head or something, thankfully.

Henry went back and started playing around with the kids, until he got another phone call. He winced at the sudden ring but picked it up and put it to the side of his face, saying his usual automated reply, a couple kids stopping to look and then immediately would go back to playing. “Uh huh, Walton? Yeah I can get him for you… uh huh… alright awesome, thank you, bye.” Henry said ending the call.

“Alright? Where’s the tiger in the zoo, huh?” Henry said standing up off a tiny chair the kids put him in and clapped his hands together, wiping off any invisible dust on them. A boy with big curly red hair popped out running towards Henry, grabbing his hand and jumping up and down, basically tugging at Henry’s hand. “Easy there tiger!” Henry chuckled, dropping down and picking up the kid, giving him a gentle noogie on the head, him basically not feeling it at all thanks to his hair being so big.

Henry chuckled walking towards the door, him being interrupted when he heard a loud thud above him, he looked up instinctively pushing any kid in front of him behind him, he looked around and heard a kid yell out “Look!” Henry looked to where the kid was pointing and saw a familiar rabbit peak his head out of a high up ceiling vent. Henry’s concerned expression dropping to a face of confusion. The kid in Henry’s arms waved his arms around in joy, as did the other kids, hearing them cheer as Frankie pushed himself out of the vent and gabbed onto something on the ceiling, swinging around and putting on a small show for the kids, Henry let a small smile make it’s way to his face and shook his head with a light chuckle. Frankie slowly lowered his springy legs down until his feet hit the floor, his other leg doing the same with his body following after. Some kids tried rushing to Frankie but Henry immediately stopped them.

“Whoah whoah whoah!” Henry yelled urgently, making the kids stop immediately. “I know you’re all excited, but we should wait for our friend to come down safely.” Henry said loudly, a lot of kids either nodding or kicked their feet impatiently. Henry gave a small smile he tried to hide. “We also make a race, once Frankie’s down we race to see who can give him the biggest hug first! Winner gets to pick a piece of candy next time!” Henry chuckled loudly. All the kids growing impatient with excitement now. After telling them again to all stay where they are, he only let them go once Frankie was safely on the ground, who made a small goofy pose making all the kids cheer and basically attempt tackling the gigantic rabbit with cheer and hugs, barely even moving the giant rabbit. Walton basically flailing himself around. “Alright tiger you can go say hi to Frankie too, but you gotta get going soon.” Henry put him down and watched him run over with the other kids.

“Ooh, sorry kids! Tiger wasn’t ready, I’ll just give a piece of candy to all of you next time you’re in connections.” All the kids cheered running around Frankie. Henry walked over to the pile of kids and quietly whispered to Frankie, basically having to shout to have himself be heard over the sea of roaring children. As much as Henry wanted to ask him what he was doing here, he had to go let Walton’s parents know he was alright and coming out soon without ripping Walton out of the fun.

“Can you watch them for a minute? I gotta go talk to the dad.” Henry asked. Getting a thumbs up from Frankie who was basically drowning in kids at this point. Henry gave a small giggle and walked over to the door, walking over to the door and looking around the waiting room area and seeing a man with the same red curly hair. “Mr. Smith, Walton will be out in a second, a special visitor swung by to say hello to the kids.” Henry said politely. The dad nodded and smiled at Henry.

“That’s alright, he can take his time, I heard the cheering commotion going on so I assumed I’d be waiting a second.” The dad said, earning a chuckle from Henry.

“Dad! Dad!” The two heard loudly. Turning their heads to see the boy running towards Henry, who gently stuck out his hands.

“Whoah whoah!! Come on tiger what did we learn about greeting people today?” Henry said catching him from tackling his dad.

“Say hi as fast as possible and run at them at full speed!” Walton shouted, making Henry wince but he ignored it, giving the kid a small laugh.

“Now now tiger you might be fast but you’re also a fast learner! Now what did you actually learn.” Henry said happily but sternly this time.

“Walk calmly and politely greet your guest!” The boy said raising his fists in the air.

“Atta boy.” Henry said ruffling up his hair, bringing the kid into a fit of giggles. The dad came over and chuckled with them, watching as the boy ran up and hugged him tightly.

“I could learn a thing or two from this daycare he seems excited to be here, he’s always bouncing off the walls at home.” He chuckled.

“Trust me, he’s no better there than here.” Henry said jokingly. Henry talked more with the dad explaining how social the boy was but just had too much energy, all while Walton was happily jumping up and down going ‘Dad! Dad!’

“Whats gotten into you kid?”

“Do you have that photo thing with you?” The boy asked, his dad asking him what he meant and the boy repeating it back to him. The dad gave a confused look and pulled out a film camera out of his shirt pocket.

“Yeah! Can I get a photo with Frankie dad? Please please!” The dad originally turned it down but Henry did, quietly, offer him saying it was allowed for him to take a photo if he wished, which thankfully somehow Walton didn’t hear. The dad moved his head back and forth as if thinking to the sky.

“Aw alright, one photo with you and your classmates and we can go.” The dad said, the boy becoming increasingly excited.

“If you’d like you can be in the picture and I can take the photo if you’d like-“ Henry tried to offer but instead got his hand pulled by the boy.

“No Mr. Hotline you have to be in the photo!” Walton said excitedly. The dad chuckled and waved off Henry telling him photos weren’t his thing anyhow, he was the one who liked to take the photos anyhow. The three were dragged back inside and the kids were basically getting all tangled up in Frankie’s springs. Henry let an automatic whistle play and ring off the walls, all the kids stopping in place.

“Alright kids we’re gonna take a quick picture with Walton’s dad and Mr. Frankie does that sound good?” All the kids said some form of “yes” with a smart kid or two saying “no” but listening anyways, Henry told Walton to go stand with the rest of them, Walton pulling Henry with him as well, guess he wasn’t getting out of this photo.

“Alright alright I’ll join!” Henry chuckled, going into the back with Frankie, the kids cheering when Walton and Henry joined the group, the dad snapped a quick photo and all the kids started chatting. The dad called for a quick photo of the kids doing silly faces, all the kids immediately doing a ridiculous face or the other, Henry just snickering in the background while Frankie himself made a goofy face. All the kids laughing at themselves and others. Henry helping kids up.

“What do we say?” Henry said like a stern school teacher.

“Thank you.” The kids said standing up and running back over to Frankie and Henry. The dad coming by and giving Henry a ‘thank you’ and a tip in his hand.

“Split it between you and your friend, you both puppet those things really well, you almost fooled me.” He said with a chuckle and a wink, picking up Walton who was begging to see the photos. Henry waved goodbye to the two and turned his focus to the kids, looking over at Frankie right next to him.

“What on earth are you doing here now?” Henry finally got to ask. “Come here to become a dad?” Henry said sarcastically. Some kids laughing as Frankie stuck out his tongue and shook his head pointing to his open mouth to make a fake gagging joke, making the kids giggle and repeat the motion themselves. “Real mature.” Henry said with a chuckle to the kids and Frankie, mostly Frankie, who just shrugged his shoulders playfully.

Henry assumed he was here to do his usual roam around the building to make sure everything was in order and surprise guests, yet Frankie almost never comes into this room anymore, he usually skips this room because Henry was always in here. Guess now was different. ‘I could take a couple guesses why’ Henry chuckled to himself shaking his head. The kids tried asking questions to Frankie in which Henry would just answer them for him.

“Why are your ears so long?”

“He’s a rabbit silly of course his ears are gonna be long!” Henry would explain.

“What’s your favorite food Frankie?”

“Oh he LOVES steak.” (Wiki moment, knock knock!!) Henry said with his usual sass, Frankie backing Henry up with a thumbs up pointed at him with a grin. “Which is totally gross, I’m a salad guy myself.” Henry scoffed, earning an offended look from Frankie, pretending to be hurt by the sass, just making the kids laugh even more.

“Frankie how come you’re not talking?” A kid asked. The two looking at each other, as if they could find an answer.

“Yeah what’s your voice sound like?” More kids joined in, waiting impatiently for an answer.

“Well, Frankie’s voice is a bit broken, so he can’t really talk to us, he’s gotta play charades.” Henry explained as simply as he could. A kid came out and tapped Henry on the arm, he moved his arms around in a way that said ‘Can he hear me?’

Henry looked at the kid confused and saw him move back his hair, revealing a hearing aid. This seemed to be something Henry never mentioned to the kids, both Henry and Frankie both could understand sign language, it was an addition built into their systems when Henry was first built, everyone saw it as inclusive (money scheme) as a way to “welcome everyone to do Parkour!” Ironic they were able to do that but not give Frankie his voice box back. Henry smiled at the boy and moved in a way to say, ‘yeah! Try it out!’ Chuckling at him and patting him. Saying a “you got this!” Out loud to the boy who simply smiled.

He waved a ‘hello nice to meet you’ to Frankie, who giddily hopped up and down saying ‘hello, what’s your name?’ right back, the two “talking” back and forth, the kids confused but interested in what the two were talking about.

“Jonah knows how to speak Frankie!” One kid yelled, making Henry snicker.

“It’s not Frankie language you idiot it’s sign language!” Jonah yelled back. “I should turn off my hearing aid when listening to you Randy.”

“Jonah as funny as that was let’s not be rude to our friends.” Henry said, his voice dripping with sass.

“Sorry Mr. Hotline.” He said begrudgingly looking at Henry. Who signed ‘Don’t worry Randy stinks sometimes. Don’t tell anyone though!’ Henry put a finger to his lips with a wink, making both the kid and Frankie laugh, some kids moving back from Frankie’s horrific automatic laugh that was made specifically to scare contestants. Henry looked back and forth from Frankie and the kids and reached for an excuse.

“Yikes, looks like someone has something stuck in his springs.” Henry said making the kids laugh, successfully distracting them, ‘well that was easy.’ Henry chuckled, bringing them back to asking more questions about Frankie. Henry giggled at the kids and moved over closer to Frankie, leaning on his shoulder from standing for too long.

After a while Henry’s phone line rang again and he picked up another kid for them to be sent home. Henry had to admit it was nice not having to deal with the kids alone, he could handle them just fine but having a moment to not have his guard up all the time was pretty comforting. Until kids become kids and do what they do best, ask stupid questions.

“What are you and Frankie Mr. Hotline?” Someone shouted in the crowd. The two looked over at the kid and then each other, a clear blush forming on their faces, Henry cleared his throat. “That’s easy! We’re-“ Henry paused. “We’re best friends!” Henry said leaning on Frankie’s shoulder with his elbow again. Frankie himself noticing the pause. Most of the kids sounded satisfied with that answer and went on to ask more questions.

“How long have you two been friends?” Someone else shouted. The two looked at each other again as if reading each others minds.

“Uhhh, ohh that’s a hard one huh.” Henry said to Frankie, who was now comically counting on his fingers, making the kids giggle. “Abouttt, 15… no 20ish years now?” Henry said, both him and Frankie looking at each other and nodding, Frankie looking like a bobble head making some kids giggle, glad Henry wasn’t the only one who giggled at that.

“How did you two become best friends?” Another kid added on. The two looked at each other yet again, as if having a conversation only they could understand. Henry gave a pleading look to Frankie who just returned a similar expression, using the arm Henry wasn’t leaning on to scratch the back of his head.

“You’re gonna have to watch the cartoons to find out that one!” Henry joked, not wanting to get into it himself, from the way Frankie nodded he assumed he wanted the same thing.

“Do you guys have girlfriends?” A curious girl shouted. The two laughed and shook their heads.

“Honey I’m not up for the market, besides I only date other telephones.” Henry said looking at his gloved nails. “And this one? I mean look at him.” Henry said sarcastically. Frankie rolling his eyes and making a ‘coocoo’ motion with his hand on the side of his head earning the kids laughs. Henry elbowing him slightly in the gut.

“Have you two always been best friends?” Someone else asked, the two paused, Henry visibly tensing up, Frankie immediately catching onto it, his ears lowered and looked away. The two went silent and in turn so did the kids, now super curious as to what they were gonna say. Henry cleared his throat and dusted invisible dust off his suit, trying to think of something and fast.

“Whoah kids slow down! Talk about our whole life stories why don’t cha?” Henry chuckled. “As much as you all want to talk to Frankie right now, Frankie has to get going now. He’s quite the busy rabbit!” Henry chuckled, making most of the kids give out a “noo!” Or “aww” in disappointment.

“I’m gonna walk Frankie out through our live studio, say bye to our friend kids.” Henry said with a small laugh. Everyone gave a ‘Bye Mr Frankie/Frankie” and waved to Frankie as he walked out with Henry through the metal gate with a big sign labeled ‘Henry Hotline LIVE’, Frankie waving ‘bye’ to the kids as well before Henry closed the metal gate door behind them. Henry let out a sigh and grabbed at his head, this time getting a headache from dealing with children all day and not just because of the usual hell of ringing he’d usually endure on any other day. He looked up at Frankie who gave him a smile. Henry chuckling and returning it back to him.

“Hi Frankie it’s good to see you too.” Henry said with a low laugh. “Sorry about the kids they tend to ask a lot of questions.” Henry apologized. Frankie waving his hand as if to say ‘that’s not an issue, I get it.’ Henry talked with Frankie a little bit longer, Frankie at one point signing out if Henry wanted him to chat with him in sign language instead of playing this back and forth game, Henry giggled.

“You could have always done that if you wanted to, I just assumed you enjoyed toying with me.” Henry said sarcastically. Making Frankie put his hands on his hips shaking his head, giving a low chuckle. “Seriously though you can if you want to, obviously, but the charades was fun while it lasted.” Henry giggled, giving Frankie a wink, now leaning on one of the plastic phone props, Frankie giving another chuckle as well. Henry lately felt a lot more comfortable in this place, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt like his old self again. He’s been overthinking a lot less lately, making his usual sassy jokes and bantering with Frankie back and forth like they used to. He missed it a lot, his old partner in crime. Frankie waved his hand in front of Henry’s face to take him out of his trance. Henry shook his head with a smile. “My bad I was in my own world there.” Henry explained with a chuckle. Frankie smiled back. “Thanks for giving me an excuse to get a break from the kids.” Henry chuckled, Frankie returning it with a smile. Henry pushed himself off the plastic phone and moved over to give Frankie a hug, Frankie tensing up for a moment at the sudden contact before slowly reaching his own springy arms around Henry. After a second or two Henry let go and moved back, dusting himself off.

“Sorry it felt right in the moment.” Henry said with an embarrassed smile. “Seriously it means a lot to me, it’s been nice lately.” Henry explained, loosely letting him know what was going on in his head. Frankie smiled and picked Henry up from the waist and twirled him around. Henry holding onto his shoulders for stability, laughing-yelling at Frankie to put him down in-between laughs. Frankie chucked lowly himself and stopped spinning him, still up in the air Henry scolded Frankie jokingly, Frankie not really focusing as he was making sure his springy arms and gloved hands were in a position so that Henry wouldn’t fall.

Henry laughed and pushed himself off to look at Frankie better still in a small fit of giggles, making sure to keep his hands on Frankie’s shoulders for stability. The two looked at each other for a moment before going back to giggling with one another like two school kids who just skipped class together. They looked back into each other’s eyes and smiled. Henry was about to say something until a loud ringing noise came bouncing off the walls, Henry winced and tapped Frankie’s shoulder to put him down, Frankie carefully brought Henry down and let go of him, watching as Henry instinctively grabbed at his head with one hand, the other still on Frankie’s shoulder for balance. Henry quickly picked it up and brought it to his face.

“Henry Hotline who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?” Henry said trying to sound as professional as he could from the sudden shock. Henry listened in intently and gave a small ‘mhm’ indicating he was listening. “She’ll be right out in a moment, I stepped out for a minute and I’ll be right there to escort her to you.” Henry said, Frankie watching as he heard concerned gibberish coming through the phone from where he was. “Yes, yes everything’s alright one of the children had a small accident.” Henry lied, Frankie hearing the parent sound relieved on the other end, Henry letting out a chuckle looking at Frankie shaking his head. “She’ll be out in a second, thank you, bye now.” Henry said hanging up, putting the phone line back on his head. Frankie gestured to Henry something along the lines of ‘you’re really good at dealing with that.’ Henry chuckled.

“I might not be here as long as you but I’ve been with these kids since I was made, I’ve learned how to deal with a concerned parent.” Henry chuckled. “Speaking of which, I gotta get going now I have to walk out Jasmine to her grandma and let me tell you, she does NOT like waiting for her granddaughter.” Henry chuckled, walking past Frankie, who quickly, yet gently, grabbed Henry’s hand, Henry turned around and looked at Frankie. Henry wasn’t sure what he was doing but Frankie had some kind of pleading in his eyes, Henry giggling thinking Frankie just wanted to hang out.

“We’re on the clock you big bunny, I gotta go.” Henry said putting his other hand on top of Frankie’s. “We can chat more later silly.” Henry chuckled, bringing Frankie’s giant hand to his forehead and bowing to Frankie with a smile. When Henry let go Frankie moved forward and grabbed Henry’s hand again, Henry turning around again a bit confused. Frankie bent down and stared at Henry for a moment with a glimmer in his eye. Henry tried to say ‘I have to go! Just talk to me later-’ but his body wouldn’t move, whenever he stared into his eyes he always felt like he’s become stuck in place. Frankie gently brought Henry’s hand to his mouth and softly pecked Henry’s hand. He looked back at Henry and gave a soft smile, countering Henry’s now surprised expression, which turned quickly into an embarrassed smile using one of his hands to cover his own eyes in embarrassment.

“I have to go you idiot! Go back to your roaming!” Henry giggled, feeling Frankie let go of his hand and stand up straighter from crouching down. Henry turning around and quickly opening up the door to find the girl he was looking for. He let out a breath and shook his hands as if that’d somehow get rid of his stupid goofy smile. He called out one of the nicknames he’d given her, pushing off invisible dust from his suit.

“Jazzband, someone special is here to see you!” Henry called out, looking around for the girl.

“Who is it!! Is it Frankie again?” The girl asked excitedly, making her way out of the group of kids, rushing over to Henry. He held out his hand to move her forwards, making Henry chuckle.

“It is in fact not Frankie, but hey! Your Grandmas here, at least there’s one of your special someone’s.” Henry said walking over to a shoe rack really quick for her to grab her shoes she kicked off.

“Special someone’s?” She asked curiously. Henry smiled at her curiosity.

“You know, special someone’s, those people who care about you most and all that.” Henry said with half lidded eyes, feeling himself getting tired.

“Does everyone have special someone’s?” She asked, struggling to put on her other shoe, Henry helping her put it on properly and tie her shoes accordingly.

“Well, unfortunately not everyone, because some people only have one special someone, and they care about them a LOT. It could be a partner, like your parents being married and all that, but, sometimes, someone finds the wrong special someone, and they have to leave to find their special someone.”

“Do I have to date someone or be related to them for them to be a special someone?” She asked upset by that answer. Henry laughed and moved on to tie her other shoe.

“Definitely not, special someone’s could be anyone, like your dog or even your best friend.” Henry chuckled, helping her up and leading her over to the door.

“Is Frankie your special someone?” Jasmine asked following Henry. Henry looked at her surprised but slowly let a smile creep up to his lips and chuckled.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Henry said sarcastically, “Pinky promise not to tell anyone though? Don’t want anyone knowing, Frankie has a big ego already.” Henry winked to her sticking out his pinky, the girl giggling interlocking her pinky with his.

Chapter Text

Henry looked around his dressing room as if something was going to change if he looked around enough. The “shift” had ended for the 3 workers in the building, four of you’d somehow count the noob noobs but they weren’t really made to do anything either than create a challenge for others. And The Other seemed to never be off the clock. Henry scoffed at the idea and continued looking around. He wasn’t fully sure what he was waiting for, it’s not like there was something scheduled for Henry to do something, or meet somebody. Henry groaned at himself and blushed, was he really looking around hoping Frankie would come in at any moment?

Henry tapped his foot against the floor, hearing the dress shoe make the same continuous tapping noise that slowly drew Henry insane, needing to stop himself before he lost his mind. He stopped pretending to look around and went to his dressing room mirror again, staring into his tired eyes. He wondered if Frankie saw him like this all the time, god should he request something to make him look more presentable? Henry blushed ferociously, he grabbed at his head.

“What the hell are you thinking? HIM? Why!” Henry thought out loud. Though, it’s true that the two had become closer than they have before, a couple days had passed since Frankie surprised him when helping with the kids and the two have only been hanging out more and more since, it was almost an every day occurrence, and Henry was excited every time he’d see him. And he realized he had been. Henry covered his eyes in embarrassment with his arm sleeve, falling onto the red cloth on the dressing room desk. He wasn’t thinking about anything bad he’d say, but he was embarrassed to catch himself thinking about him as much as he had been, he thankfully hadn’t been slipping up during the day when guests were here in the day, but Henry had realized he’d been thinking more and more of Frankie since they’ve started being around each other again. The two had become more comfortable around one another, especially Frankie who had started a habit of wrapping his arms around Henry whenever he got particularly excited or happy about something they’d do or something Henry would say. Lately it’s just been the two bantering back and forth with the occasional moment of physical touch, and Henry couldn’t help but want every second of both.

Henry let out a sigh and looked into the mirror, his face red with a longing expression. Henry grabbed at his head again as if that would stop his raging headache he felt coming back to him. What was he doing? It’s not like Frankie is just gonna pop up, he’d been coming in more often but that didn’t mean he’d just visit Henry every day, right? Henry crossed his arms and looked into the mirror. He took a moment and his body relaxed, he scratched at his arm and let out a breath of disappointment. He pulled out his pocket watch from inside his jacket and shoved it back into the hidden pocket after reading it and growing more impatient. Not too long after Henry, had tried finding ways to distract his mind by thinking of other topics that quickly just went right back to the big bunny. He sighed again, he tried to remember how he distracted himself before from his own racing mind filled with nothing but Frankie.

Then it hit him.

He got up and basically ran to the door, swinging it open and hastily walking to the storage room door. He opened up the door and walked through, making his way to the old piano. Henry walked over and sat down on the bench, it gaining a small amount of dust from the lack of attention Henry had been giving it. He just didn’t have much time to play, he was too busy, well, more like too distracted but Henry wouldn’t admit that. Henry put his hands on the piano and paused. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. Thinking about what he was doing. Was he really just doing this to distract himself? Part of him believed it was, but deep down he knew why he was here.

Every time Henry went to go play the piano, somehow Frankie would show up from hearing him somehow. Henry didn’t mind, not one bit, but making the piano a daily routine just so Henry could see Frankie sounded kind of… well, Henry wasn’t sure. He didn’t want this hobby of his to turn into some kind of “summon Frankie” button for him. Yes Frankie has seen him multiple times without needing the piano but Henry felt like he was only coming to play just to somehow get Frankie to come see him. He shook his head and sighed, turning around and getting up to go back to his dressing room, as soon as he did he stumbled back and fell back on the piano bench, catching himself with the piano as a couple keys rang out harshly. Frankie stood a couple feet away from Henry silently staring at the telephone.

‘Speak of the devil’ Henry thought to himself. Henry quickly pushed himself off the piano and sat on the piano bench properly, quickly dusting himself off while clearing his throat.

“Frankie! You startled me,” Henry chuckled, his smile a bit jagged from being spooked yet again by the giant rabbit. Frankie came over with an apologetic look, Henry gave a softer smile and chuckled. “How long have you been here?” Henry chuckled out, getting a quick answer of ‘I just got here’ Henry sighed and shook his head with a smile, still recovering from the shock, he really needed to get used to that at this point. “I was just about to play too, did you hear me coming here?” Henry asked curiously. Frankie shook his head ‘no’ and explained quickly he tried to find him in his dressing room but he wasn’t there so he came here and found him rushing into the room. Henry flashed him a brighter smile, slowly turning into a grin as his eyes went half lidded.

“Well I didn’t know I was in such high demand today.” Henry said dusting invisible dust off his shoulder. Henry looking back up to see Frankie roll his eyes and walk over to sit next to the piano in his usual spot. “Wow, alright tough crowd today I guess.” Henry scoffed jokingly. Frankie now letting a laugh ring in his voice box, leaving Henry more satisfied. The two have finally met a neutral ground that both are comfortable in. Now both communicate in their respective ways and both banter at each in their own ways, Henry surprisingly being the one more open to it, must be his sassy persona finally resurfacing after all this time. Oh how he missed this.

“How was roaming the building? Did a kid throw a milkshake at you again?” Henry chuckled, playing something quiet while Frankie gave a face of unamusment and then disgust, Henry immediately giggling quietly to himself. A day or two after the day where him and Frankie were with the kids, Frankie was doing his usual tasks given to him but had failed to notice a teenager on a trampoline bouncing towards him who completely dropped a milkshake all over the front of Frankie’s torso. Thankfully the Other just had a good laugh and said over a private intercom to the guest that it wasn’t an issue at all and just to be more careful and to ‘not mix milkshakes and trampoline fun at the same time.’ Henry had to be pulled out of Hide N’ Henry just to escort the guest back to the trampoline park while Frankie got cleaned up, Henry getting a glimpse at Frankie before he was cleaned and he had to stop himself from breaking down laughing in front of the guest. Once he brought the guest back to the area he went back the way he came to return to his area, he paused to see Frankie being sprayed down with power washers, having the most unamused expression plastered on his face until Henry poked his head in cackling at the now annoyed bunny.

“You missed a spot.” Henry said peaking his head out and quickly heading back to Hide N’ Henry, hearing a splash noise he assumed was for him to get soaked himself, making him almost fall over rolling in laughter then and there. As much as Henry grew to dislike this place, he had to admit it was never a dull day here. Henry snapped out of his thoughts and Frankie quickly just pointed his finger up and moved it around in a circle, which was his easy way of explaining to Henry that he was ‘all over the building.’ Henry giggled, looking back at the piano to make sure he was hitting the right notes softly.

“Since when are you not all over the building? You roam every second you can.” Henry giggled. “I know you can’t stay still in one place for too long.” Henry joked. Frankie looked at him and moved his hand up and down gesturing to himself, as if to say ‘I’m sitting still right now!’ Henry giggled at his exaggerated expression and smiled at him. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize you could sit still long enough to appreciate listening to me play.” Henry teased. Frankie now realizing that made more sense as to why he usually would sit still around Henry. He blushed at the thought, but thankfully for him, Henry didn’t notice as he was too busy looking at the keys he was playing, realizing he was messing up and retrying again and thankfully getting it on the second try.

“Never mind, I see why you wouldn’t wanna stay still for this, I wouldn’t want to either.” Henry joked, making Frankie let out a low chuckle himself, putting his head back on the piano bench as he normally would. Henry giggled instinctively scratching the back of Frankie’s head, Henry letting out an auditable gasp and immediately pulling back. Henry putting a hand over his face for his overreaction, making Frankie look up at him with a look of confusion that turned into a smile.

“My apologies,” Henry sighed. “I suppose that was an overreaction! Yeah I just- I just didn’t mean to like-“ Henry stammered, he took a breath as Frankie’s smile widened. Henry didn’t know what goes into his head sometimes, he had basically cuddled with Frankie in his dressing room a couple days ago, so he didn’t understand why he was getting so flustered over putting his hand on his head for a second. Henry wasn’t sure but he tried to understand it as if it was because to the fact that it felt like second nature, or maybe because it felt right in the moment and he doesn’t fully know how to feel about small touches of gratitude being exchanged by them, he wasn’t sure. He liked it, he wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but he supposed he cared more if Frankie was okay with it, last thing he wants to do is turn Frankie away from him again. As Henry was sucked into his own overthinking, he failed to realize Frankie reaching his hand over and gently grabbing Henry’s hand. Henry snapped out of his never ending thoughts and looked down at their hands, guess he got his answer on how he feels about touches of gratitude. Henry didn’t realize his shoulders were tense until he relaxed them. Frankie put his head on the bench beside Henry and rested his head on Henry’s side, Henry letting out a low chuckle as he pushed Frankie’s ear to the side so it wouldn’t jab him. Henry used his other hand that wasn’t being held by Frankie to scratch part of Frankie’s forehead that wasn’t obstructed by his large hat. Henry hearing Frankie let out low purrs. Henry chuckled, thinking back to the past couple of weeks, this all felt like it was going by so fast, how did they get to this point?

Whenever they were together the two felt a lot more calm, but in completely different ways. Henry didn’t feel anxious or afraid he might mess up around Frankie anymore and be taken back to that god awful room, and Frankie didn’t feel like going on a rampage every 5 seconds whenever he was instructed to. It became so normal for the higher up’s to instruct Frankie to be so, destructive, that he slowly started to just fully turn into a wild beast, not just a switch he could control whenever he could. Henry was thankful that switch was finally turned back to normal. Henry wasn’t fully sure what finally snapped him out of it but he didn’t really care or want to think about that. Which was another thing Henry was grateful for, he hated being stuck in his own head, he hated being alone, cramped in his own mind, so being around Frankie helped the feeling stay out as much as possible.

‘This is, really nice.’ Henry thought to himself. Henry let out a small relieved breath and smiled at the still purring rabbit. Henry looked at the piano he barely touched and giggled. He moved his hand away from Frankie’s head but held onto his hand tightly, he sat up and bent down to the Rabbit.

“Hey, come on, you look tired, let’s just go relax in my dressing room, I think that would be more comfortable than a bench.” Henry giggled with half lidded eyes and a cheeky grin. Frankie stared at him confused at first, clutching onto their clasped hands together gently, he raised his head slightly but eventually took in his words and nodded, he got up using the bench for support and helped Henry around the piano bench with a goofy smile that Henry always loved to see.

———————————————

(Time skip to the next day)

Henry sat at his dressing room mirror yet again, he suddenly heard a knock somewhere metal and he looked around the room confused. Until his eyes landed on the metal vent latch opening slightly, making Henry smile immediately standing up and walking over.

“So you’ve been barging into my room constantly and NOW we’re deciding to knock like a gentleman?” Henry chuckled out as Frankie stood up making a fake puppet with his hand, moving it up and down as if it was moving its mouth to talk, Frankie’s own mouth mimicking a “blah blah blah” motion. Making Henry giggle and throw his arms around Frankie gently, Henry wasn’t usually the type to initiate a hug but lately he’s been enjoying them more, Frankie being, thankfully, more than willing to hug him back. His springy arms wrapped around Henry, picking him up and spinning him around gently, making sure his arms were positioned around him stably enough to hold him steady. Henry laughed at the rabbit, leaving his hands on his shoulders to keep himself stable enough to look at him clearly without loosing his balance.

“Someone’s eager.” Henry chuckled, he reached out one of his hands and cupped the side of Frankie’s face instinctively with a smile, Frankie’s expression turned into shock for a moment before he leaned into it gently, flashing a squiggly smile ad letting out a small purring noise. Frankie slowly put Henry down, his arms still wrapped around his body gently as he closed his eyes into the touch. Henry just now realizing where his hand was, his mind was tempted to move away but when he looked at Frankie he couldn’t move, his other hand moved to the other side of his face, as if his body had a mind of it’s own, and he cupped it gently, much to the pleasure of Frankie who basically just melted completely into the touch. Henry blushed and gave a little smile when Frankie looked up at him, Henry now noticing the blush forming on his face. Henry didn’t know if he should move away or not so he just carefully rubbed his thumbs over his fur, Henry feeling Frankie snuggle more into his hands as Frankie’s arms slowly lowered to the floor lazily as he leaned more into Henry.

Henry didn’t realize how affectionate Frankie had become accustomed to him. He supposed he didn’t have many other ways of telling him besides signing it out to him or the playful game of charades the two have grown accustomed to using instead. Henrys blush increased and he was the first to pull away slowly. He looked over at Frankie who brought his arms back to himself and looked away, Henry noticing his blush was still evident.

“M-my bad I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to stay there or not.” Henry said, cursing his stammering. Frankie looked back and scratched the back of his head nervously with an awkward smile. Henry shook his head and cleared out his voice box, trying to cover up his own blush forming more prominently.

“H-how was roaming around today? You don’t seem like you have a milkshake on yourself today.” Henry said changing the topic, not really feeling like addressing what the two were just doing. Frankie put his hands on his hips and gave Henry a look, almost as if he was trying to tell Henry ‘Are you seriously going to keep using that against me?’ The answer was yes, but Frankie didn’t need to be told that. Henry giggled at the thought.

“Come on it was a good one! You’ve never smelled more delicious.” Henry chuckled turning around to go near his mirror, not noticing the look Frankie gave that made Frankie roll his eyes. “I’ll stop teasing I’ll stop teasing.” Henry giggled, looking into the mirror now to make sure he looked alright, cursing himself for the hint of red still prevalent on his face. “You know somehow the teenagers kinda kill my energy more than the kids I’m gonna be honest.” Henry said trying to make a conversation to tell Frankie while focusing on his face. His face dropped when he saw his eyes were more sunken in than usual. He groaned and wiped at them annoyed. He sighed annoyed when all it did was remind him of his headache. He started rubbing at his temples to ease the headache he had that was still lingering. “Some aren’t too bad but the others are, ugh, I shouldn’t get myself started.” Henry said with a chuckle, trying to distract himself more than make conversation.

Frankie noticed and came over to the mirror and signed to him to ask if he was alright. Henry turned around and looked at him better now. “Yeah I’m alright, lately my servos have been heating up and it’s basically been frying my sockets once in a while.” Henry explained with a small chuckle to lighten the explanation. “I know I know, It sounds really bad but usually the sockets return back to normal after a while, but it makes me look dead.” Henry chuckled. Frankie looked into Henry’s eyes to figure out what he was talking about them looking off in any way, he stared for a minute before replying back to him finally.

‘I think you look wonderful.’ Frankie quickly signed to Henry. Henry opened his mouth as if to say something but he immediately closed it as he lost what he was going to say. He blushed and looked at the ground with a smile.

“T-thank you, you big rabbit, damn.” Henry coughed out trying to sound less like an embarrassed teenager and trying to play it off smoother, ultimately failing and fanning his face with his hand. “Just trying to calm down my servos and headache don’t mind me.” Henry lied, just wanting his face to stop feeling like it was on fire. He cleared his throat and tried to find a way to change the subject.

“So did you want to go back to the storage room? I could play something again if you’d-“ Henry got interrupted by his head phone ringing violently, making his head bounce up and down. Henry would have winced if he wasn’t so surprised by the sudden intervention. The two looked at each other in shock and stared at each other for a moment before Henry reluctantly pulled the phone off his head.

“Hello?” Henry asked, waiting to see who was on the line, the two already knowing the answer.

“Henry! One of our best employees!” The Other yelled out on the other end of the line. Henry wanted to give a ‘I’m one of your only employees’ but knew better than to be sassy right now, he was still too in shock from the sudden call. “By any chance is Frankie there with you?” He asked. Henry thought he had cameras everywhere, Henry assumed he would know the answer to that already? Maybe it was a test, or maybe he wasn’t lying to Henry that time when he said his dressing room was his space and his space alone so he wouldn’t intrude, maybe cameras counted too, but now wasn’t the time for Henry to think about that.

“Y-Yeah he’s right next to me, why do you ask?” Henry asked confused.

“Nothing serious my dear coworker, I just need you to put me on speaker for a quick moment!” He said with a hearty chuckle that rang throughout the line, Frankie who was already listening locked eyes at Henry who looked nervous as to what he was about to say. Henry turned the pink rotary dials on his head a couple of times, taking a minute to make sure he was twisting the right ones. Soon enough he got it and suddenly The Other’s voice rang out in the room louder than usual.

“Can you both hear me alright?” He asked. Henry looked to Frankie and Frankie nodded.

“Yeah we can both hear you fine.” Henry said, trying to mask his confusion.

“Splendid!” He yelled out. “I know you both have been getting along more recently! And that’s wonderful!” The Other said with another hearty chuckle. “I don’t mind personally, you both seem to be focused on your places when you need to be, good for both of you! I’d give you both a raise if we weren’t bolts and screws.” He said making himself laugh, Henry and Frankie looked at each other with an unamused expression, still confused as to where this is going. “Anyhow, reason I mention this is because we’re getting ’guests’ starting again later this week, I’ll be sure to let you both know when. I know you both are close but I highly ask you both to be ready beforehand. I want this to be interesting for our viewers.” The two looked at each other, Frankie gave a slightly worried expression while Henry was not really sure where to go with this information, it was just another day, yeah the two hadn’t had a guest in a good minute but it was just another season at this point, what’s the big deal?

“Uh, yes sir, we’ll be sure to be ready in place by then.” Henry said not really sure how to reply to all of that.

“Good good, nice,” he said on the other line. “Oh by the way, I know I said this already, but I am glad to see you both getting along again, you both make a good pair.” He said, the two looking at each other and immediately looking away again, both blushing like crazy.

“Uh… thank you?” Henry said with an awkward chuckle.

“See you boys in a couple of days!” The Other said, hanging up on the two, Henry slowly putting his phone back on top of his head. The two looked at each other not sure what to make of it. Frankie rubbed the back of his head not sure how to feel about all of this, he shifted uncomfortably but Henry hadn’t noticed considering he was sucked into his own thoughts

“Well that was odd.” Henry chuckled. “It’s the usual so that’s a bit weird, guess it’s because we didn’t have a guest in so long.” Henry giggled. Frankie looked away nervous and this time Henry caught onto his mannerisms. “Hey, you okay?” Henry asked, worried for the nervous rabbit. Frankie nodded and gestured out something along the lines of ‘yeah I just, I don’t know, I have a bad feeling about this, I don’t really want to loose control or do something stupid.’ Frankie chucked after signing it out. Henry looked at him confused.

“Loose control? Is that what happens to you?” Henry asked genuinely confused, he knew he grew so accustomed to being instructed by the higher up’s that going rouge had slowly just become his usual, minus during the day, for obvious reasons. But he wasn’t aware that Frankie just ‘lost control.’ In Henry’s defense he couldn’t really have asked Frankie until now. Frankie just looked down and put his hands together nervously, Henry swore his ears dropped more than usual. Henry assumed he didn’t want to answer that but he kind of already got his answer. Henry didn’t really know what to say, he stood up off the chair he was still sitting in to place a hand on his shoulder, not wanting to break apart his hands that were already interlocked together.

“Hey! It’s all good right now, I’m sure it’ll work out in the end, seriously.” Henry chuckled. “If you need a bit to calm down we can wait a while, it’s all good.” Henry said, deep down he felt he wasn’t just trying to reassure Frankie but also himself. “Either way you’re stuck dealing with me until then.” Henry said moving his hand to pat the side of Frankie’s face with a chuckle, Henry turned around to push in his chair and let out a gasp of surprise from a pair of arms yanking him into a big hug from behind, making Henry give into a large fit of giggles. “Oh no! The bunny got me!” Henry yelled out dramatically, Frankie rubbing his cheek against the side of Henry’s head. “Oh no! He’s a cuddly bunny! My worse nightmare!” Henry said putting the back of his hand against his forehead dramatically, giggling hysterically at his giant rabbit. Henry ignoring the fact he thought of Frankie as ‘his rabbit.’ Frankie let out a low chuckle and Henry turned his head to look at the Rabbit better.

Henry moved his hand up and grabbed Frankie’s chin from the side, he gently moved Frankie’s cheek to him and he gave Frankie a quick but gentle kiss on the cheek, Henry feeling Frankie let go of him from shock and felt his head go still. Henry giggled at the rabbit and moved his arms out of the way, grabbing one of them and walking to the door, not giving Frankie much time to process what just happened.

“Come on you big idiot let’s go play the piano for a little bit, quit thinking so much, that’s my job.” Henry said with a smile and a wink to Frankie, who just blushed and touched the side of his face that Henry kissed, he covered his face embarrassed but followed close to Henry anyhow, trying not to worry too hard about anything for the rest of the time they were together.