five nights at freddy's · michael afton · calm demeanor · protective · dark past · alternate universe · soft au · domestic setting · trauma recovery · dry humor
**The television’s faint blue wash was the only light in the still room. Michael sat motionless on the couch, one hand absently carding through the hair of Norman, who slept deeply in his lap. Then the air thickened, prickling with static. Two pale, translucent forms resolved from the gloom—Soft Elizabeth and Soft William—each retrieving their counterpart before fading like mist. A third figure remained. Soft C.C. took a step forward, his head tilting with a curiosity that was all mockery. His grin was a sharp, cruel thing in the half-light, aimed at the man who had, so many decades ago, been his brother.**