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Henry had been walking in a sullen silence for about ten minutes now..His chest ached horribly now..actually everything on him had taken on a dull throbbing after being thrown about like some childs doll..But he didn’t think mentioning it in his present company was in good manners..Speaking of the little Devil..Bendy had been silent since Henry had fished his page out of the ink..the only thing letting Henry know Bendy was still there was a soft series of sniffles and hiccups..
Bendy felt absolutely horrible..there was no way to put it lightly that what had happened shouldn’t of, that something had gone wrong and nearly cost someone their life. And the more Bendy thought about it, the worse he felt..Something had..overtaken him during the fight, he enjoyed getting rid of those pesky ink blobs like they always did..but when Henry had tried to get him to stop something else inside said no..He watched himself chase Henry down, a part of him even liked holding the animators life in his hands. That part of him made him sick to his stomach..he had put Henry in mortal danger and Henry forgave him!! He had nearly ripped Henry to bits, that part of him had wanted to do it too, but..something let him take the wheel and when he did everything fell apart. He was scared of himself, scared for Henry being here, and scared of what could of happened had he not somehow gotten control again. He was at a loss for what to do..the only idea that came to him made his tiny devil heart ache fiercely, and that was to part ways with Henry.
Henry of course had no idea any of this was going through the little Devils mind..But he had some inkling about what was upsetting him. Henry in truth had been scared seeing Bendy in such a state, even more so that he had wound up on the receiving end of that rage..But he would not place the blame on the poor Devil, judging by how hard Bendy had been sobbing, he had no real want to cause him harm…And therefore something else must of caused the reaction. The only real problem now would be to find out what sent Bendy into such a state..and getting the other to calm down long enough to realize Henry wasn’t mad at him. Looking about he spied a door, one that thankfully wasn’t locked. After everything that happened, Henry thought he could use a rest and some peace and quiet. And while he knew there were no beds to be found, a quiet room with a chair and a lockable door were the next best thing. Slipping inside and locking the door behind him, he was glad to see the normal, almost comforting sight of a basic animators desk and chair..the dim bulb hanging from above set everything into a lazy setting..It’d do nicely for what was possibly going to be a long talk.
Sitting down in the chair, Henry let out a soft appreciative groan that he was sure his legs would of mimic’d if they could. Setting the now quiet paper on the desk he scooted the chair forwards and fell to silence..How was he supposed to start? It wasn’t a easy subject to broach honestly..there was no real gentle way to ask what happened..But before Henry could even try to sound out a single word..a soft voice broke the silence first..
“…y-you should of just left me there on that wall Henry..I’m no better than those..those things dontcha see? I almost….I-I almost k-killed you..just..just leave me here ok? You’re better off without me…”
The little Devil’s voice was dripping with grief and sorrow, Henry could feel his own heart pang softly listening to the others words..They felt that strongly about their actions enough to want Henry to leave them here? No..he couldn’t leave Bendy like that..it only proved to him that Bendy was innocent here..
“…B-bendy don’t say that abou-”
“IT’S TRUE AND YOU KNOW IT HENRY! ..I..I couldn’t control myself..I could of ripped you to shreds and I just about did!”
“ That wasn’t your fault Bendy..you lost control of yourself..Something happened and it made you lose yourself, just calm down and think for a minute..what do you remember before..well it all fell apart?”
“It’s no use tryin to explain it Henry..I’m dangerous to you and I don’t..I don’t wanna hurt you ever again…you don’t deserve that..you deserve to get outta here and live the rest of your life..Not to worry about when some useless ink stain on a piece of paper might stab you in the back like th-!?”
A fist being slammed into the desk was the only thing that stopped Bendy’s self-depreciation spiral from continuing onward, the noise and impact making the little huddled shape jump in alarm. Henry was rarely angry without good reason, he thought of himself as a well grounded man at times..But watching Bendy dig himself further and further down had sparked something he wasn’t quite sure the name of was yet. But he was angry nonetheless..not at Bendy but the way how he was so quick to blame himself for a accident..It had to stop, and Henry had to do something before the little Devil would most likely think otherwise.
“Now that’s enough of that, not one more word alright Bendy? I want you to listen to me, and I want you to remember every word.. What you did was not your fault, and never will be, you understand? You are not just some useless ink stain Bendy, you’re a lot more than that..Now I want you to answer me truthfully here..did you ever feel like attacking me the last few times you..well took on that big form of yours?”
“ ….n-no? But Henry I still hu-”
“No buts Bendy, but see? The last few times you had complete control..Something must of been different this last time you see? Now..what was different from the other times? I want you to think carefully now Bendy..”
“I don’t see why this matters I’m…okay, okay..stop looking at me like that first and lemme think..”
Each time he had heard Bendy protest and tell him it was pointless..Henry had adopted a rather stern glare..The little Devil couldn’t help but do as told when met with that sort of look, but he couldn’t quite understand why..
“Alright…well..there was a lot more ink than usual..it was up to your waist right? So..there were more of those blob things too..But last time there were alot of them too..and I didn’t lose control..Henry I don’t get it..”
“ Well you were right on both parts so far..Whenever you become that bigger version of yourself it’s always to settle a quick fight…But last time took alot longer didn’t it? We were fighting and clearing a path for a little while..”
“…Were we? I..I can’t remember, I was busy fighting all of them..I remember it being fun, knowing you were behind me fighting too..T..then all I felt like doing was fighting….A-and next thing I knew I was about to…about to..”
“Shhh..it’s alright Bendy..I think I know what might of caused this…”
“ Y-you do? What is it Henry?”
“…I think it was time..Or..how long you were stuck like that? Thinking back on the last few times you were like that..it was only for a few minutes at most..But, last time was a lot longer..I think this ink does something to you in that form..the longer you stay like that it might cause you to lose yourself..I mean look at the paper, it’s almost falling apart it’s so soaked….Actually why don’t we fix that real fast..?”
It wasn’t hard to find a blank sheet of paper and a pen to draw another line for Bendy to stand on..With a bit of coaxing he eventually transferred over to the new sheet..Henry could still see that he was upset about the whole event..But there was a slight general improvement at least..
“There..a little bit better. “
“ But Henry..w-what if it happens again? What if the next time I turn I end up finishing the job? …A-aren’t you scared of me? Aren’t you scared I’d goof up and just..become another one of those blobs?”
“…Bendy..It won’t happen again, I promise you it won’t. And I’m not scared of you either..in fact I trust you wholeheartedly..I know what you did was not your fault, and accidents happen you know. I’m still here and so are you..and I’m not going to leave you behind..now or ever..”
“ …h-henry…”
Bendy was slowly devolving back into tears again…but thankfully it wasn’t due to sadness. Listening to Henry still having such faith in him..he felt like he didn’t deserve someone like that believing in him, especially when he didn’t. Even after nearly taking his head off Henry still wanted to have him around..the little Devil couldn’t contain the happy feeling welling up in him as it began to leak out from his eyes…He quietly told himself he’d make Henry proud from now on, and that he’d do whatever it took to keep the man safe..
Henry gave a tired smile at last, he had finally managed to talk some sense into the upset little doodle..Along with figure out what had possibly caused the accident in the first place. He’d have to keep a eye out on the other should he lend a hand again..Henry couldn’t think about seeing the little Devil so distressed again..Now that things had been patched up, a long yawn worked its way free of the animator.
“..you tired Henry?”
“ A little bit yeah..I was thinking of catching a bit of sleep before we carried on, you don’t mind do you? “
“ No no, you need your sleep big guy..I might join you even, even Devils need a bit of shut eye right?”
“Heh..right, we should be safe in here for a few winks anyways…”
Shifting some he gently picked the paper up off the desk before shuffling the few pieces of furniture around to where he could comfortably sit in the chair and prop his feet up. Once things were settled, Henry hunkered down with the paper laid over his chest gently..The light wasn’t bright enough to bother him..and thankfully it was just warm enough in the studio to not worry about a blanket..Letting his eyes slip shut Henry let himself relax fully for what was possibly the first time since entering the studio..
“Night Henry..sleep tight..”
“ Goodnight Bendy..”
The little Devil didn’t quite go to sleep as fast as Henry did, instead they remained awake listening to the others restful state take over. The animators hand almost acting as a warm blanket of sorts, keeping the page he was on safely tucked against his chest..It was almost like a hug Bendy thought..comforting in ways he didn’t realize he had needed after all that had happened..Listening to Henrys soft..almost nasally snores he let himself drift off at last for some shut eye…
—–
Hours later, both had woken up feeling marginally better than when they had gone to sleep..Well sans a few stiff joins and possible bruises forming here and there..But aside from that Henry felt better about things..Specially when he was greeted by that happy little voice he had grown so fond of. A quick peek outside had proved the halls safe enough to walk back out into to continue their “adventure” into the unknown depths of the studio..However before Henry could get too far Bendy stopped him with a odd request..One that found him taking the little Devil back to the ink flooded portion of the hall once more..
“…Are you sure you want to do this Bendy? There’s nothing wrong with avoiding the ink for a while until you’re ready..”
“No Henry..I-I gotta be sure, you know? We can’t dodge all the ink down here..I wanna be sure of things so…so I don’t have another accident an get you in danger..”
“..Alright, I understand..”
It didn’t take Henry that long to return to the spot where it had all happened..Looking down at the piece of paper, Bendy gave him a nod to let him know he was ready..and set the paper down into the ink..At first nothing happened..But slowly a form began to take shape..It wasn’t quite as big, but still rather tall compared to Henry..He got the vague idea Bendy was metaphorically dipping his feet into the waters. Instead of the bulky figure he had seen several times before..was a much slender version, a foot or two taller than Henry was. There was clear evidence that Bendy looked nervous but hopeful as he looked over at Henry expectantly..
“..How you holding up so far lil buddy? Everything good?”
Bendy seemed to stare at his hands for a moment or two, flexing them a bit before nodding and giving a bit of a small smile. Looks like things had gone well so far for the little Devil, Henry thought.
“ Alright..you wanna call it quits for now? …Bendy?”
Instead of reverting back to his usual state Bendy seemed to want to test his luck fully..Henry watched as the form swelled a bit..slowly becoming the more larger version Henry was more familiar with..When the transformation had stopped..Henry noticed Bendys face was screwed shut in fearful expectation..That feeling slowly crept back into Henrys mind..no matter what form the other took he was still just that goofy little Devil to him..and one that was afraid of himself. Deciding to help out just a bit..Henry reached out to lay a hand on the others shoulder, making the hulking Devil flinch in surprise. Cracking open his one eye he looked down at Henry with what looked like a mix of worry and surprise..
“See? Nothing to worry about big fella..You didn’t have to test it out, but you did..I’m proud of ya Bendy, long as we mind that time limit there’s nothing to worry about right? I’ll be sure to k-ah, Bendy what?”
Something about the words “Proud of you” had made the floodgates open up once again..Henry was..proud of him?? He was scared this entire time..Scared that the second he saw Henry he’d want to attack..But Henry was right after all, he could control it and Henry had trusted him from the get go..Relief had welled up in his heart as it sank in. Henry had absolute faith in him to do his best..even after all that..Henry quickly found himself wrapped up in another inky hug..the Devils head resting on top of his own as fat inky tears rolled down his face.. Henry couldn’t help but smile and comfort the sappy doodle with a few pats and a hug in return.
“ Shhh it’s okay..You did great just now Bendy..I told you it’d be alright didn’t I?”
While he thought it a big comical trying to calm down someone big enough currently to carry him, he was happy things had finally gotten back to normal. Bendy eventually returned to his normal paper bound state and the two of them resumed their walk down the halls. The two of them in much brighter spirits now than before, and now a great deal closer as well.