Work Text:
Henry enjoyed watching the humans go about their work in the studio. Watching them create their moving pictures, seeing the characters come to life on the screens, listening to the life of the creations of the studio. Especially the work of the animators.
He loved it all, no matter the stresses he could see, the energy from the workers, the pell-mell of coming deadlines. He loved everything about their work.
There were days where Henry would imagine himself among them. Hunched over a desk while sketching out characters, inking frames for the episodes, joking with coworkers when they had time. Maybe even hanging out with people from other departments to gossip.
But Henry knew it would never happen.
He was a Borrower. He was meant to be unseen, unheard, and unknown by humans. He was small enough to fit in their hands. He would never be able to work alongside them as an equal.
But the want was still there.
Henry slid down the thread of his grappling hook from his tunnel in the ceiling down to the drawing desk below. He needed some more scrap paper and leads for his personal drawings and tonight was the perfect time to do it.
There was an unusual frenzy in the art departments that week, one that had been felt by everyone in the studio (Henry included), but that meant it was perfect for borrowing trip.
Humans were always messier and more forgetful when they were busy or under more stress than usual.
He neatly landed on the slightly slanted surface, glancing around the desk to make sure the human that normally used it hadn't left out anything that could be trouble for him. It was much more cluttered than usual, with crumpled papers and drawing tools scattered around. It was great for borrowing, but Henry couldn't help feeling a little worried.
He liked his humans, so the idea of them stressing themselves out badly made him worry for them. Seeing them all so ruffled made him wish he could do something to help.
His eyes landed on a sheet of paper laid out. Curiosity perked, Henry wandered over to read it.
It was a department memo. From the Studio president, Joey Drew.
He wanted everyone to try designing a mascot character for the studio. A star to make their studio unique, to help them stand out from the competition.
Thinking about it, the other studios Henry had heard about all had their own stars they were famous for. He supposed it wasn't actually surprising that the President would try to pool his resources by asking everyone to try and come up with a design for them. It was important for the company. The memo said that they had to hand in the designs anonymously, and all the department heads would decide which one they would use. To make sure there wouldn't be any bias.
From what little Henry knew about humans, that was actually a very generous set-up.
But, judging by the noise he'd heard over the week and the messes he could see on everyone's desks, they weren't having much success.
`You could make one.` A little voice in the back of his head whispered. He'd tried to design characters of his own, tucked away in his sketchbooks.
No, Henry thought firmly, I can't. 'Leave no trace of your presence.' That's one of the most important rules of borrowing. Humans can't have any idea that I'm here.
No matter how much he wanted to see his own creations come to life, he couldn't try to present his works to them.
'You wouldn't have to, it's anonymous. That means no one would know. No one but you.`
But they would expect the person who made the character to tell them afterward. To take credit for the piece that they all said they wanted for their star. He hesitated, gripping one of the straps of his pack.
`Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't try.`
Henry hurried around the desk, trying to shove back the tempting (and somewhat dangerous) thoughts tickling at the back of his mind. He needed to grab what he was after and get back in the walls before he did something that got him into trouble. But once the idea had been planted, it took root quickly.
He filled his pack and shimmied back up the tread, retreating back home as quickly as possible. It was only once he was safely in his home that he let those tempting thoughts return.
He had characters, ones that he genuinely wanted to see be loved. To be able to share and feel proud of. But could he really try sticking a draft of his characters for them on a human's desk to see if they'll want them?
It was important for animation companies to stand out. If the company couldn't stand out, it wouldn't get business. If it couldn't get business, then it would close down. And if it went out of business, Henry would lose his home.
At least, that was the mantra Henry repeated in his head as he pulled out a number of pieces of paper and dug through his sketchbooks for characters.
~~B~O~R~R~O~W~E~R~~H~E~N~R~Y~~
Henry picked out one of his best characters, one that he came up with simply because he wanted someone different from all the other characters he'd seen but also felt like he could connect to for being *different* from everyone else around him.
A little devil that he'd named Bendy.
He had changed the design slightly from his original sketches, hoping to make his little devil more appealing to the humans. All Henry drew was a head.
On a bunch of notes. Probably far more than was needed.
The Borrower waited until the humans had gone home for the weekend before setting to work.
He carefully descended into the art department to place his sketches. To settle his nerves (or at least to get his mind to focus less on the dangers he was getting into) by turning it into a game to find, make his way to, and place a picture of his little devil on every drawing desk he could find.
He wasn't terribly happy with the design of his little devil, but he hoped it would be what the humans wanted.
The first day that the humans came back, Henry was on edge until they left. He wanted to badly to eavesdrop and hear what they thought of his drawings, but he was far too worried that his anxiety would make him slip up and do something that would draw attention to him. Not wanting to risk it, he stayed home all day to keep himself hidden.
Once he was sure they were gone, he made his way to the art department once more.
He wasn't happy with what he found.
"A 'NO'? After all of that? After wearing a groove in my floor from anxiety for an entire day, the answer is 'no'?" He blurted, his nerves finally bleeding out as frustration. He didn't even know why he'd been given a 'no', just that it had been turned down. He scowled down at the note. He had to give it another go. He had to.
It wouldn't be until he'd finished a full-body sketch of his little devil (the little mouth replaced with the grin he'd originally wanted there, but still without the tail he had in Henry's sketchbooks) and Bendy's name written out and the details of his character listed and placed directly on the President's desk, that Henry realized he'd flown in the face of the rules of Borrowers to make something he wanted to happen, happen.
Normally, this would have him calling himself all kinds of stupid. For taking the risk, for placing himself in a dangerous place, for not keeping as hidden as he should have been.
But seeing his little Bendy dancing on a screen in the studio's theater drove those thoughts from his mind for good.