Work Text:
Joey had once again ignored him completely.
Granted, Joey was his boss, but he had been hired specifically to help maintain the machine, make it work, and keep an eye on the finances around it. If Joey was just going to do what he wanted, consequences be damned, then what was the point of Reeve even working here?
Unfortunately, this machine was practically Reeve’s baby, and he refused to give up his rights to the thing completely. Which, if he wanted to quit, was part of the agreement he signed. So instead, Reeve had taken to… other ways, to making his displeasure known.
This was the reason that Reeve had stayed extremely late tonight, and, once he was sure Joey had left his office for the night, Reeve went over and picked the lock. Making sure no one was around, he went in, shut the door, and prayed no one was going to look through the glass window in the door at that time of night. The lights inside were going to be off, but the ambient light from outside could still catch him.
He wasn’t going to trash the place, no, he was an adult, and that could be grounds for getting him fired if he got caught. However, moving things around and out of place would be just the thing to irritate Joey enough to satisfy Reeve’s personal irritations.
The lamp on the desk was moved to the other side, stretching the cable across the desk and in the way of anyone who would want to write on it. Every framed item on the wall: pictures, certificates, and other things was turned a few degrees in whatever direction fancied him at the moment. The giant sign proclaiming the studio’s name would “develop” a short that would stop it from working.
He was in the middle of having a staring contest with the mug left on the desk when he heard the knob on the door jiggling.
Dropping down instantly, he very keenly became aware of the fact that the office was fairly small and offered little in terms of hiding places. So he went to the closest place and hid under the desk before the door creaked open.
He was keenly aware of how bad this place was, but he didn’t expect to see Bendy immediately appear in front of him. He jumped and banged his head on the underside of the desk, and his elbows got a similar treatment when they hit the sides of the enclosed space.
He was at least proud of himself for not screaming.
His heart was still pounding loudly in his ears when Bendy started to speak. “What’cha doing in here after hours? Pretty sure that’s against the rules.” The little demon was smiling at him, and Reeve couldn’t tell if this was in approval, hidden anger, or just his default expression.
“I was-uh checking something,” Reeve hastily answered. He was already aware of how bad that cover story was, but he was going to own it. “Well built desk, with enough leg room, check!”
Bendy was not deceived and gave him a knowing look. “Why were the lights off then?”
“Bright lights this late hurt my eyes?” Apparently he was going to dig this hole to China.
The cartoonish demon crossed his arms in a way that reminded Reeve of his own mom. “Ya know I’m not stupid, right?”
“… Yeah, but I had to try anyway.” He shrugged as well as he could.
“So, what were you doing?”
“Uh, Look around, and you can probably figure it out,” Reeve said as he extended his arm out to indicate the wall behind Bendy.
Bendy turned to look around, and all the small things that were out of place stuck out to him. “… That was you messing with him?” Bendy said incredulously. “He kept saying it was ghosts or somethin’.”
Reeve laughed hard enough he banged his head against the desk again. “That’s a new one.”
Turning back to the trapped human, Bendy asked, “So, why are you doin’ this?”
It kind of seemed stupid now, but if he was going to get ratted out, he might as well be honest. “He ignored my financial proposals involving the Ink Machine.”
“… That’s it?”
Sheepishly, Reeve just said, “Yeah. I can’t really argue with him, so I’m just. Taking my victories where I can.”
“I woulda never thought you were like this,” Bendy said. “Everyone keeps saying you’re a goodie two-shoes.”
“… You have to know me pretty well for this to come out. Or catch me in the act.”
That made Bendy pause as he pondered something. When the little demon didn’t say anything else, Reeve asked, “Can I uh, get out of this? My back is already complaining.”
“Oh, sure! And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone your secrets.” The mischievous smile was back in full force. “I can’t wait to see Joey’s reaction tomorrow.”