A/N: Oh, boy, we got another short story! Turns out I've wracked up quite a list of these, for both before and after the events of Ups and Downs. I've tried to get through them by taking them one per month, along with any other projects I have at the time (such as upcoming chapters of Ups and Downs). We'll see how well it works.
At any rate, I don't own Bendy and the Ink Machine, that would be themeatly, and the Henry and the Ink Machine AU was made by thelostmoongazer on Tumblr, definitely check out his stuff, as he's just posted some new artwork for the AU! ( /post/173334193047/man-wouldja-look-at-this-cryptid , with thelostmoongazer dot tumblr dot com in front, hopefully it will work this time).
That being said, hope you enjoy this short story, and if you recognize the title, well, yes, it is exactly what you think.
Proud Of Your Boy:
Boris's arms shook as his eyes stared down at the printed book in his hands. The small text seemed to blur and swim about the page, resisting his attempts to puzzle it out into words. His knee-jerk reaction was to run his tongue over his teeth in an effort to dispel some of the nervous energy, but the wolf felt himself freeze even more when he remembered the watchful gaze upon him. In front of him sat Joey Drew, blankly staring at his floundering creation over steepled fingers as Boris struggled to read. A faint creaking to the side hinted at the presence of Bendy, the little devil not daring to speak in the tense moment but anxiously standing by in case he was allowed to help his friend. He'd usually been allowed to help Boris before, but Joey had said he was putting a stop to that at the end of their last lesson.
And so far, the studio director had been entirely serious about it. Bendy had gotten through his page with little to no trouble, but Boris had been stuck on his first one for what seemed like hours, the time only grating more and more on the wolf's frayed nerves. Because he knew, sure as the ink flowing through him, that if Joey got too tired of this he would just cut the wolf off. And despite the stress in the experience, Boris still was loath to give it up. It was one of the few times he and Bendy got to be together during the day anymore. More often than not now the pair were working in separate departments and didn't see each other until closing time by which they were both so tired out from running around the only thing they could do was eat dinner and collapse into slumber.
This was pretty much it, and Joey probably wouldn't ease up on putting them to work. Boris failing at this would mean that he would lose it too. He and Bendy had both tried to prepare beforehand, this had to be somewhat similar to the other things Joey had used before, right?
"Boris?" The calm, but probing tone caused the wolf to jump in his seat, the book jerking in his hands. Pie-cut eyes snapped up to meet the studio head's dark, watchful stare, Joey simply maintaining eye contact for a few moments more before speaking. "Are you having trouble, Boris? You remember where we are, correct?"
"N-No, Joey, I can do it, an' I know where we are!" The wolf rushed out, eyes trying to focus on the page again. He should probably start trying to read it aloud, that would help, right?
"E-Eu…th…"
"Euthyphro. Keep reading after that." Boris swallowed heavily at Joey's nearly toneless correction, eyes hurrying to the indicated text.
"Wh-What's…new…So-cra-tes, to make y…your u-s-ual...haunts, in the Ly-keem, a-an' spend your time here b-by the king…-ar, archon's…c-court? S-Surely you are not pr…pros…pros-eh…"
"That's enough, Boris. Stop." Joey suddenly said into the tense quiet, the abrupt noise making Boris halt with a jerk and causing Bendy to jolt in his seat.
"Wh…What?" The taller toon's voice came out much smaller than he'd meant it to, though the studio head didn't seem to hear and instead got to his feet and came around the desk, talking to himself as he did.
"You are meant to be the dim-witted one, perhaps this was too ambitious…"
"B…But Bendy can, can read it…" Boris tried, though his voice quavered and he felt his brain get stuck on that word, 'dim'. He'd asked Sammy what that had meant when Joey had first used it to describe the wolf, and the music director, half-distracted with work, answered that it was another way of saying that someone lacked intelligence, that they were stupid. Sammy had cottoned on somewhat when the wolf had gone quiet, telling Boris that he was hardly that but if Joey was saying it, the person who created the lanky toon, then there had to be some truth to it, right?
"Bendy is not you though, is he Boris? He is meant to be cleverer than you, that was the way you two were designed." Joey said, voice carrying a tone that brooked no debate as he closed the book, the sharp snap causing both toons to jump. "Boris, you just do not have the aptitude for this. We won't be continuing from here onward. I will find you something else to do, and in the meantime, I want you to go down to the music department. See if Sammy needs any help with anything. Can you do that for me, Boris?"
"…Yes, Joey." The wolf quietly mumbled, feeling his eyes burn and a lump settle in his throat as he got up and left, not meeting anyone's eye. As he closed the door behind him Boris leaned on the wood for a moment, trying to collect himself. He wasn't going to get upset. It was…just the way things were, people weren't good at things, he just wasn't as good as Bendy.
He wasn't good enough…
The thought caused Boris's vision to blur, making him blink hard to clear it as he turned and began to walk down the hallway to the lift. At this point he could probably find it blindfolded, so he kept his head down and didn't try to look anyone in the eye as he went.
Boris made it there within record time, gloved finger clumsily pressing the down button as his other hand came up to wipe at his eyes. He was fine, it was alright, they could figure something else out, right?
Even as the wolf feebly tried to be optimistic, another voice started up in the back of his mind, whispering about how this was the last chance he had and he still ruined it. Bendy had been helping him, Joey had given him chance after chance, but he still couldn't hack it in the end. And it seemed like such a simple thing, the reading. At least, watching Bendy and Joey made it look easy; heck just about anyone else in this studio could do it, so why couldn't he?
"Boris?"
He must really be stupid then, if this was something so easy, so simple that someone made only a few months before him could figure out.
"Boris? Are you alright?"
He let Bendy down, let Joey down…
"Boris?"
The impact of a hand on his shoulder jarred the wolf from his thoughts, causing Boris to jump and whirl around as the air caught in his throat. But the only one there was Henry, looking a little startled at the over-the-top reaction from the tall toon, and more than a little worried.
It took Boris entirely too long to realize that some of the wetness that had been clinging to his eyes had started to slip down his face and he hurriedly turned his head, trying to wipe at the moisture before Henry could notice.
"Boris, is everything alright?"
"Y-Yeah, everythin's fine." Well, at least that didn't sound too much like he was on the verge of tears. Small miracles. "You don' have t'stay, Henry. I'll be okay, really. Just…Just goin' to see if Sammy needs anythin'."
"I'll go with you, haven't been to see Sammy in a while." Henry replied, voice casual, though Boris knew that the music director likely wasn't the only reason Henry was deciding to do this. The wolf felt he could figure that much out, at least. The door to the lift slid open with a slight creak, both toon and man stepping inside and letting it take them down to the music department. The pair stood in silence for a spell, Henry merely looking his usual calm self while Boris tried not to let the thoughts from before start seeping back in. He didn't need to give Henry anything to get worried over, it wasn't Henry's problem.
Boris hardly needed to disappoint Henry too…
The lift shuddering to a halt caught Boris off guard for only a few moments, the wolf snapping quickly into the motion of rushing off the elevator and would have almost beelined right for Sammy's office if it weren't for Henry's voice calling from behind him.
"Hey, Boris, wait!"
The holler caused a flinch to run through the canid frame, but Henry's face had nothing but fond teasing in it.
"Still not as fast as you, buddy."
Even though there was some part of Boris that recognized that the animator was just joking, wasn't even being the least bit mocking about it, the fact that he'd completely forgotten that Henry couldn't match his stride made that earlier, darker thought come back. About letting people down, he just wasn't good enough, he'd let Bendy, Joey, and now Henry down, maybe he should just find a dark corner of the studio to hide in rather than risk letting Sammy down too…
"Boris?" Henry suddenly asked, the worried note to his voice snapping Boris out of the suffocating thoughts. It was only then that the wolf realized that the tears that had been burning at the edges of his eyes for the past few minutes had finally managed to escape, trickling down the sides of his face. The realization frayed the chokehold that Boris had had on his whirling thoughts, his shoulders beginning to shake and draw inward as his entire posture began to crumple, a hand coming up to grab at one of his ears, which had long since tucked down against his head.
"'M sorry, He-Henry-y." The taller toon managed to warble out, teeth gritting in a failing attempt at holding in the completely overwhelmed sobs which were threatening to vibrate his frame to pieces. The utterly wretched words, coupled with the fact that a few people were beginning to push past the pair on their way up and down the hall, snapped Henry back into the moment.
"It's alright, Boris, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm…here, let's move to the side…you know I wasn't…I was only teasing you, you know that, right?"
Feeling like his voice was stuck behind an invisible barrier Boris could only offer a nod, following Henry so that they were standing with the wall pressed up on one side, leaving the other free for people to pass. The wolf thought he could pick out some faces, but given his current, shameful state, he didn't try to make eye contact with anyone, instead choosing to focus on Henry and trying to do something about the sobbing gasps escaping from his lungs. The animator's worry hadn't cleared any with the taller toon's response, but with a moment to think, he at least found himself forming a plan of sorts.
"Alright, Boris. It's going to be fine. Take a deep breath for me, please, and let go of your ear?"
The heaves were broken by a rough inhale, filling the wolf's lungs as his hand quietly loosened its clenched hold over his ear, letting the appendage rise back to its previous position against his head. One breath tumbled out after the other, the heaving rushes of air vanishing under the steadier rate. However, Boris still felt so, so incredibly shaky, his eyes puffy and itching as his stance remained folded and hunched in on itself.
It was a pitiful sight, one that Henry did not want the wolf to keep. However, given what, or more rather, who, they'd initially come down for, the animator knew that there would probably be at least one other person who should probably be here for the inevitable conversation. Not to mention, Sammy would probably know some of the more quiet spots in the music department where they wouldn't be disturbed while talking.
"It'll be alright, Boris, just walk with me." The man quietly instructed, keeping his tone as calm and hopefully as calming as he possibly could. He ended up letting Boris hold onto his shoulder as they continued on down the hall.
"Alright, I have the music sheets made up for the new short. You all know the drill, we'll begin our first practice in a couple hours, if anyone has any questions or concerns, please, for the love of all that is decent, say something before we actually start." Sammy rattled off, even as his eyes caught sight of one of the musicians, a young Johnny who played the organ, come into the main room and try to catch the music director's eye.
"Off with you all, be ready and in the recording studio at one." And with that, the main bulk of the crowd dispersed, though Johnny quickly made his way to the front of the room.
"Boss, just figured I oughta give you some warning, I saw Boris in the hallway from the elevator with Henry." Immediately the declaration set off some alarm bells in Sammy's mind. Boris was supposed to be up in Joey's office for at least another hour. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time the studio head deviated without actually consulting anyone or letting any affected parties know what he was doing beforehand…
"Alright, alright." Sammy replied, already thinking of a few things that Boris's help would be instrumental for, right before Johnny hesitantly broke another piece of news.
"And, well, boss, it's just that…I dunno what happened, don't think Henry really did either, but Boris was, he was really upset about something. Just started bawling right there in the hall."
…Alright that was cause for some worry. The wolf remained an ever-present fountain of friendliness and helpful pep even when exhausted or weighed down by something or other. It was to the point that Sammy did feel some obligation to keep watch when they had a new hire, situations where Boris would run himself ragged trying to please said person or the new guy in question perhaps having some issues with the fact that a six-foot toon wolf was following him around like a doe-eyed puppy very much in mind. Not that they'd had very many issues, barring one, but the fact that Boris outright broke down over whatever the current problem was did not bode well.
"…Alright, thanks for the heads up. I'll handle it, go on and make sure you've got your music at least partly under your belt by one."
"Got it, boss." Johnny fired back, the somewhat cocksure grin a little more wane than usual. Hmm, nerves over the music or nerves from what he'd seen out in the hall?
Sammy quickly went out, hoping to meet Henry and Boris before they came into the music department proper. He was almost a little surprised to only see the animator traipsing up the hall, until his eyes succeeded in catching sight of Boris's outline somehow managing to hide behind Henry's much shorter form.
"Hey." The music director started, trying to give every appearance of nonchalant calm while he tried to piece together what he could from the pair's appearances. Henry's dark circles under his eyes certainly didn't look any better, so Sammy could figure that sleep was a little too far down the animator's priority list. However, despite the impassive as ever expression on the other man's face, a faint note of tension in Henry's jaw hinted that what Johnny had said was true, even as he waved in greeting.
Though if Henry hinted, Boris was a dead giveaway that something was amiss. The wolf's eyes and face were pointed towards the floor, ears back and his expression brittlely neutral. Coupled with the withdrawn, closed posture, a slump in the taller toon's frame making him seem an inch or two shorter than he actually was, and Sammy could say without a doubt that he had a lot of work ahead of him.
"Hey, kid." He finally said, Boris looking up at the familiar moniker. Sammy kept his expression carefully open and neutral as he scanned the wolf's face, taking in the puffiness around the pie-cut eyes and dried tear tracks running around the canid snout. Boris did make an effort to look up and meet Sammy's gaze, but an effort at a smile fell flat, the life in it fleeting as a fly's before it fell back into a dour quiet.
"…Hi, Sammy."
"How's about we head up to the second booth? I just want to grab a few things."
The few things turned out to be the music director's own copy of the music for the next short, as well as a banjo. Despite the plodding, heavy steps Boris followed along easily as the trio navigated their way to the opposite staircase, leading up to the booth which looked over the now-empty recording studio. For a brief moment, Sammy wondered if perhaps Norman was in the other booth next to them, but just as quickly decided that it didn't really matter. If anything, the old projectionist was good with keeping a secret, and Sammy did recall at least one occasion of finding the toon wolf with candy of some sort that he knew Norman was a fan of.
Henry's eyes, meanwhile, cast to the presence of the banjo and music sheets with a mildly quizzical stare, before turning back to the still slumped, quiet figure of Boris, who had moved to sit on the floor next to the only seat.
"You can have the chair if you want, Boris. I'll stand."
"'s fine." The wolf croaked, settling with his legs bent, arms resting on his knees, gesturing for Henry to take the seat. Sammy simply set the banjo down against the wall, and turned his attention to the music sheets he'd brought with him.
"Hey, kid, Joey finally sent us the music sheets for the next short. Wanna give 'em a look over?"
Lower lighting of the booth aside, Sammy did manage to pick out a wince at the mention of the studio head's name. Ah, a clue. Not to mention the music director had been running on a distinct shortage of sympathy for his once-friend in recent years, so he hardly felt much apprehension over what he might find by prying. Judging from that minute expression though, Boris probably wasn't just going to come out with the reason for his upset.
"What do you think so far?" Sammy asked, mostly to give himself some more time to think. He was, however, internally gob smacked to see the wolf give the sheets an uncharacteristically passing glance before speaking.
"…Looks fine t'me."
…The music director made up his mind to chew Joey out once he got the chance, as he quietly decided to work with what he knew regarding the situation. Joey had deigned to inform him that he'd be keeping Boris upstairs with him on some mornings, though for what that had been for wasn't important enough to mention.
"What were you doing with Joey today, by the way? You usually don't come down here until after lunch." Though Sammy did catch sight of Henry seeming to key into what he was doing, his attention was entirely for Boris. The toon canid's face froze, eyes growing wide like a deer in the headlights and ears pinning back so close they were nearly invisible against his head.
"W-We were, he was teachin' me an' Bendy how t'read." The wolf's voice was far too brittle for comfort, and Sammy almost hated to push. But this wasn't going to be resolved until they knew what the issue was. Not to mention, it did not escape the music director's notice that Boris did not address the second part of what he'd said.
"Oh? And what were you reading?"
"U-Uhmmm." Boris hummed at first, curling up tighter as his eyes darted around. He nearly made eye contact with Henry before quickly looking down at his knees, though the signs of anxiety caused something to soften within the animator's face. However, before Henry could act on the feeling, Boris quickly spoke up. "I…I dunno, I don' 'member…"
The wolf had just been up there though, surely he'd remember the title of what he'd been reading at least. Though the thought was buzzing angrily around Sammy's brain, he kept the frustration it was causing in check.
"Hmm, alright…" A beat, before. "So, will you be with Joey tomorrow morning as well?"
The simple question practically caused a visual ripple of tension to shudder through Boris's frame, the wolf outright stalling for a good few minutes as both men tried to gauge what was happening or how to address it.
"Bor-?" Sammy half-started, the light noise making the taller toon jump and spurring him to speech.
"Joey said I'm not gonna go 'nymore." The quickly-spoken sentence caught both Sammy and Henry off-guard, the pair trying to decipher it internally for a moment before Sammy gave up.
"I-I'm sorry, Boris, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"
"S..Sorry, Sammy, I jus'…Joey s-said tha'…" Boris started again, voice beginning to tremble on the last three words. The wolf's shoulders started to shake, curling up into even more of a ball right there on the booth floor as his emotions started to overwhelm him again.
"…Boris, what did Joey say?" Henry finally asked, elbows resting on his knees as he leaned down to do his best to look the overwhelmed toon in the eye. Not that Boris made it easy for anyone to do that by this point, albeit the question had rattled loose some form of coherency, enough that something began to enter the conversation.
"…J…Joey s-said…tha' I wasn', r-ready fer…fer readin', an' tha'…th-tha' I was gonna be down here now, fer good…" Boris managed, before his voice started to buckle under the emotional weight. "H-He said tha' I…I prob'ly couldn' do it any way, tha' Bendy an' me were diff'rent, c-cause 'm meant t'be the di-…"
Whatever bastion of verbal stamina Boris had tapped into, it seemed to run dry right at that moment. The wolf dissolved into physically muted sobbing as he pressed his face into his knees, leaving the two men present briefly stymied by the sudden whiplash of emotion. Thankfully, the bewildered stoppage only lasted a few seconds, right before Henry quickly intervened and tried to calm the wolf down.
"Boris, Boris, it's alright, it's alright, take a deep breath for me, Boris. It's going to be fine." The animator murmured, hands hanging in the air for a moment with indecision before he finally started to rub calming, steady lines into the wolf's nearly-vibrating shoulder blades. It did have at least part of the desired effect, in that Boris's breathing started to ease down from the heaving gasps it had been nary a few moments ago. However, it also had the added effect that the taller toon abruptly turned himself so that his head was pressed into the side of Henry's knee, almost like a child trying to hide from an uncaring world. Or, perhaps, someone's tactless words.
Thankfully, the animator recovered quickly enough, keeping up both his physical and verbal efforts at comfort. Sammy, meanwhile, stood quietly off to the side. It was not that he felt…unequipped to handle the situation, really. His attention was more or less focused on what little he'd managed to glean in just a few short minutes, and the conjectures his mind could draw from both that and the wolf's apparent state of mind. It brought to mind another memory from about a week ago, regarding a question that Boris himself had asked.
"Hey, Sammy…?"
"Hey, Boris?"
"…Wh-what's it mean when someone's…when people say someone's dim? It's not like with th' lights, right?"
…Well, Sammy had suspected that someone specifically used the word to describe Boris, he just didn't have any solid ideas regarding the person's identity until just now. Not to mention the fact that from the sounds of things, the studio head had very much said this word about Boris, straight to the wolf's face no less. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that him getting up to leave might completely upset the delicate calm that had taken hold, Sammy was fairly certain that he would have gone to show Joey Drew exactly what he thought of that kind of treatment.
"…Boris?" The music director found himself asking, unable to completely smother a stab of recrimination at the faint flinch the wolf gave before turning to look over at his mentor.
"Y-Yeah?"
"…Why exactly did Joey say that he didn't think you were ready to read?"
For a brief moment, Sammy couldn't help but wonder if he had overstepped given how Boris's eyes grew wet again. However, with Henry's hand giving a quiet, steeling squeeze to the taller toon's shoulders, the wolf simply took in a shuddery gasp of air before speaking.
"…'s 'cause 'm th', th' dim-witted one. 'Cause 'm not smart like Bendy is."
While that did confirm the music director's earlier deduction regarding Joey and his phenomenal encouragement, it didn't quite answer the question that Sammy had been trying to get to. Now putting the desire to confront Joey personally about this into a mental stranglehold, he tried again.
"Alright, first and foremost, that is Joey's opinion, which I think is entirely incorrect. And, Boris, did Joey happen to give you a reason as to why he's…not teaching you anymore?"
While this did seem to be marginally safer territory, as the wolf no longer sounded like he was a hop, skip, and a jump away from breaking down again, the dour look to the canid features did not lift.
"…'s cause I read too slow, Bendy's a lot faster than me. H-He tried t'help, bu', I still couldn'…it all jus' started blurrin' t'gether t'me…"
"The words? Or the sentences?" Sammy tried, pressing as gently as he could. Boris thought on the matter before giving a somewhat shaky shrug.
"L-Lil' bit'a both, Sammy. Jus', th' longer words, an', an' Joey kinda jus' sits there th' whole time an' listens, 's…kinda scary."
Hmm, so it was the length of the words, or perhaps their complexity, and the atmosphere of the lessons that seemed to be the biggest obstacles…however, if it was just a matter of clearing away some of the stress, then…
"Alright, Boris. Thank you for telling me. One last question, though, and I'll be satisfied." At the curious, still somewhat teary set of pie-cut eyes meeting his own with a small nod, Sammy continued. "Seeing as Joey isn't up to teaching you how to read, how about I give it a try?"
At first, Boris gave a quiet nod, right before the question registered and he jerked ramrod straight as he stared up at Sammy, not sure if he had heard the music director properly.
"Wh-, bu', Sammy, I, I can't, y'got a lotta work already-!"
"I'll have it with or without you knowing how to read, and I'd rather you know. So, was that a yes?"
"M-Maybe, I don', I mean I don' wanna, I-I jus', if I can't then I can't, right?"
"Are you saying you can't, Boris, or is that Joey talking? Also, who knows how to play every single instrument under this cobbled-together roof, apart from myself?"
"…Me?"
"Exactly. And you took to those like a fish to water. Never had a problem with any of them, did you?"
"No?"
"No, you didn't, kid. In fact, you are the by far the best student I've ever taught piano or guitar. And why was that?"
"…'C-'Cause it was fun?" Boris warbled, a frail but honestly happy smile starting to spread over the canid snout, even as the wolf's face reflexively darkened in a bashful grey at the praise.
"Because it wasn't a chore for you. It came naturally. So reading doesn't necessarily come naturally, doesn't mean its impossible for you to learn. We just need to find a method that works." Though the logic was pretty sound, Sammy did notice how the wolf's face sank a little at even the suggestion of reading. Yeah, they'd definitely have some work ahead of them. Him more so, given that Henry would likely be kept occupied by the workload that Joey kept piling high. The animator never actually said how much the studio head gave him, but given that Henry was a quick study when it came to animation, not to mention a fast drawer overall, Sammy could guess that the list wasn't exactly short.
Though, come to think of it, unless Sammy came up with an excuse to send Boris up to the animation department, the wolf likely wouldn't end up going until the end of the day. The music director's train of thought was abruptly derailed when a growing racket came from the landing, though in retrospect it wasn't as if there were any shortage of people that might be stomping around, so Sammy decided to ignore it.
"Don't worry about it, Boris, we'll work out the details tomorrow." Though the promise of at least some time to come to terms with the change did cause the taller toon to relax a little, Sammy knew that this was more or less just putting things off until tomorrow. Which, well, he'd just have to deal with then, maybe give the matter some time so that the wolf would be able to relax.
"Boris?" Henry abruptly spoke up, the wolf craning his head back to look the animator in the eye.
"Yeah, Henry?"
"How was Joey teaching you to read?" Ah, right, that'd be a good thing to know…
"We'd jus' read books, I'd read a page an' then Bendy'd read a page an' we'd jus' keep readin' 'till th' book was done. Then we start a new one." That did make some sense, though Henry still had something on his mind to ask the wolf.
"Which book were you and Bendy reading?"
Boris hummed uncertainly at first, a sound which didn't give Sammy much hope regarding the effectiveness of Joey's teaching. However, the wolf did remember something about the recent reading material after a few moments, but not very much.
"Uhh, I think it was…It had two guys, talkin' about how somebody was taken t'th'…th' Ly-keen, 'r the Ly-krem…"
That…honestly wasn't ringing any bells in Sammy's mind. It didn't look like the vague jumbling of syllables that was supposed to be a name was making anything click for Henry either.
A clatter at the stairs abruptly drew everyone's attention to the door, which was quickly filled with Wally's lanky frame as the janitor clambered up the staircase, getting an eyeful of the trio before turning around to call back down to someone on the landing.
"Found 'em, kid, up here!"
Who the janitor was talking to became apparent straightaway as a small, dark, and behorned figure raced up the stairs nearly on all fours. However, upon realizing that Boris wasn't alone in the booth, particularly the fact that Sammy was still leaning against the wall nearest to the door, the devil came to a halt, eyes flickering nervously between everyone present as his shoulders hunched and tail flicked close to his small frame. The tension did not abate once Bendy and Boris made eye contact with each other, either. If anything, it seemed to grow ten times worse.
"B-Boris, I…I jus' wanted t'see if…I-I mean, I…"
"…What's wrong, Ben? You okay?" The wolf asked as the devil began to trail off, though the questions seemed to release some of the anxiety churning in the smaller frame. Bendy nearly staggered forward, the thought only occurring to Sammy at that moment that the devil toon must have been running throughout the entire music department trying to find them. Or, more specifically, trying to find the wolf.
Not that Boris seemed to have any inclination about him to make that any harder than it had already been, the taller toon quickly adjusting his position so that Bendy could sit on his lap which the devil did with only the smallest bit of hesitation. However, while the wolf seemed to forget his questions, Henry certainly didn't.
"Is everything alright, Bendy? Did Joey let you leave?"
"Y…Yeah, he let me go. It's fine." It did not escape Sammy's notice that the devil deliberately seemed to skip over the first question, something that at least Henry seemed to pick up on, though the wolf's arms did wrap just a little tighter around the smaller frame for a brief moment. However, before anyone could broach the topic again, Bendy quickly spoke up.
"So! What were you guys talkin' about?"
"…Well, Sammy's gonna teach me how t'read." Boris spoke up, a little disorientated at first by the shift before deciding to go along with it. The devil's eyes cut from the wolf's face to the music director, a silent shadow over the whole conversation. Sammy could say that, to his credit, he did give a somewhat jaunty wave at the acknowledgement, though Bendy didn't seem to find it disarming or really funny. Well, Sammy reasoned, it wasn't like comedy was his strong point…
"O-Oh…" The devil hummed, to which Boris seemed to key into at least something that was bothering the smaller toon.
"Y'did a good job, though, Ben, really! I didn' know what was happenin' in that last book at all until y'sat with me!"
The enthusiastic complement did ease some more of the tension from the devil's frame, though it did cross Sammy's mind that they still hadn't gotten a proper answer regarding the aforementioned reading material.
"What book was that, by the way?"
"…Uh, think it was called…" Boris started, though when it looked like the wolf was struggling Bendy tried to jump in.
"The Illy-ad. Ill-aide."
"Yeah, that one." The wolf confirmed, the pair glancing at each other in confirmation and completely missing how both Henry and Sammy met each other's eyes, the former with complete, weary surprise and the latter with quiet frustration. Either way, the message was easy for both adults to see, that what Joey was working with in terms of reading material was not something that they would consider good for beginner readers, never mind ones who were struggling with the material like Boris.
However, the silence was starting to carry on just a hair too long, the wolf picking up on the manner in which both adults were staring at each other in equal parts surprise and exasperation.
"I-It's okay! Bendy really helped, a lot! I know all about th' big war with th', with th'-."
"Th' Greeks and th' Trojans." Bendy slipped in, peering up at both Sammy's and Henry's faces as his tail coiled close to his body.
"Yeah, them! I-I know 'bout how they fought in a war, an' had these gods helpin' 'em on both sides which made it hard fer anyone t'really win, an' how A-Achill, Achilles was so sad that Patro, Patroclus died that he killed Hector, which, I didn' really get, th' whole issue was how Achilles asked th' war t'go on so the Greeks'd know how much they needed him! An', he jus' was a jerk! He didn' need t'do that!"
"Shoulda had you there running the diplomatic side of things, huh, Boris?" Sammy teasingly asked, causing the wolf's rant to be put on hold as he registered that he was being spoken to.
"…What's diplo-matic?"
"That…it's basically the people on one side that try to talk to the people on the other side, to make the war stop and to talk about how to compensate both sides following the war so the fighting doesn't keep happening." Henry quickly explained, both toons looking to him as he spoke with comprehension dawning once he was finished.
"Oh. Bu' they had that. They were goin' back and forth about how to stop th' fightin', but they were givin' people!"
"That was how they did it way back when. I don't think it's something they really do anymore, except in certain circumstances. Like if you have people from the one side captured, and the other asks for them to be released."
"Yeah, bu' this was a lady, her name was, was…"
"Helen?" Henry asked, the wolf's head nearly snapping on his neck with how fast he turned to look back at the animator.
"Yeah, yeah, her!"
"She was Greek though, the whole reason she ended up with the Trojans was because of…well, there's a part of the story that isn't in the Iliad."
"Not up to date on my Greek classics, but wasn't that what started the whole war?" Sammy asked, Henry nodding his ascent.
"How?!" Bendy asked, voice shrill with incredulity. Boris too looked to Henry, not believing or wanting to believe the possibility that one person somehow ended up starting of a war that, from what he remembered, ended up killing so many. At least in the story. Maybe it was different in the real world, like how they weren't entirely like the cartoons that the studio produced, like how they had to adapt to the world around them.
"Well, it started with this goddess named Eris. At a gathering of all of the gods, she threw a gold apple into the center with the message that only the most beautiful of the goddesses could claim it. I think it was Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite that were mainly fighting over it, but to settle the argument they brought in Paris. Pretty sure you both remember him." At the pair's somewhat certain nods, the animator elaborated. "He's in the Iliad, but he's not quite front and center like Achilles is. At any rate, he was considered the fairest person in Troy, and they thought that he would be the best to go to."
"So, who'd he pick?" Boris asked, head tilting in curiosity.
"I'm getting to that, you two, don't worry." Henry mollified, before leaping back into the tale. "Well, all three goddesses promised Paris something if he were to pick one of them. Athena promised him wisdom, Hera promised him that he would be the ruler of nearly all of the known world, and Aphrodite promised that he would have the most beautiful woman for his bride. He ended up choosing Aphrodite, and she gave him Helen as a wife."
"Jus' like that?" Bendy questioned, expression crinkling in thought as he peered up at the animator. "Did Helen wanna be Paris's wife? What about her…her family 'n stuff?"
"That was part of the problem, Helen was already married to a man in Greece. I think he might have been a king or something similar. Either way, once they figured out where Helen was and managed to get there, Paris didn't want to give her up. Which started the Trojan War." Henry finished, both toons looking at him for a full minute, almost as though they were waiting for him to say 'April Fools!'. When no such backpedaling came, the pair glanced between each other in silent, incredulous askance before finally speaking up.
"What?!" Bendy hollered, loud enough that the piercing tone echoed off the far wall of the recording studio.
"B-Bu' that's not fair at all!" Boris leapt in, looking between Henry and Sammy as he kept talking. "If Helen was married, if'n she was s'pposed t'be somewhere else, then he shoulda let her go home! That woulda been fair! An' if that was why he picked Aphro-ditty, then that wasn' fair neither!"
"What was Eris's deal?!" Bendy burst out, frustration driving the devil to nearly standing up in Boris's lap to try to physically interject himself into the somewhat one-sided conversation. "Why th' heck did she hafta even start all that?! People died cause'a what she did!"
"Ben, it's…it's alright, calm down." Henry soothed, reaching down and picking up the smaller toon, letting the tail-lashing little bundle of ink sit on his knee for a moment before continuing to speak. "Trust me, nothing that Paris or the gods did was something that people think needs repeating. If anything, people would be appalled by that sort of behavior nowadays."
While Sammy had to agree with Henry, he couldn't help but think that people would have to catch the offenders first, and hold them to the standard. Not that he put voice to the thought, as the reassurance had already done the job of calming the pair down. The frantic energy from before had already begun to dissipate, as both Bendy and Boris looked between each other while they absorbed the new information.
"An' they wouldn't let it happen?" The devil finally asked, looking to Henry with complete and utter seriousness in his pale features, Boris beaming a somewhat less intense gaze from his seat on the floor. It was an image the animator seemed to need a moment to digest before properly addressing, though if Sammy were any judge he would've thought that Henry might've been wondering just what he'd gotten into.
"People will do their best to make sure it doesn't. That was part of the reason why the war in the Iliad was happening, to stop what had happened with Helen."
Or to defend Paris and his prize, not that the thought really seemed to occur to the toons at the moment, Boris instead moving on to something else that was on his mind.
"What 'bout the gods? Why were they fightin'?"
"Well…" Henry started, letting the moment carry for a bit in order to give himself more time to think. "…it's…a bit more complicated. The gods had ties to certain peoples, like the Greeks and the Trojans. It was like…like how I work with the animation department, and Sammy works in the music department."
"Bu' they were way stronger than th' people, an' some'a them were fightin' with th' Trojans which wanted t'keep Helen with Paris. That couldn'a been right!" Bendy pointed out, voice rising with righteous indignation again as his face screwed up in that exaggeratedly affronted way that only a kid could manage and somehow pull off with the air of a grand hero about to go off and stop evildoers.
"They were…It's a little hard to explain…" Henry tried, eyes darting around for some thing to work from that would make sense to the two toons. Sammy, who had already had an idea in mind for how to handle this, decided to come to the animator's rescue.
"Loyalties mostly. Besides, from the perspective of the people the gods are supposed to be powerful, and powerful enough to make things miserable for those who wrong them. Granted, it was a theme in classic mythology for the gods to be somewhat…messed up. Think it was just their way of explaining the world, given that it wasn't always fair." The explanation really didn't seem to smooth over the ruffled feathers from the grey morality, but it did seem to satisfy both toons to the point where the questions were exhausted.
At least, not before Henry seemed to realize something, the animator looking to the toon devil still sitting on his knee.
"Bendy, did Joey say you could come down here?"
The question, simple as it was, caused a ripple of tension to rattle the small toon's frame. Even more telling was how Bendy would not meet anyone's eyes, gaze nearly rocketing around the room before finding his knees and riveting there.
"Bendy-." Though the tone of Henry's voice hadn't changed from its usual calm, the devil's shoulders shook at the sound of his name, a few drips of ink starting to run down the smaller toon's pale face.
"He didn'!" The answer was almost too quick to catch, something that Bendy seemed to realize as he repeated himself at a slower, if slightly deadened pace. "He didn' tell me t'come. I, I came down myself, 'cause…"
Whatever the reason, the devil cut himself off before he could drop more than a hint, fidgeting uncomfortably as his tail almost bunched itself with how closely it was coiling to his body. Though, thankfully for Bendy's nerves, Henry didn't want to pursue the issue any further than he already had.
"It's, it's alright, Bendy. I'll think of something. It'll be fine. However…" The animator continued, both toons' postures sinking with gloomy anticipation of what he was about to say. "…we should probably go back upstairs."
To be honest, Sammy wasn't sure he would have considered that a too-terrible thing. At least the animation floors didn't flood like his department sometimes did. However, from the manner in which the two toons slumped with their faces dour as they took in the news, he supposed that there were other things to be interested in apart from workspace integrity.
Especially given that, from what the music director remembered, Bendy and Boris had been nearly inseparable before the wolf had started helping out primarily in the music department. In fact, the only times that Boris would be up on the animation floor would be when the day was winding down, apart from the now-cancelled teaching sessions that Joey had been doing.
Not that there was much Sammy could really do about that, as Joey would just send the wolf back down to the music department, or perhaps even punish Boris if he caught him up on one of the animation floors trying to see Bendy. The best thing he could do was undo the damage that the studio head had done, and make sure that Boris would be able to handle things on his own in terms of reading.
The music director stood to the side, watching as Henry lowered Bendy to the floor, getting up out of the chair and doing his best to smooth over the upset his and the devil's departure was causing. Not that Boris would overly whine or complain, but he so easily wore his emotions on his proverbial sleeve that it was child's play to read.
At the very least, Bendy seemed to be able see it plain as day, the devil clearly not wanting to leave even as Henry quietly reminded him that they did need to go.
"It's alright, you'll see each other later." The animator soothed, though he did accept the hug Boris was gearing up to give him, Sammy just catching Henry's parting words to the wolf. "And, Boris, don't listen to what Joey said, alright? We'll work something out, everything will be fine."
"Okay, Henry, an' thanks. See y'later, Bendy." The latter was said with more than slight reluctance, the devil looking like he might reciprocate it before staying quiet and just offering a small but heartfelt smile and a wave. It seemed like seconds later that the two were off, headed down the stairs and back through the music department to the elevator. However, Sammy was hardly about to let the wolf get too down on himself, as they still did have music to go over.
"Alright, kid, we've got a half an hour to kill. How about we go over these?" The music director asked as he proffered the music sheets again. This time the wolf reached a little more readily for the papers, eyes giving the notes more than a mere pass. Sammy noticed that the wolf's unoccupied hand, which was resting on the knee of his overalls, started to tap to the beat that was written out in the music. A faint smile had also started to play over the canid face, Boris seemingly getting to the end of the first music sheet before remembering something rather important about his own role.
"Looks good, Sammy, just…what'm I gonna play?"
"Well, seeing as I'm fairly certain no one else here has touched a banjo…" Sammy replied, handing the instrument to the wolf and noting with no small bit of pride at how Boris carefully eased the banjo into his lap, ready to play. Right before the taller toon could even start to pluck at the strings, he glanced up at the music director with a shade of the earlier anxiety starting to poke through again. "'s alright, kid, just play. What've I always told you about mistakes?"
"They'll happen?"
"Yep. But you don't let that stop you, right?"
"No?" The wolf responded, the raised lilt to the end of his answer shaping Sammy's words, though he kept his tone as casual and yet completely solid as he could.
"Absolutely not."
The notes rang out a little discordant at first as Boris's fingers slipped in their usual poise, the taller toon hurriedly glancing between his own hands and the music sheets as well as throwing a glance or two in Sammy's direction. Not that the music director did much other than gesture for Boris to keep playing, and with enough time and a few more tries the banjo sang with the wolf's direction. All the while, Sammy listened, keeping mostly to the background while Boris played with perhaps only the most minor and rarest of corrections. He remained quiet, letting the taller toon feel out and learn the piece, Boris's confidence once again starting to flourish the more and more he played.
The music director was almost loath to break it up, though a glance at his watch told him that it was growing closer and closer to one with the sounds of the band filtering in from the stage below. However, it seemed as though news had traveled in their absence, given that the wolf was greeted with everything from cheery smiles to casual hair-ruffles from the more longer-standing members. Heck, even to Sammy's eyes, the less-comfortable-with-living-toons band members were being nicer than usual, if still a little distant. Floating through the center of it all to where he was to be on the band stage was the wolf, a surprised and touched smile floating in and out of existence on his face. Sammy himself did eventually have to step in to calm the uproar down, reminding everyone that they did have a performance to get together. Even still, the gratified smile on the wolf's face never completely faded.
True to his word, Henry did see Boris again before going home for the night, the taller toon meeting the animator and Bendy on the upper floors of the studio. While there were a few people filling out around them, things had gone mostly quiet to where Henry could keep his voice at conversation level with no trouble.
"Hey, bud. How'd things go with Sammy?"
"Great, we learned a new song for th' episode comin' up!" The overall cheery reply was somewhat tempered by the fact that no matter how often he glanced down, Boris noticed that Bendy would not meet his eye. The devil instead seemed to be taking special consideration of the state of his shoes and the floor they rested on, to the point of ignoring everything around him, with an expression that resembled that of a cold slate.
"That's good to hear, I've been working on a lot of the animation for it myself. What, what were you playing?" Henry continued, still trying to keep a smile on his face despite the tiredness starting to flicker at the edges. The sight did get some of the enthusiasm to dampen down in Boris's expression and demeanor, though the mention of his role in the upcoming musical piece did bring some of it back.
"'m gonna be playin' th' banjo."
The slight flicker of surprise in Henry's expression at first confused the wolf, though the animator's next words did help to dispel it somewhat.
"The banjo? When did you learn to play that?"
"Uhh, think last month? That's when I learned th' guitar too, but Sammy's only got th' one banjo so it was a lil' harder t'do…"
"How many instruments can y'play, pal?" Bendy finally chimed in, glancing up from his visually fixed point to look at the wolf with a cautiously curious air and a smile that was a somewhat shadowy version of its former self. At the returning grin, it did grow a little fuller, but it still didn't have the strength in it that Boris was used to.
"Oh, lots! I can play th' piano, th' clarinet, th' flute, th' violin, th' drums, th' bass fiddle, an' th' banjo an' th' guitar!"
"There you two are!"
The sudden voice made the trio jump, another animator who'd happened to have been passing by at the moment catching sight of who was approaching and upgrading his normal saunter to a speed-walk as he headed out the door. Not that the toons had any such exit, and Henry seemed rooted to the spot as well once Joey Drew clopped his way over to the small gathering.
"Good evening Henry, Bendy, Boris. Well, that was certainly a busy day, and there'll be more to do tomorrow, so I suggest the both of you head upstairs and get some shut eye. I'll see you tomorrow, Henry, bright and early?"
"Of course." Came the automatic response off the animator's tongue, though if Joey were hoping that would be the cue for Henry to head for the door himself, he was sadly disappointed. "Actually, I was going to walk Bendy and Boris upstairs-."
"Now, why on earth would you do that? They know the way, and I've left the lights on, they should have no trouble. Besides, you have a decent enough drive ahead of you, don't you?"
"Well, yes, but-."
"I hardly think they need to be tucked in, Henry. Have some faith in them, they're not infants!" Joey interrupted, and before the animator could even reply the studio head turned his attention to the pair who'd been watching the exchange with a steadily winding sense of tension and no small amount of trepidation. The instant Boris made eye contact with his creator, he couldn't help a slight flinch from juddering his frame, though Joey hardly seemed to pay any sort of fear he noticed any outward mind, instead continuing to speak. "Go on you two. Henry has to go home, there's no point in keeping him from his rest."
Though some part of Boris did want to have the animator close by, even if only to restore that air of safety that had been so strong a few minutes ago, he had to concede that Joey had a point. The wolf was helped along in his decision by Bendy breaking from the group, heading for the door that lead to the stairwell.
"G'night, Joey. See you tomorrow, Henry." The devil called back, jarring Boris from his stunned shock at the direction things were taking and reminded him that he'd technically been dismissed. Hurrying after Bendy, the wolf threw back a wave of his own, something that Henry somewhat belatedly returned with his own call for the pair to sleep well. The sight was swept away as Boris followed Bendy into the stairwell, the devil's retreating back just visible in the darkened gloom. As they made it up to the next floor, the wolf's ears could just pick out the sounds of Joey's cane clopping about from somewhere below.
It didn't scare him, exactly, but he still pushed onward just a little faster with Bendy keeping pace, the pair getting into the office just as it sounded like Joey was rounding the corner. The lights were already off, the fact that the lock was flipped a minute later a clue that perhaps they wouldn't want to turn the lights back on. It seemed as though Joey was entirely serious about having them head to bed right now…
It didn't matter really, as the motions of getting ready for bed were old hat to the both of them at this point, Bendy and Boris easily getting situated in the dark office as they pulled off and set aside their shoes, and laid down in their respective spots with Bendy at his drawer and Boris on his line of chairs…the only rub was that neither of them really felt like sleeping despite the exhausting bustle of the day they'd just been through.
The toons allowed the silence to carry for a moment before Boris opted to break it first, the thought that he would not be able to speak with Bendy in the morning spurring him on.
"Ben?" The forbidding silence of the office didn't seem the sort that one should speak in any quieter than a church murmur, but still the low rumble of the wolf's voice carried across the room. And, after a moment, Bendy spoke up.
"Yeah, pal?"
"I'm…'m sorry 'bout t'day. With th' readin'." Bendy pushed himself upright at the partially obscured words, Boris just able to make out the manner in which the devil's expression was pinched in upset.
"Boris, no, that…that wasn' your fault, alrigh'? You were doin' great with the book we read, y'just needed t'…t'get settled inta it, I guess. You were goin' a lil' quicker once we'd gotten t'th' end of it."
Despite the fact that the devil wasn't lying, that Boris had started to pick up the pace once he'd grown more comfortable, the wolf still couldn't muster up the optimism to give more than a faint ascent.
"Yeah, guess so…"
Though it was quieter than church mice, the dead silence of the office made it easy to hear, Bendy's expression twisting at the idea that Boris would consider his progress worth nothing, that it wasn't good enough. Which, it hadn't been. Somebody else might have taken up the mantle to teach the wolf, but it didn't quite erase what had happened that morning with Joey. It pricked to life a lot of the thoughts that had been whirling around the devil's own mind when he'd gone to look for Boris, and now, with no distractions and no one else listening in, Bendy finally gave voice to them. If anything, Boris should get the right to pin the blame where it deserved to go, right? Even if Henry had offered a convincing argument to the contrary once he'd managed to ferret out the reason for the devil's poor mood, the entire memory of seeing the wolf and studio head sitting opposite from each other, and seeing how Boris had reacted at Joey's words sat like a stone in the devil's stomach.
"H-Honestly, thought you'd be…y'know, mad at me 'r somethin'. I dunno, it seemed fair at the time…" Bendy murmured, though the admission quickly got Boris's attention.
"…Wait, y'thought I'd be mad at you?" The idea seemed so ludicrous, though the fact that Bendy's flippant smile wavered just a little too much to Boris's eyes as the devil replied started to hint that that was exactly the case.
"…N-No, I jus'…I mean, that's, that'd be…'s….we did try, it jus', jus' didn' work out, that's all…Guess I jus' wasn' a good enough teacher…" The wolf wasn't sure what it was exactly about the picture Bendy cut, but everything from the manner in which the devil was staring at his clenched hands to the stiff tension in the smaller toon's spine as he sat with fists pressing into his knees made Boris quietly sit up before crossing the office to Bendy's side. The little devil jerked at the first hint of a clatter, eyes wide in the dark as he tracked the wolf's approach as best he could. Albeit, Boris hardly had anything horrendous in mind, far from it. Instead the taller toon quietly knelt before wrapping the smaller frame in a hug, something that Bendy himself returned after a moment of quiet.
"Y'did fine t'me, Ben. We got t'th' end a'th' story, right? We just needed what Henry said t'make sense'a some of it." Though Bendy didn't seem to quite agree with the quiet rumble, he barely had much to offer apart from a non-committal noise to show that he'd heard. Not that Boris really felt primed to give the devil much grief over that, given how the smaller arms were slackening in their hug, with Bendy's entire frame starting to slump as exhaustion took its toll.
It did briefly occur to Boris that he should get up off the floor and let Bendy sleep in his own bed proper. Albeit when the wolf moved to let the smaller toon down Bendy jolted with a semi-snorted breath of air, grip tightening for a moment as he peered groggily about. However, it didn't take him long to realize what was likely happening and try to clamber back into his drawer.
"Sorry, pal, 'll let y'get some shut eye…"
"'Sokay, Bendy." Boris replied, keeping his voice to as much of a quiet hum as he could, though as the smaller toon turned back to the drawer the wolf couldn't help but feel his mood fall again at the sight, and the reminder it brought of tomorrow's bustle, in two separate parts of the studio for the normally inseparable pair.
"Boris?" The quiet murmur of the taller toon's name made him jolt, pie-cut eyes hurriedly seeking out Bendy in the semi-darkness. "You okay, pal?"
"Y-Yeah…I…I jus'…" An idea started to occur to Boris's somewhat exhausted mind, the wolf more gesturing than stating for Bendy to hold on a moment before he clumsily sprang to his feet. The devil watched with no small amount of confusion as the taller toon quickly crossed the room, and started to carry over the chairs that made up his 'bed', arranging them in a line on the devil's side of the room near to the smaller toon's drawer. By the time the wolf was done, Bendy couldn't help a small, grateful smile from spreading across his face at what Boris was trying to do.
"Need any help?"
"No, no I got it." The quiet reply was punctuated by Boris, once he'd finally gotten the chairs set up in just the right manner, clambering up to lie down on his side and tucking his blanket in around himself as Bendy fell back onto his pillow, pulling the covers up to his chin.
"G'night, pal." Bendy murmured, eyelids drooping even as he spoke. Nary a moment later, Boris answered back with a soft but no less heartfelt reply.
"G'night Ben. See you in th' morning?"
The devil was nearly asleep, though he certainly couldn't leave such an important question unanswered. If it had been anyone else's ears, they might have missed it, but Boris was able to catch the breathed, whispery reply.
"'Course…see ya 'morrow…"