It was lunch time. And, because you had to look after your charge, that meant that the two of you would be eating together.

Bendy didn't exactly digest. When he'd eat papers, be they scripts, storyboards, or reports, he'd eventually retch them back up in a ball of wet ink. Like a hairball, or an owl pellet. It was disgusting.

So, it may have been lunch time, and the two of you may be in the same company, but you would not give Bendy a scrap of your food. Not even if he sat across from you and stared you down. Which was what he was doing.

"No."

He kept staring, eyes flicking from the sub to your face.

"NO. I'm impervious to your face by now bud. Better quit it," you lied.

Bendy's cheek hit the tabletop. Still staring.

You rolled your eyes and just began to ignore him. He wasn't exactly asking for food, but he was really giving you the eyes. If he wanted something, he needed to open his mouth and ask. Bendy was funny like that. He had a voice, but only used it so often. You probably wouldn't get much out of him. He'd been relatively quiet throughout the day, other than cackling after he'd tripped somebody using his leash.

The sound of foot steeps creaked down the stairs, and laughter from an unheard inside joke carried into the break room. You glanced over your shoulder, but quickly went back to your lunch. Things with the other staff were... awkward now. A handful were jealous that you got a promotion. However, the majority tended to stray away from your path, knowing you were tasked with the unholy task. No one wanted to be around Bendy. He gave people the creeps, save for Mr. Lawrence.

As the feet met the floorboards you heard a quiet 'oh.'

Bendy had perked up from where he was using books as a booster seat. He kicked his feet, chin resting on the back of his gloved hands, and stared at them. Wriggled the digits of one hand a little.

The demon knew the reaction he got from humans. They always walked the other way when they saw him. Some even went out of their way to avoid ink stains in the hall all together, for fear that he would be around the corner. Usually, they weren't wrong. But, being strapped to a harness kept him contained. He could not run amok. Didn't stop the staff from avoiding you now, even if ink stains no longer screamed 'run.'

There was quiet whispering. You knew they were talking about the two of you. Still, your peers went about to making a fresh pot of coffee while one had a smoke, keeping to themselves on the other side of the room.

You tried to ignore the looks, but Bendy had turned his eyes on them and did not look like he would quit any time soon.

"Bendy," you whispered harshly, trying not to draw attention. "It's not polite to stare."

He glanced at you, shrugged, and kept on.

After a few minutes, someone cleared their throat behind you.

"Here, I think you may need this. God bless your soul," came the pitiful voice of an animator.

He slid a brand new Bible onto the table, totally ignoring the harsh glare from the cartoon at the other side. Then, before you could speak, he walked away on swift, nervous feet.

Bendy growled. Really, truly growled. The thorn of his tail lashed, thumping against the chair.

"C-calm down, they mean well," you comforted, idly thumbing through the thin pages. "You've been in a real mood today."

He gestured wildly for you to hand over the book. When you didn't comply fast enough, he climbed upon the table and ripped it from your grasp.

"Bye-bye!" he cheeped, tearing out pages one by one with so much aggression that you'd think he'd spring a leak. Bible verses fluttered and fell across the table, drifting to the dirty floorboards.

Someone across the room gasped, and you whipped your head around, horrified. After some terribly awkward eye contact you stood abruptly and grabbed the Bible in Bendy's hands.

"Stop! Right now!"

You jerked it, and he jerked back just as hard.

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

"Bendy," you warned.

In an act of desperation, he tore open his sticky, drippy maw, and clamped down on the tattered book. Sharp fangs sank into its' flesh.

You were forced to fling your hands away, as if burned. He'd almost bit you! Those nasty fangs nearly met your skin, saved by hardly an inch. That would have drawn a hell of a lot of blood. You didn't even know he could open his mouth like that.

The whole room was forced to watch, in horror, as he zealously shook the book in his mouth as if he were a rabid junkyard dog. All the while, thick blobs of ink splattered anything within five feet of the little ball of fury. That included you. While you were dabbing ink off in shock with a napkin, he was busy throwing up his head and choking down the Bible with all the grace of a baby bird. It was small enough to get down, lucky for him. He would have just choked otherwise.

You put a hand to your forehead, exhausted. When you glanced towards the coffeepot your peers were gone, likely having fled up the stairs without coffee or lunch. You sighed.

"What's gotten into you today? You're acting like a total- a total demon!" You realized what you'd said.

Bendy was a demon. This was why your co-workers were sliding you Bibles in the first place.

"Bendy," you sighed again. "you know that's going to come back up, right? And that I'm going to force you to clean it up?"

He stood stiffly upon the messy table, arms crossed and frowning. His sharp teeth were gone. Now, he just looked like regular ol' Bendy. The demon turned his head away and harrumphed.

"And look, you got ink all over my lunch."

He did look. And he felt bad. "...Sorry."

You stared at him a while, before a merry tune filled the hall above the break room. No doubt, that was Mr. Lawrence whistling. He was probably coming down for lunch.

You panicked. "Quick! Pick up the rest of the papers! Hurry Bendy, we can't let him see this mess!"

The two of you frantically started to swipe up the litter, but it was too late.

"Ah! Caught you!" Mr. Lawrence chimed, piddling down. "A couple'a animators came rattling off down the hall, about a certain someone in the break room. Need a hand?"

Bendy gave the staff the creeps, but Mr. Lawrence give the creeps to you.

"Um... sure, that's really kind of you Mr. Lawrence. Thanks."

He hummed as he scooped up a couple of papers. Bendy looked nervous, and stayed closer to you than need be. Perhaps the man gave him the creeps, too. Memories flooded back to you, of they early morning when you'd found Bendy trapped in the music room at the hands of Mr. Lawrence.

After a moment, Mr. Lawrence glanced at the ink splotched sheets in his hands. He titled his head. "Oh dear. You didn't tear up the good book in front of your colleagues, did you [Y/N]? Perhaps this promotion is getting to you. It must be damaging to dote on a creature as special as Bendy, I suppose."

You did not like the way he enunciated 'special.'

Frozen, you stammered. "N-no! That's not what happened at all! I would never do that to a Bible, sir! I-I-I suppose... Bendy got hungry?"

Bendy grinned awkwardly. He most certainly did not get hungry. He just hated the nasty stares, and God in general. But it looked like Mr. Lawrence was considering the idea, and that was all that mattered.

"I see," he squatted down. "...Perhaps I'll bring you a little snack here and there, then? If [Y/N] is starving you so badly that you have an outburst like that, it seems I may be forced to."

He believed it.

Then he patted Bendy on the head, to which Bendy's solid form liquefied at the touch of skin. Mr. Lawrence came away with a very black palm. He stood and acted as if this was not a problem at all, barely acknowledging it.

"Hahaha, no need! I have plenty of Bibles! He just got a little excited, is all! Well, we got to be going!"

Without hesitation, you tugged on Bendy's leash and sped away up the stairs, leaving the rest of the mess to Mr. Lawrence without thought.

Down the hall, you finally relaxed. You didn't know exactly what it was about that man that threw you off. He was generally cheerful and friendly, but there was this sinister air about him. It was as if he was never saying just what he was thinking. Fake came to mind. And his interest in your charge meant that you frequently ran into him, even when you didn't expect to.

You finally glanced back at Bendy, concerned. He was walking slowly behind you, just enough to keep up on his short legs. His eyes were down cast.

"Are you... okay?"

He looked up as if he forgot you were there. He nodded after a pause.

"Mr. Lawrence," you whispered, glancing around suspiciously. "has some serious personal space issues. It was sorta funny how you wet his hand though. He deserved it."

That made him smile, rather proud.

"...Don't think this means we're not going to talk about that outburst you had in there, though"

And the smile was gone.

Only then you noticed he was clutching something close in his arms.

"Hey. What's that you've got?" you asked softly.

He held it up. In the rush to leave, you'd forgotten your half eaten lunch. He'd grabbed it, and there it was.

"Oh, thank you! But... I can't eat it, it's covered in ink," you scratched your head awkwardly.

He looked down at it, then back up to you. Back down at the food. Back to you.

"Oh. No. Please, don't. Bendy don't you d-"

He parted his maw, sharp fangs glistening, and swallowed it down without chewing.

You groaned.