When you'd first met him, you told yourself that Bendy was a lot less cute in person. You frequently still wrestled with that opinion; his antics teetering between annoying and endearing.

He was crafty and mischievous, but always played it off as ignorant innocence. Sometimes it was. The majority of the time, it wasn't. Sometimes he was just a dick to be a dick. However, after the third time he ate your writings, you got the feeling he was just acting out for attention.

"Bendy, I know you ate it. Aaaaagain."

The three foot demon stood with hands inconspicuously behind his back. He quietly shook his head.

You rolled your eyes and deadpanned. "There's paper sticking out of your mouth. Spit it out."

His eyes widened, as if surprised. Then he twirled around, his back shielding his scramble, and crammed the rest of the paper down his gullet. Just as quickly he returned to facing you, grin brighter than ever.

You paused, and sat heavily. Fingers drummed against the messy desk as you thought. "Ya know, I've had you on the harness and locked to the desk leg for, mmmm, the majority of the day. So when I walk away for my third cup of coffee and come back to my third draft missing, I think I know who did it!"

Bendy rocked on his heels, examining the room as if he hadn't already been doing that all day. His tail flickered now and again, casually.

You slumped, head tilting back dramatically as you groaned. "Okay! Alright! I see I'm not getting any work done today!"

He puffed up in triumph, and commented, rather convincingly. "Cryin' shame."

You drummed your fingers silently for another second or two, before yanking the leash.

"H-hey!" he stumbled forward.

Without his permission you grabbed and lifted him up onto your lap. He seemed embarrassed and squirmed until you held him fast by the hips.

"If you want attention so badly, you're gonna sit here and get it while I re-write this for the forth time today! So be still! The storyboard department needs it by three."

He grumbled and lightly kicked his feet, tail wild. Bendy did not protest much further though, which made you smirk.

So, you set out to writing the script once more. Bendy was restless attempting to sit quietly. He was most certainly not known for sitting or keeping his hands to himself. After he re-adjusted to have his back against your stomach, and kept struggling to spill your coffee, you started to pet him.

"Come on now, I know you can be good for thirty minutes. Naughty thing. If Mr. Drew hadn't given me a raise with the position of demon-sitter, I don't think I'd have taken the promotion!"

He got upset at that, but didn't show it past a pout. You couldn't see it from your position, to which he was grateful for.

The gentle petting was affecting him. As you wrote with your right hand, your left stroked the side of his horn so, so sweetly. He tried not to lean into it. Couldn't let you know that he was enjoying himself; that he liked to be coddled. He'd started to nod, until snapping back to reality.

"Are you falling asleep?" you asked smugly.

He crossed his arms and turned sideways on your lap. His tail coiled in close around his rear and legs, defensive and tense. "No!"

You just laughed.

He tried to keep the void of his pie-cut eyes open, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. You cupped his cheek and swabbed your soft thumb across his solid, smooth ink, effectively calming the demon down. The tension left his body again, and soon he was resting his head against your chest. You were so cozy.

Eventually you let your hand wander further. Fingers moved to his neck, messaging gently around the bow tie, which resulted in an involuntary shiver on his part. Then you petted his arms down to the wrist. And, as his eyes finally closed, your hand swept slowly down his back, over the harness, and stroked the base of his tail with the back of your fingers. You felt him jerk at the sensation, but he didn't stop you.

You'd finished the draft of your script five minutes ago. Now, you were just petting the little demon who was pleasantly frozen in your lap. He looked so angelic like this. How ironic. There was hardly a time you could get him to obey without incident, but it seemed you'd found his weakness.

As the first hand returned to his horns and cheek, the other fingered its way under his glove to hold it.

"[Y/N]?" he suddenly asked, softer than you'd ever heard him before. He was frowning, too.

You thought he'd fallen asleep. "Hm?"

"...Did you really mean it?"

"Did I really mean what?"

"That you wouldn't have taken the position without a raise."

You opened, then closed your mouth. Then you finally replied after a sigh. "Well I... didn't know what to expect. Mr. Drew asked me to keep tabs on a literal spawn of Satan. Bendy... that's what you are. A spawn of Satan. I mean, of course I'd need a little encouragement!"

The ink in your arms curled in against himself tighter. He balled his hands so that you could no longer hold the one.

That had hurt his feelings and you instantly felt guilt stab your heart. "B-but... since I've gotten to know you over these last few months... I don't think I'd give up the job even if he demoted me again. You're not as scary as my co-workers make you out to be," you chewed the bottom of your lip. "I think... you're sorta sweet," you smiled.

Sweet?

You thought he was sweet?

The corners of his mouth twitched. He opened his half-lidded eyes, focusing on nothing. He wanted to ask if you really meant that. No one had ever said a kind word towards the demon. They were all terrified of him, save for Sammy Lawrence and his uncanny obsession. Even Joey gave him funny looks sometimes, like he regretted his life decisions.

Bendy was just the creepy little splotch that liked to crawl through the vents to scare humans. He busted pipes, salted the coffee, and ate scripts. Even standing around innocently was a crime. He was a horrific, demonic nuance, compiled into one tiny, leaky cartoon icon. Being strapped into a lapdog harness and leashed did not make any difference. Everyone still avoided him, even if he had to heel to you now.

So, he wanted to ask you if you were really, truly being honest. Instead, he nuzzled against your shirt and smiled wide. It was more than just that classic Bendy smile; he really was ecstatic. His body relaxed, he opened his palms, and laced his fingers through yours willingly.

You giggled and traced the valley between his horns with the free hand, then kissed his head gently. "See? I knew you could behave. Wait... are you purring?"

He didn't even care. Bendy shut his eyes and wiggled happily. He kept nuzzling until you had to stop him from accidentally rubbing ink all over your clean work clothes.

You stroked him until he dozed off peacefully. Soon, the head of story came knocking violently at your door, waking a now grumpy demon. It was three thirty; you'd missed the deadline.