For a long time they stayed like that – a small, sleeping cartoon and the two watching over it. Bendy's chest rose and fell in steady rhythm and his fingers twitched, half-curled on his pudgy belly. Boris couldn't stop marveling at it all.

"So, um, when is he gonna wake up?"

Joey hummed in thought where he sat crouched by his new creation. He kept stroking the pointed horns like a father would his child's head.

"It will probably take a few days; his body needs to adjust to all the changes. You were asleep for a while as well."

The wolf blinked down at the little devil and placed a gloved hand atop Bendy's. He smiled when four little fingers unconsciously tightened around his own. Ink still stained much of the floor, sheets, and the new toon, but it was much more manageable now.

Boris' smile disappeared when he thought of something rather disturbing. "So, Mr. Drew, that dead boy, this is him now?"

"No. That person doesn't exist anymore. He was long gone before I brought him here, trust me."

"Oh," the toon swallowed, "does that mean, you did the same thing with me?"

"I did."

"Was…was it a child too?"

"No. It was a grown man. You're supposed to be tall." His creator stopped moving and sighed. "You have to understand, Boris, that when it comes to things like this, I didn't have a lot of options. This has never been achieved before. You've never been achieved before. I –" he paused and tried to find the right words, "I spent many years figuring out how to do it. Learned what it would take, what needed to be added and…what needed to be sacrificed."

Boris stayed quiet and Joey continued, desperation tinging his words.

"It took so, so long. This was my dream, you and Bendy and, and everything I had ever made, to make it all real! It wasn't just proving people wrong either – I did this for the world just as much as for me. There was…a lot of trial and error, and sometimes it was really touch and go. I came so close sometimes too, but," he rubbed his arms and looked up at the wooden ceiling, "something went wrong, something always went wrong. I was at my wits end, you understand. And then I did what you just saw. And it worked! I made something that stayed right. I made you, Boris."

Joey fell silent and it stayed like that for a while. Bendy's quiet breathes and the echo of the ink machine kept them company. Finally Joey stood up, reluctantly, and turned towards the door.

"I need to turn the pressure off now, save energy. Just remember what I said, okay?" He took a few steps and stopped at the hall entrance. "And Boris?"

"Yes, Mr. Drew?"

"Under no circumstances are you to tell Sammy about this. Do you understand?"

"…yes, I understand. I won't tell."

"Good." Joey disappeared and left his creations alone. One was unaware of what had just transpired. The other was unaware of its consequences.


rumbling, screeching ow please, it hurts it hurts help me someone, HELP –

His body arched on its own and he cried out, feeling sensations that were no longer there and unable to process them. Something grabbed his head, made a shushing noise but it was too much, he was dying he was dying and it hurt so much!

His head was released and he was picked up instead, something wrapped around his thrashing arms and writhing body and pulled him close against them, and only now he realized through the haze that something thick and sticky was dripping off of him, like blood but cold and not quite wet and it was leaking over his face and into his eyes and he couldn't see–!

Something was pressed against his face and he froze as it wiped the horrible stuff off of him. He opened his eyes and blinked rapidly, and as a blurry world appeared his mind latched onto it, focused on this sense, and the fog and the pain started going away. The shushing sounds were still going and he latched onto that too; it was soft and deep and rumbly and sounded so, so calm and nice.

As he came back to himself, he noticed he was rocking back and forth. Or rather, he was being rocked back and forth. He blinked some more at the long black – arms? – wrapped around him and the white – hand? – petting his back. The murmuring was coming from behind him, and with his mind clearing he found he could understand it.

"It's okay buddy, you don't gotta be scared. I know it's weird but it's okay. You're gonna be alright."

He tilted his head back and looked up into the face of something he didn't know but that looked so familiar. Huge, kind eyes. Long nose. Whiskers. Big, big smile that got bigger when they locked gazes. He relaxed involuntarily and the creature holding him sighed happily.

"There you go, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you Bendy."

Bendy? His head tilted, confused, and he tried to make sounds like the creature, but all that came out was a gurgled whine. The thing holding him seemed to understand.

"You don't have ta speak yet, don't worry. It took me a long while too. Do ya understand me? Can you nod yer head if you understand?"

He did understand and didn't know why he did, but he nodded anyway. The creature looked very happy.

"That's good, buddy! It's gonna be weird for a while but you'll be okay. Nothing ta be scared of. I'm Boris. I won't let nothing hurtcha, okay?"

He nodded again. Boris. Boris. The word went back and forth in his mind and he found that he rather liked it. He opened his mouth again to ask what he was, what they were, but all that came out this time was a squeaky yawn. Now that everything had calmed down, he was quite tired.

"You can go back ta sleep if you want to, that's okay. I'll be right here. Don't you worry."

He heard it, understood it, and as his eyes closed and he drifted off, he felt his mouth spread across his face. A smile. I'm smiling. And he was down again.

Above the slumbering devil, Boris let out a giant sigh of relief. He had been looking at the differences between himself and this new cartoon when the poor thing had suddenly screamed and moved and scared the daylights out of the wolf. He had tried to hold Bendy's head, tried to calm him down, but it didn't work and so he just did what felt natural to do – scoop him up and hold him and whisper until something happened. Thank goodness it had worked; he didn't know what he would do if it hadn't.

Mr. Drew wasn't back yet. It was Wednesday night and his creator had gone home to do some things and said that everything would be fine. Well it sure ain't fine, the thought crept up and Boris sent it away. Mr. Drew couldn't have known this would happen. He had said Bendy would sleep for maybe three more days before waking up. And until he came back, Boris was just gonna have to take care of it.

He wasn't sure how he was going to do that, but when he looked back down at the little toon, snuggled up and sleeping against his chest, he decided it didn't matter. What mattered was that he was here, Bendy was here, and they were going to make it.

When Bendy stirred again some two hours later, Boris braced himself for another struggle. But the little devil in his lap only yawned again, stretching and blinking before looking up drowsily at the wolf, who couldn't help the grin from sneaking up again.

"Hey there little fella, how ya doing?"

Bendy made an 'emph' noise and shifted in his spot. Boris tentatively unwrapped his arms and the newer toon started to stretch his arms in the air, only to lose his balance and tumble backwards onto the floor with a startled cry. The wolf reached out in alarm, but Bendy just shook his head and rubbed his eyes, unharmed. He sat up and copied Boris' cross-legged position. They watched each other.

"I, uh…" the older toon twiddled his thumbs, "I don't know what to do to help you. Mr. Drew said he'd be back soon and he can do a lot more than me." Bendy's brow furrowed, perplexed, and Boris fidgeted some more. "I think you can still, uh, understand me. Do you, hmm, do you want anything?"

As soon as the words left his mouth he practically face-palmed; how was the demon supposed to answer? But Bendy just looked at him, processing the words. That Boris could get; language was something he knew but had always struggled with.

Then the newer toon did something unexpected. He pointed at Boris.

"Uh…"

Bendy scrunched up his face and made a noise. "Beh," he looked frustrated and tried again, "buh…" His finger was still aimed at the wolf.

The older toon cocked his head to the side. "Boris?"

That was the right thing to say; the little devil lit up and his constant grin grew bigger. He pointed at himself. It took Boris a moment to figure it out.

"Oh! You're Bendy. Ben-dy."

Bendy blinked a few times, then nodded and looked down at his hands. He turned them over, picking at the glove and running feeling the texture of his arms. As Boris watched, the newer toon moved to his legs and feet, studying them very carefully. When he realized that his arms and legs felt the same, he held them up as best he could for the wolf to see, beaming the whole time. Then he started poking his stomach and made the cutest giggle Boris had ever heard.

"Oh, you must be ticklish! I am too! Mr. Drew said it's very common, but he isn't ticklish. And Mr. Lawrence only grumbles when I ask him so I don't know about him."

The demon glanced up once and then resumed his exploration. He fiddled with the little white bow-tie around his neck, ran his hands up and down his horns, and stuck his fingers in his mouth and tapped every tooth. With each discovery he made a happy little squeak, and Boris smiled at both the sound and his own memories. He had done this too, in the first few days he'd been awake.

He was startled when he felt a touch on his long arms, and looked down to see Bendy touching his fur in amazement. In a moment of mischief, the wolf swung his tail around and tapped the devil's side, and the look of pure shock and the sound that came with it made Boris laugh harder than he had ever done. Bendy stared wide-eyed between the tail and the laughing toon, and then he started imitating the noise, bobbing his head back and forth. Soon they were both laughing so hard tears were coming down both their faces.

The laughter stopped abruptly when Bendy pulled the bushy tail.

After that, Boris spent the next few hours helping the young toon learn about his new environment. He ended up having to carry the devil from place to place because he was so unsteady on his feet, but neither one minded. He showed Bendy the front room with the empty projector and how to turn it on and off. He showed him the room with the radio, and watched in amusement as the little toon tried and failed to move in rhythm to the song. He showed him all the instruments, safely tucked away in their cases in one of the closets.

The last stop was the film room, where he showed Bendy the old black and white cartoons. He pointed to the demon every time he came onscreen, and when the newer toon finally understood that was what he looked like, he practically bounced out of his chair with excitement.

They stayed in there for a while, watching cartoons, until finally Bendy was practically passed out against Boris again, who cradled him gently and walked them both back to the front room. He sat down against a wall with the toon in his arms, and soon he was drifting off as well.

When Boris woke, it was to the sound of Joey unlocking the exit door. He smiled and gently petted the still-sleeping form in his lap.

"Mr. Drew is back," he whispered, "let's go meet your maker."


A/N: I am SO sorry. Last week life was crazy, and I didn't have time to write something I was satisfied with. The good news is this is a longer chapter. I'll try to update within the next few days to make up for the delay.