Hello again! This little piece was inspired by a certain piece of artwork involving a little neon devil bean, mostly because I realized that Pigmi, while bringing a lot of adorableness, also brings a nugget or two of lore in with him as well. Let me know if you spot the DTCL reference, and enjoy! This AU is the wonderful brainchild of xdreamer45x on Tumblr
Pigmented Thoughts:
Mama watched as snowflakes whirled past the window, briefly losing himself in the transfixing sight. It was definitely a nicer thing to take in when Inky wasn't primed to turn himself into an inkcicle by running out in it, but, well, lessons had been learned.
A faint stirring from the small form on top of his chest turned his gaze back to the small, colorful blot resting there. Gently rubbing a thumb over Pigmi's head, the stocky demon couldn't help a faint sigh of relief as the touch settled the little one back to quiet slumber.
Of course, with the immediate problem taken care of, and the distraction of the snow at the back of his mind, it left Mama mulling on the events that had led up to this. Normally Pigmi would be with Henry, having bonded with the animator after he'd rescued him from Joey Drew. The fact that Henry had gone back at all was worrying, Mama's hackles raising at the notion of the man who'd saved them all putting himself within range of the crazed lunatic who'd orchestrated the mess that the studio had become yet again. Mama had more vague memories of those days, the place never being bright for him, but there was definitely a time when things hadn't been so dangerous and deadly.
But Henry had come, without any sort of knowledge about what he might be facing, and had saved them in the end. Though there was a part of Mama that rankled at it, he had to admit, at least to himself, that he'd grown attached to the animator. He'd made this, all of this peace and calm that they enjoyed, possible. And he'd gone back to check on Joey Drew, even after everything, and might very well have risked harm to bring this new little one into the house. Henry had been relatively taciturn about what had been happening, and even Mama and Inky's keener ears didn't catch much conversation between the animator and Linda about the visit, but there were certain things that just stuck in Mama's mind, made him restless.
For starters, the way Pigmi reacted at the sound of footsteps. It had been a little hard to tell in the first few days, given that Henry pretty much kept the small devil bean in his and Linda's room until he could get used to being in a new place. But, once they tried bringing Pigmi to different parts of the house, hearing the sound of someone coming was enough to send the colorful little creature scrambling for cover or curling into a shivering huddle in Henry's arms. They'd adjusted, but the fact that it was a problem at all definitely got the noggin jogging, suffice to say. Just like the odd, too-big pockmarks on Inky's shoulders did, or the way Henry's face turned stony at the mention of Joey Drew, or angrily scrawled messages on beige walls about how 'THE CREATOR LIED TO US'. Not to mention all the recordings lying around. Mama might have a somewhat spotty knowledge of reading, but he could definitely understand the spoken word, and what he'd heard over the tapes…it definitely made one think many things.
It made Mama realize one thing with crystal clarity; he didn't like liars much either.
But he could feel himself getting worked up, and Mama knew that he definitely wanted to calm down. Pigmi was nervous enough given that he'd only been here about a month, and the only reason he wasn't with Henry or Linda was because Henry had to go to work and Linda was putting together dinner downstairs. The colorful inkblot had been as tense as one of those rubber bands Inky liked to fool around with, getting him to relax enough to sleep had been at least an hour's worth of patience and care. It would be so frustrating to undo it all now. Besides, Mama wanted Pigmi to trust him, not fear him. An uninterrupted nap would go a long way to reassure the little one that he was safe here.
Though Mama himself certainly didn't want to sleep. If anything, the circumstances surrounding this whole venture were pressing him to be more awake, aware, and to keep watch. Even though there was a part of him that knew they were alright, that he and Pigmi had nothing to fear from the Stein household, there was also a part of him that would not be convinced. Maybe it had been the thoughts of Joey, with the way he'd resurged into their lives with the arrival of Pigmi.
Speaking of the colorful ink bean, Mama opted to refocus his attention there, his features softening at the sight of the little creature resting on top of him. Though Pigmi didn't look totally at rest, his little body poised on his front with his feet carefully under him, he was still sleeping. And, considering the tense, faintly whimpering little bundle of ink he'd been when Mama had first brought him here, it was definitely a welcome change.
It had helped some when Mama had gently draped part of a blanket over the skittish creature, Pigmi withdrawing underneath until only the faintest hint of bright color could be seen. The only reason the stocky ink demon had opted to shift around the covering was that Pigmi's little frame had been starting to get too warm.
Looking at the colorful, small creature gave Mama a similar feeling to the first time he'd seen Bean, after his eldest had been born. Honestly, for the first few moments, the ink demon had been completely blindsided by what had just happened. But, when he'd seen the little, split face looking at him before giving a happy coo, something had quietly burgeoned in the stocky demon's mind. The way the humans had treated Mama was duplicitous, sneering, but this little thing looked at him with all the trust and love in the world. Even though the stocky demon was mostly running on sheer determination when it came to taking care of Bean, he'd done it. Sometimes by the skin of his teeth, though everyone who'd been in the studio tended to have at least a few close calls on their leger.
The whole situation of Pigmi, from the skittishness of the colorful little creature to the apparent origins that made him, were bringing those emotions back to the fore, hardening Mama's resolve to do something about this. Granted, it wasn't like he could go back and sock Joey, at least not without Henry trying to stop him which could get messy…
And his first priority was to his little demons. Of which Pigmi had been roundly accepted into as far as Mama was concerned.
A creak in the hallway caused Mama to stiffen, a hand closing over Pigmi's small form in a preemptive gesture at protection. But, when a very familiar, behorned head poked itself round the doorframe, Mama could only give a shadow of an irritable sigh. Though Inky shouldn't be here, where were the others?
Mama's question was answered for him when the lankier demon came into the room, revealing the three bitty ink demons cradled in his arms. Bean, Ben, and Alpha were all fast asleep, looking just as completely dead to the world as Pigmi, the sight bringing a soft smile to Mama's face. Inky gave a small, musical hum of his own as he tried to settle down next to Mama, and ended up cutting that off with a squeak as he hurriedly had to correct himself to avoid dropping anyone. Smiling sheepishly at the reprimanding hiss from Mama, the lanky demon whistled a soft apology as he gently arranged the trio so that they were tucked in next to Mama.
Though the feeling of the three, warm little weights settling against his shoulder and neck did soften the harder lines in Mama's features, Inky settling down next to him caused the quiet irritation to ramp back up again. Giving the lanky demon a hard frown, Mama watched as Inky's smile wobbled before falling into a recriminating grimace.
Even though there was a part of Mama that wanted to be sure the lesson about being careful with the little ones had sunk in, Inky's quiet remorse did soften the irritation somewhat. But, with one arm covering Pigmi, and the other more or less buried under Bean, Ben, and Alpha, his only real recourse to reach out to Inky was by edging his head closer to the lankier demon, forehead gently thunking against Inky's. The gesture did cause a brief huff of surprise from Inky, the other demon stiffening before leaning in, a quieter hum reverberating through Mama's skull from Inky as he settled. The sound trailed off the more Inky relaxed, Mama somehow managing to guess that the other demon's gaze had trailed over to the window, watching the still-falling snow.
It didn't take long for Inky's breathing to even out, the lanky demon's frame unwinding as he drowsed. Though there was a thought to wake him back up, Mama found he didn't have the heart to. He'd been playing with the little ones, after all. If anything earned Inky a nap it was that. But, Mama didn't feel like he could truly slip off to sleep just yet. Glancing around at all of the small bodies piled in around, and in the case of Pigmi still very much on top of him, Mama let out a quiet sigh, his mind relaxing.
Maybe he'd let his eyes close. Just for a few moments, the thought played in his mind as he heard the patter of snow on the windowpanes, the slight tapping a soothing lull as the world dimmed around him.