I had this idea for a little while now... but I couldn't settle on one of three ideas for the scene until this one won out in the end. To be honest this is probably the only one I feel kinda meh about.

The studio sure got more lively after Bendy's first "Birthday" with a few new additions to the studio… or rather the fact that Boris was brought to life a week after that special day, and just three months so was Alice. Henry was getting worried… No one other than Joey and himself knew just how they came to be and the "How" made him feel sick.

But, if he was being completely honest… looking at the happy face of Bendy as he showed the others the ropes of the real world and even seemed to get them into the habit of barging into his corner of the studio for anything and everything… he wouldn't give that up for the world.

Boris was a sweetheart, sometimes asking if there was anything he could do to help the animator, unlike Bendy. Henry learned quickly that Boris wasn't exactly the best at drawing, but if asked to ink the sketched lines he could do that easily. It really became a help over the month he had been around.

Now with Alice… well she's still adjusting, but Susie seemed to be helping her along. Hell Henry was surprised to see the angel without the voice actress sometimes. She may have still been nervous and uncomfortable with being in the real world, but that never stopped her from asking him some questions.

Which is where he is now. Henry was tasked with inking in a few of the inbetweens today when Alice had come in with a troubled look.

"Alice? What's wrong dear?" Henry asked her, setting the pen down and putting his full attention on the angel.

"It's…" she paused, and looked… conflicted on what to say next. Something must have really been troubling her. "... C-Can… Can I ask you something?"

"You know you can ask me anything," Henry responded gently, adjusting his spectacles.

"What… What exactly did Joey do?" Henry looked confused for a moment before Alice continued. "To… To bring us to life."

Henry's eyes widened at this question. Bendy and Boris never asked him that question before… probably because they didn't think he would know, but… Alice had remembered seeing him there when she was made. The angry look on the animator's face at seeing what Joey had done two weeks ago.

"... I… I don't think you should know now…" Henry looked away. He didn't want to hurt any of the toons with what he knew.

"Then when?"

"Just… Just not now… it's too soon."

Alice wasn't dumb. She saw the pained, fearful look on his face, the way he seemed to try to hold back his pain. It was something bad, something that scared him. She had to know, and Joey wouldn't give her a truthful answer when she first asked.

"Please-" Alice tried to plead only to get cut off by an excited shout and a small black figure running past her to hug Henry.

"Henry~!" Bendy grinned, not realizing what he just interrupted. Henry was surprised for a moment before he relaxed and patted the little demon's head, thankful for the well timed interruption.

"Hey little buddy. Sammy finally let you free huh?" The animator chuckled after the quick hug.

"Nah I just ditched! It got too boring so I booked it the minute his back was turned," The toon demon explained, practically going through the motions to match his story. "How Nick and the others can stand sitting in the same room for so long, and just reading the same lines over and over is beyond me."

"Who's Nick?" At the sound of Alice's voice Bendy turned, seemingly just noticing that she was there from the slightly surprised look on his paper white face.

"That would be Bendy's voice actor…" Henry answered then trailed off, seeming like he was troubled by something. Bendy on the other hand straightened up and gained a more confident expression as he began to go more indepth, almost like he wanted to impress the angel a bit.

"What can I say, the guy gave me my devilishly good voice but he stinks at keeping himself healthy for as long as I've known him. Soo, lately since the guy's been out for a while now I've been having to pick up his slack."

Hellishly annoying is more like it. Alice thought to herself, with a slight roll of her pie cut eyes.

"Speaking of… Won't Sammy notice you're missing by now?" Henry smirked a little at the two. Bendy waved the question off.

"Don't worry 'bout it! Sammy's not gonna be chasing after me to soon anyways."

Confusion set itself on Henry for a moment before something clicked and the animator pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up a bit from the movement and a deep sigh escaped from the animator.

"Please tell me you didn't lock him in the recording room again."

"Wait again?" Alice was lost, and slowly getting confused… just how many times has Bendy locked Mr. Lawrence in the recording room? WHY did Bendy feel the need to lock him in the room to begin with?

"... Well it ain't the recording room this time I tell ya…"

Henry let out a deep sigh, having a feeling just where Sammy was probably locked away in while Alice wasn't sure if she was more worried over the poor man… or annoyed at Bendy for even thinking about locking someone up somewhere just to get out of doing something.

The trio had went down to the music department and let the head of the department out of Wally's janitor closet. Bendy was pouting like a child at having to let the, understandably angry Sammy Lawrence out, and also having to go back to the recording booth to finish recording the song for the newest animation that Henry and the crew were currently working on.

Henry had decided to stay there to help Sammy keep an eye on Bendy and also to help the toon actually cheer up a little enough to actually sound like his usual enthusiastic self for the recordings. As he did that though Alice watched on from a distance, keeping her gaze mostly on Henry.

Why did Henry look so upset talking about Bendy's voice actor? Is… is the guy really sick or is it something else?