Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Alright Joey, I'm here. Let's see if we can find what you wanted me to see."

The strange sound of something roaring woke up the demon, pie-cut eyes opening in a panic. He sat up, examining his surroundings. Unable to recognize his surroundings, Bendy turned to look behind him... only for a train to roll away. He perked up and tried to rush on, but it was too late; the train had left.

Letting out a quiet sigh, he then realized how small he felt. Everything around him seemed bigger, even the strange doorway with the iron bar doors. He looked at himself, only to realize he wasn't the Ink Demon anymore. Instead of his lanky, grotesque body he'd grown accustomed to, he was the spitting image of his cartoon counterpart... with a minor addition being a pointy devil tail that seemed to behave like a cat's.

He was not used to looking so perfect, so cute and plush. Bendy began to feel dizzy, forcing him to lean against a wall. He felt sick, and he wasn't sure why. So many strange and new things were surrounding him, so many things he'd never seen in person before. He wasn't sure why everything wasn't sepia toned like he was used to, he felt lost already and he hadn't even gone inside yet.

Bendy took a moment to calm down, questions swirling around inside his head. He needed to find out how he got here, and how to get home. He didn't belong here, he knew that for sure.
The little devil pulled himself away from the wall, and approached the doors. He noticed the bars were attached to the cylinders, so he pushed on the door. Much to his surprise, the door began to push open, the bars making way for entry. Bendy was so enamoured by this door that he accidentally spun around inside more than he should, getting fast enough to a point where he was flung out and he crashed onto the wooden floor.

The demon let out a quiet groan as he stood up and brushed dust off his new perfect body. He needed to focus on his mission of going home. Immediately upon taking in his surroundings, he felt his eyes hurt. So many colours he didn't recognize, so bright that it was blinding...

Covering his eyes from the light, Bendy took a deep breath and walked forward. Because he couldn't see, he ended up tripping on some stairs and face-planted the floor. The little devil groaned irritably, clearly not used to being so humbled.
Giving up on protecting his sensitive eyes, Bendy got up and headed up the small staircase, walking through a hall. Classical music that he couldn't recognize rang out, luring the little devil to a shop-like space.

To his surprise, a flower with different coloured petals was sitting at the counter. The flower Toon noticed the new fellow and smiled at him.

"Well hey there! Haven't seen you around before! What's your name?"

Bendy opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. All kinds of thoughts, and yet he didn't know how to put any of them into words. He tried once again to talk, but he couldn't figure how to say his own name, so no words were spoken. The strange flower seemed to notice this, and he grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil. "You know how to write, right?"

The demon nodded his head, and the stranger placed down the paper and pencil. Bendy wrote down one name at first, then shook his head and scribbled it out. This stranger didn't need to know his entire identity, so he wrote his Toon name instead. Upon putting the pencil down, the flower took the paper and read it.

The Ink Demon
       Bendy

"Bendy, huh?" The flower's smile seemed to grow. "What a coincidence! My name's only a few letters off!"
He watched in confusion as the new toon wrote his own name beside his.

The Ink Demon
       Bendy         Dandy

He felt jealous at the nicer handwriting. The flower, apparently named "Dandy", put the pencil down. "Nice to meet ya, Bendy! So, you're obviously new around here. Want me to show you around?"
Bendy wasn't entirely sure what to make of this offer. He wasn't used to people being nice to him. Then again, he did look more appealing... he hated that double standard so much.

Pushing his pride aside for now, Bendy nodded his head. Dandy hopped over the counter, and the first thing Bendy noticed was how short this flower was. And he thought HE was the short one in his cartoons!

"Okay new friend, follow me!" Dandy skipped along, the little devil following the smaller flower. Bendy could not get over the height difference, even though it should have felt natural to him as the Ink Demon, but he was currently stuck in a Toon body, so things were obviously different now.

... Alright, maybe not that different, in the case of Dandy.

Dandy led him into a room with three different square rooms that Bendy couldn't recognize. He then stopped in front of a sign. "Welcome to Gardenview Centre, Bendy!"
Already, the various different colours were off-putting to the little devil. He tried to tell himself to get used to it, but he was already set on returning home, so it was better if he didn't get used to these new environments.

The flower took him over to one of the box rooms. It was empty, with only a closed hatch in the floor. Dandy turned to look at him. "This is the elevator! Well, one of them at least. We use these to get around to various different areas in the facility!"
Bendy thought the term sounded familiar, perking up at the sense of familiarity. Dandy took notice of his sudden attention. "Oh, does that sound familiar?"
The demon nodded his head eagerly.

"Oh, that's good! So you know how it works, right?"
Bendy frowned at the question. He knew of what they were, thanks to the Angel sending his creator around to do her errands, but he never actually used the "lift", as she called it. Dandy pointed to a console on the wall, covered with buttons. "Just press one of these buttons here! I'll tell you what to press, okay?"
The demon nodded in response. Dandy pointed to the button with the letter "L" on it. "Press this one!"

Bendy did as he was told, and pressed the button. Nothing really happened, but Dandy still seemed pleased regardless. "You got it! We're already in the lobby right now, so the elevator will stay in place until you press another button!"
This time, Bendy didn't wait for any further instructions, and he pressed more buttons than he should've, all the while smiling in amusement. Dandy noticed this and his smile dropped, his expression turning into one of panic. "W- wait! I didn't tell you which one to press next-!"

But it was too late; the elevator slammed shut, separating Dandy from him. The flower stared at the door, dumbfounded and a little concerned. "... Oh no."

***

Bendy stared at the door in confusion. Did pressing the buttons actually do something that time? Perhaps, he assumed. He facepalmed himself as he realized he had effectively just separated himself from his only guide. Stupid Bendy, stupid!

The demon let out a quiet sigh as he backed away from the buttons and sat on the floor, feeling the room around him sink deeper and deeper. Where exactly was he going? He didn't pay attention to any of the buttons he was pressing.
He waited for the door to open, examining his gloves and bowtie. He wasn't used to looking so.. clean. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what to feel about it. It was too late for him to look perfect like his creators wanted. He wasn't even sure if they were ever real.

Soon, the door lifted open, revealing a new location with lighting that Bendy could tolerate for once. The darkness reminded him of home, which was comforting to him. Determined to find his way out, Bendy left the elevator, and the door shut behind him. No turning back now, he guessed.

He began to wander the strange new halls, passing by various items on the floor. He walked into an open area, with cubicles and desks, and a small set of stairs going up. Bendy walked up the stairs, immediately noticing the projector playing a cartoon. The character starred in said cartoon was a two-headed mask Toon, with the left head being white with black cheeks, and the other being a dark grey with white tear streaks. Bendy walked over to the set of beanbag chairs, noting how dusty and unused they looked. Staring at the cartoon reminded him even more of home, with his projectors always playing one of his cartoons as well.

Bendy snapped out of his nostalgic trance upon hearing something approaching. He turned to see a purple Toon with a box for a head coming his way. Oddly enough, there were small hands coming out of the top of its head, and its eyes were more red than he saw with Dandy's.
He immediately knew this was a hostile creature, so he looked around for something to fight back with. Unable to find a proper weapon, he just settled with grabbing one of the bean bag chairs and bashing the box with it.

Clearly the creature didn't expect him to fight back, but it didn't retreat. It managed to scratch him in the arm once before Bendy once again hit it in the head with the bean bag. Now having knocked it down onto the floor, Bendy straddled the box and continuously beat it with the chair, hoping to burst its head open. The box continued to try to fight back, clawing at his leg. The demon let out a yelp of pain, and hit the bean bag back down on its head.

Finally, the blunt force trauma seemed to had taken affect, because the box creature stopped struggling, seemingly going limp. Bendy let out quiet huffs before getting up and tossing the bean bag chair aside, which now had black liquid staining it. The little devil examined this liquid, assuming it to be ink, before licking it and immediately spitting it out due to the taste. Nope, that was not ink. Rather, it was a substance he couldn't recognize. Bendy quietly sighed before checking his own injuries, noticing his ink bleeding out of his wounds. He tried to regenerate the injuries, but it didn't work. Now frustrated, he had no choice but to find something to stop his bleeding with. Bendy walked past some wooden boxes and down a hall, leaving the box with the now split apart head behind.

While exploring the area, he found at least 4 spherical machines that had red lights above them. He couldn't tell what their purpose was, but he figured he didn't need to. He wanted to find some medical supplies, and preferably fast. Problem was, he couldn't find anything. Nothing of use to him (supposedly). Bendy eventually came to a stop at the middle of the room, leaning against a cubicle. He wasn't used to being so vulnerable. He didn't like it, not at all. Once again, Bendy glanced at the gashes in his arm and leg, cringing at the leaking ink. He was starting to wish he hadn't pressed all those buttons in the elevator...

He perked up when he heard something else start approaching him. Bendy looked up and frowned, seeing an orange creature (which he couldn't even tell what it was) with a tail on its head, black liquid sealing its mouth, and a red tunic with a white stripe near the bottom. It was slower than the box enemy, but it was still approaching with the intent to kill. Bendy sighed in irritation, now turning to find a new weapon. Settling for a trash bin, he picked it up and swung as hard as he could at the new enemy.

Much to his surprise, though, the orange pest caught the bin in his hands, throwing it to the side. Before Bendy could try to grab a new means of self-defense, the creature tackled him. The little devil gripped the being's hands, trying to stop it from clawing at his torso. As much as he tried, his flimsy little arms weren't strong enough to push back against the creature, resulting in it tearing its claws into his chest and ripping him apart.

Everything felt like a blur to him. One moment he was in pain, then his world is black, and suddenly he's watching as his own body transforms into the Ink Demon. Despite the orange enemy trying to finish him off, the Ink Demon tore its head right off, killing it instantly. Bendy didn't know what was going on; he should be the one inside the Ink Demon, that was his body. Why was he watching his body act on its own? He should have full control over himself, right?

Unable to find more prey, the Ink Demon simply dissolved into a puddle of ink, seeping into the floor. And once again, the world went black.

***

Bendy opened his eyes, and was immediately blinded by the lights of the lobby he was in earlier. He quietly groaned in discomfort, shielding his eyes from the bright lights. He could still feel pain from where he felt his injuries from before, but said wounds were just gone now. Bendy let himself get readjusted to the lights and he got up off the floor, rubbing his eyes.

He heard someone approaching him, so he quickly looked up to see Dandy standing in front of him with a smile. "Hey there, new friend! How was the trip down?"
Bendy frowned at him. The flower took out a notepad with a pencil, then handed it over to the demon.
"I got ya something! I hope you find it useful!"
With no time to hesitate, Bendy wrote down what he wanted to say, then showed it to the oddly generous flower Toon.

"What was with those monsters?"

"Monsters?" Dandy tilted his head, then perked up. "Oh! You mean the Twisteds! Well, that's a bit hard to explain..."
Bendy didn't bother questioning how he even came back from the dead, as he was familiar with his creator (and plenty other people in his domain) being able to do so. He wrote down another question instead.

"What are they?"

Dandy seemed nervous, glancing to the side. "Well... how do I put this... they're basically corrupted Toons. Notice that black substance on them?"
Bendy nodded in response.
"That's Ichor, the very thing that keeps us all alive... and the thing that turns Toons into Twisteds. I know, it's weird that this stuff is our blood, yet it can turn us into freaks." Dandy stopped smiling upon finishing that sentence. Bendy glared at him, having once been a freak himself.

He was likely still a freak, if the Ink Demon's presence was anything to go by...

Dandy didn't seem to notice the shift in mood as he continued on. "Anyways, I want to go over that with you later. For now, I want you to meet the rest of the crew!" he then glanced to the side again. "Well, minus a few Toons that will definitely be a bad influence on you."
Bendy tilted his head in confusion before Dandy grabbed his gloved hand and started walking over to the elevators again. The demon panicked and tried to get away, but Dandy's grip was awfully firm.

"Oh, don't worry! We're not going down where you went." Dandy stepped into an elevator with Bendy this time, pressing a button with the letter "T" on it. Bendy looked at him with hesitance, with the flower simply giving him a reassuring smile.
"This is going to be so much fun!"
Bendy frantically wrote a new message down.

"I just want to go home"

Dandy pat him on the shoulder. "We'll work on that later, I promise!"
Bendy sighed quietly, his frustration only growing.

He hoped that this would all be over soon.

~END OF CHAPTER 1~

Chapter Text

The elevator chimed as the door opened, revealing a hall leading to the left. Dandy and Bendy both stepped out of the elevator, the door closing shut behind them. Bendy felt a surge of panic, as if warning bells were going off in his head. He slammed his tiny fists on the door, trying to get it open again. Dandy let out a little laugh as he took the slightly taller Toon's hand.

"Come on, Bendy! They're just around the corner!"

Bendy could do nothing as the flower dragged him down the hall, the multi-coloured carpet making him want to throw up. Walking through a large doorway, Bendy noticed a desk that looked unused for a long time. A dusty newspaper sat on the desk, and a strange box he couldn't recognize. It was white with a black centre, though the middle looked more glassy.

Walking past the desk, the area was divided into a room and a hallway to the right. The room ahead looked like a kitchen, with two tables and six chairs at each. Nobody seemed to be there, so Dandy started taking him over to the hallway.. that also had another multi-colour carpet. Jeez, what was with this place and its colours?

"I'm sure they're over here!" Dandy continued to smile, seemingly excited to introduce the new Toon to his friends. Bendy, on the other hand, didn't want to meet anyone new. But he couldn't fight back as a Toon, and surprisingly the flower was very strong with his grip. The demon sighed as he just let Dandy drag him through the hall, trying to process his new environment as they walked.

The hallway felt long, with various different doors with strange symbols on them, and signs with letters and numbers beside them. C-001, U-001, R-002... he didn't understand what it all meant.

Finally, the hallway stopped at the seventh door, labelled "C-003". To the left was a room with a TV, a group of characters watching said TV, and yet another cubicle with desks. Dandy seemed to be examining the group, so Bendy did the same. He couldn't tell what any of them were supposed to be, like the girl with a bow on her head, or the fluffy character with long arms, or the cat-like Toon beside him. He did recognize the two-headed mask Toon from the cartoon he saw earlier...

And that damned box.

Bendy felt his ink grow cold. He was sure he killed it, so what was it doing here? The demon contemplated taking the pot and bashing that box's head in, but Dandy interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey everyone!"

The Toons all turned to look at the flower, prompting Bendy to hide behind the wooden archway pole. Dandy continued smiling, still tightly gripping him so he couldn't run off. "I have some amazing news!"
"And what could be more amazing than I?" The oddly reflective Toon questioned, clearly not interested in what this flower had to say.
Bendy rolled his eyes at the question, already not liking that guy.

Dandy ignored the tone of the question. "Someone new has arrived at Gardenview today!"
Now the others were more intrigued.
"Oh? Who?"
"Do they like hugs?"
"New?! (New...? Oh...)"

Bendy felt himself melt from the anxiety. He looked down at the floor, clearly getting ink on the wood... and on Dandy's hand. Whoops. Thankfully, the flower Toon didn't seem to mind.
"I'm sure you'll get your question answered soon, Goob! Here he is, the new Toon in town!"
Without warning, Dandy pulled the little devil out from behind his hiding place. Bendy yelped in surprise, quickly balancing himself so he didn't fall over. Unfortunately for him, he was right in line of sight of everyone else.

The cat-like figure seemed to get excited. "Another cat?!"
Bendy didn't really want to correct her on her assumption. Soon enough, the nervous devil was surrounded by various different Toons, all asking him various questions that he tried to answer the best he could.

"What's your name?" "Bendy"
"Are you a boy, girl or neither..?" "Boy" The box looked more normal than Bendy expected.. he still kept his guard up.
"Do you like hugs?" "What are hugs?" The fluffy Toon that asked the question seemed shocked to read that he didn't know what hugs were..
"Where'd you come from?" "Another studio"
"Do you like acting? (Please ignore him...)" "I guess I do, since I can dance" And he was acting as a cat right now, so.. guess that counted.

"What is with those eyes? They look a bit.. outdated."
Bendy frowned as he looked up at the reflective Toon. He was fairly certain it was a mirror.. he brushed off his thoughts of punching the other's glassy face and just wrote an answer.
"What's with your face, pal?"
The mirror scoffed and glared back at him. "I'm a mirror, I reflect ugly faces like yours all the time."
Bendy smirked as he wrote down his next response.
"Must be awful tiring to have to look in the mirror if that's what you look like every day"

Well that definitely got the mirror Toon mad, judging by the death glare he was receiving. Bendy just chuckled to himself, starting to feel better about his situation. And all it took to calm himself down was messing with people. Dandy quickly defused the tension. "Hey now, maybe give Bendy some space! He's a little shaken up from his travels."

Yeah, and also whatever those Twisteds were.

The Toons gave Bendy some breathing room, though he still felt trapped in a circle. Dandy turned to the others. "Now then, why don't you guys introduce yourselves? I'm sure he'd like to get to know you all as well!"
Not really, but whatever floats your boat, Bendy thought.

One by one, the Toons introduced themselves, and Bendy was quick to memorize who was who. The two-headed Toon was named "Razzle and Dazzle"... and the mirror he just had an unpleasant conversation with was "Glisten". He was not looking forward to any further conversation with Glisten.

Poppy, the girl with the bow on her head, was the first to ask him another question. "I hope this isn't offensive, but what time period are you from?"
Bendy thought for a moment, trying to remember the date of his creation. All that came to mind was around a certain period of time, when his cartoons were made, so he simply wrote that down.

"Around the 1930's"

"Wow! You're from the golden age of animation! How fascinating." Brightney seemed to light up with excitement. Glisten was about to comment on the little devil's eyes once again, but Scraps quickly intervened. "Where are you from? Did you also live in a facility?"
Bendy hesitated to answer this, but he knew they wouldn't stop asking if he tried to dodge the question.

"An animation studio simply titled 'Joey Drew Studios'. That's where I live"

"Oh wow, so you got to watch the animators work behind the scenes, right?" Razzle asked, blissfully unaware of his other half frantically shaking his head from embarrassment.
The demon frowned as he thought of his history in the studio. He didn't want to explain the full truth to a group of strangers, but he also didn't feel like completely lying and trying to make up more lies as they potentially asked more and more about it. He wrote something vague as his answer.

"Not really, they wanted to keep the magic process secret from me"

"Aww. I guess that makes sense." Razzle then cheered up instantly. "Do you like watching your cartoons?"
Now this was a question he could totally answer.

"Yep! I would watch them all the time, with multiple projectors playing them at once!"

"Heheh! I thought that was just us! But wow, multiple projectors? Your creators must've been very rich if they were able to get so many!" Scraps' tail swished and swayed as she spoke.
Bendy was definitely not going to tell them where he found so many projectors...

Dandy piped up again, eager to introduce the new guy to everyone else. "How about I round up everyone in the lobby? Then he can meet everyone at once!"
Bendy flinched, a bit hesitant at the idea of meeting more Toons. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to take the hint.. except Dazzle, who didn't speak up.

He had no other choice but to get it over with.

***

The meeting with everyone else in the lobby was... overwhelming.

Dandy had said he couldn't get everyone there, when asked by the others about a 'Vee' or 'Sprout'. Even so, there were a lot more people to talk to, and Bendy was not used to the positive reception.

One Toon, Toodles, seemed to like him a lot, and asked a lot of questions. Bendy either vaguely answered or evaded some of the more personal questions, like how he was made or what his home was like.

Another Toon, Rodger, had asked him how he got to the Centre. Bendy wished he knew the answer himself.

A sweet-smelling Toon, Cosmo, asked if he liked sweets. Bendy simply wrote he didn't know. It wasn't like he ate ink bodies and rats to survive, nope, not at all...

And as if things couldn't get any more overbearing for him..

"I HATE HIM ALREADY!"
Bendy perked up and noticed a familiar-looking Toon. Glisten frowned and rolled his eyes. "No one asked, Shrimpo."
Shrimpo walked up to the demon with an aggressive pep to his step, staring him down once he stopped in place. Bendy stared back, thoughts of violence immediately returning to his mind. He recognized him from his Twisted counterpart, the one that the Ink Demon killed... and the one that killed him in the first place.

Shrimpo pointed a finger at him rudely. "WHERE'D HE EVEN COME FROM? PROBABLY SOME LOSER STUDIO THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT PAST ITS FIRST EPISODE!! LOSER!"
Bendy frowned at him, raising an invisible eyebrow. What was this guy's deal? He'd only been here for an hour or so.
Dandy also seemed a bit annoyed by the Toon's antics. "Don't mind him, Bendy, he's just a bully."

A bully, huh? Well, Bendy knew a thing or two about dealing with bullies.

Bendy suddenly smirked, his tail slowly but carefully wrapping itself around Shrimpo's foot. The shrimp in question was too angry to notice. "YOUR BOWTIE LOOKS STUPID, YOUR SHOES LOOK DUMB, YOUR EYES LOOK WEIRD, AND I HATE YOUR SMILE!!"

Bingo.

Bendy's tail tightened its grip on the Toon's foot, and it swiftly pulled his foot off the ground. Shrimpo lost his balance and fell to the floor, his face planted into the ground with an 'oomph!'. Glisten stifled a laugh, amused by the retaliation. Some other Toons quietly laughed as well, while others were caught off-guard by the little devil's action. Shrimpo, of course, was furious, and he got back up to his feet. "I HATE YOUR TAIL!!"

"And I hate your face."

Shrimpo huffed irritably. "I HATE YOUR HEAD SHAPE!"

"I hate your shirt."

"I HATE YOU!"

"I hate you too! The feeling's mutual, so are we done here?"

Shrimpo stomped his foot down. "I HATE NOT HAVING THE LAST WORD!!" And with that, the angry shrimp Toon left, possibly to come up with more insults to use against Bendy later.

"Hah, that was fun to watch. Never seen someone physically get back at him before." Connie spoke up, a lazy grin on her face. Dandy climbed onto a bench and got everyone's attention. "Okay everyone, I'd say this meeting was a success! I'm very glad to see you all graciously welcome our new friend into our home! And I'm sure Bendy here appreciates it too!"

Bendy glanced to the side, not sure how to feel. He was used to being feared, seeing everyone hide from him. If these Toons saw him for the real demon he truly was, perhaps their tunes would change.

Especially when the Ink Demon was more than capable of spilling their Ichor all over the floor.

"Now then, it's getting late, so we should all hurry and get to bed so you can get a good night's rest for tomorrow!" Dandy spoke with a cheerful tone. Another Toon, Teagan, pointed something out. "Where will Bendy sleep? He doesn't have a room of his own."

Dandy thought for a moment, his petals twirling around his face as he was deep in thought. Bendy was surprised to see his petals moving, though not unsettled in the slightest. The flower's petals eventually stopped in place, and he smiled. "I'll have to think of a solution, but for now, Glisten, would you let him stay with you for now until I come up with something for him?"

Glisten perked up, not sure how to feel about letting a total stranger into his room. "Uhh..." he turned to the little devil. "Do you snore in your sleep?"
Bendy stared at him for a moment before writing an answer down.

"I don't normally sleep. Usually had no time to."

"Wh- oh you have to be kidding me." Glisten pinched the bridge of his non-existent nose. "... If he's quiet while I sleep, then I'd be fine with taking him in for now."
Dandy gave him a thumbs up. "Great!"

Bendy couldn't help but feel that he was being babysat. Just great.

Glisten started walking to one of the elevators. "Come along now, Bendy."
The demon followed the mirror Toon, much to Bendy's displeasure. As they got into the elevator, Glisten pressed a button to the floor where he resided. Once the door shut, and the elevator began to move, there was an awkward silence combined with their already unpleasant tension.

Glisten was the one to break this silence. "Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot earlier, with me pointing out how outdated your eyes are, and you brazenly insulting my looks."
Bendy nodded his head, waiting for him to get to the point.
The mirror continued on. "And I don't know about you, but I don't want to stay in the presence of someone I don't get along with. So, let's try to get along, okay? Who knows, we might become friends later on."

Bendy quietly sighed, not particularly interested in gaining any friends in this place, but seeing as how he had no other choice, he silently agreed to the mirror's request by nodding his head again. Glisten smiled a little, glad to see that the new Toon had some common sense in him. "I'll go first."
The demon tilted his head curiously, interested in what the mirror had to say.

"I like your bowtie. It's quite classy."
Bendy perked up, glancing between him and his own bowtie. He felt like he had to respond, so he noted that Glisten was wearing a bow of his own, and he wrote down his reply.

"I like your bow. It's cute"

"Oh?" Glisten seemed surprised to read that. "Hah.. I don't think anyone's ever said my bow was cute before." he then smiled, a bit more warmly this time. "I like it."

The rest of the elevator ride was less tense than before.

***

The moment Bendy stepped into Glisten's room, he was stunned to see a large mirror at a desk. Photos of Glisten himself were carefully stuck above the mirror, along with another photo of him sitting on the desk.. and beside a sheet of paper with words on it. Bendy took a minute to read the note.

"Boxten was up late last night.

I could tell because he
ruined my beauty sleep!

Not sure why they had to give me such
awful Toons to share this floor with.

Who put Shrimpo here?
Who did that. CERTAINLY NOT I!

I guess Razzle and Dazzle are fine.
And Brightney is entertaining enough.
But SHRIMPO?
I'm just happy it isn't Finn!"

Bendy noted that Shrimpo was on the same floor as Glisten.. how lovely (sarcasm). Before he could inspect anything else, Glisten caught his attention. "Now then, before you get too comfortable, we need ground rules."
The demon frowned, clearly not used to being ordered around. Glisten spoke while carefully and precisely removing his makeup.

"Rule 1! If you're going to stay up all night doing whatever, DO NOT wake me up. I'm not sure if you know what beauty sleep is, but I need at least 7 hours of sleep, preferably 9. I need this schedule to stay perfect, so I would appreciate it greatly if you did not disturb me whatsoever. Even if you do go to sleep and wake up before me, DON'T wake me up. Got it?"

Bendy nodded his head. Glisten seemed content with the demon's response. "Good. Glad you understand such a basic rule."
The little devil could feel his tail swishing irritably at the attitude he was being given.

"Rule 2. You will not touch anything in here. That includes my bed, my photos, my posters, my mirror, especially my mirror. I don't want you smudging it."

Bendy wrote something down while Glisten shuffled and moved something on the floor.

"Why do you have a mirror if you're a mirror yourself?"

"I just like looking at my perfect figure, alright? Is that all you wanted to ask?"
The demon nodded his head. Glisten sat on his bed. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. I set up a mattress in the corner for you, along with a spare pillow and blanket. You should be fine there."

Bendy walked over to his little bed and sat on it. The blanket felt silky soft, a feeling he hadn't felt anywhere else in the studio. The pillow was also soft, comfortable to the touch. He wasn't used to this comfortable setting.

Glisten put on a sleeping mask on his head. "Good night, Bendy."
Bendy wrote a simple "good night" back. The mirror turned off the lamp beside him and put the mask over his eyes, leaning back in his bed.

Deciding he wanted to try this sleeping activity, Bendy got comfortable in his bedding and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for himself to feel tired. All was well, even if it was boring, waiting for his body to succumb to sleep..

Until he began to feel strange. A feeling of dread creeped up Bendy's back, sending shivers down his non-existent spine. The darkness felt alive, wanting to swallow him whole like the dark puddles back home. Normally this wouldn't be such a big issue, he was the Ink Demon, after all.. but the size of the room contributed greatly to his worry.

The room was quite small, which was an uncomfortable setting for the dark. Bendy could swear he heard voices whispering around him, something cold and metallic wrapping around his wrists and gripping them tightly. The feeling of fear was nothing but a distant memory to him, but for once, he felt the heavy effects it had on him.

Bendy sat up, looking down at his hands. He could swear he saw chains wrapping around them, that familiar feeling of total isolation gripping him from behind. His breathing quickened, his eyes shrunk down, and his heartbeats increased.

He looked up, and he saw himself in a much tinier room, with only a door in front of him. A gold light shined from under the door, barely enough to even provide enough light to see. A familiar voice could be heard outside, making Bendy's stomach churn;

"Whatever that grinning thing was I saw wandering around your office, you better keep it locked up tight! I realize it was a first attempt but imagine if the press caught sight of it! Might scare off investors!"

Bendy's vision grew blurry, his breathing almost non-existent now, and the sound of ringing in his head deafened him.

Please, no, don't lock me away, I don't want this, I didn't ask for this.

Please, let me out. Anyone? Please...?

Why did they leave me here? Why are they afraid of me? Isn't this what they wanted?

What he wanted?

An abrupt light snapped Bendy out of it, his body apparently hunching over, and his inky tears spilled onto the soft blanket around him. His thoughts were scattered, the ringing in his head faded away, his eyesight was getting adjusted to the light again... and he could see clearly now that there were no chains around his wrists.

"Bendy...?"

Bendy perked up upon hearing that voice, and he looked up to see that Glisten was staring directly at him, sleeping mask above his head. "Did something happen? You just.. started crying."

The little devil took a moment to calm himself down, reabsorbing the ink tears. He was glad at least the nice blanket wasn't ruined. Even so, he broke Glisten's number 1 rule, and he felt the need to apologize, so he took the notepad from beside his bed and wrote what he wanted to say.

"It's nothing. I'm sorry I woke you up."

Glisten frowned when he read the message. "I was in the process of falling asleep, I wasn't really sleeping yet... you don't have to apologize."
Bendy looked down, still feeling a bit ashamed. Glisten left his own bed and sat beside the little devil. "What's wrong? Do you not like the dark?"
The demon wrote something down again.

"It's complicated. I don't wish to talk about it."

"Okay... is there anything I could do to prevent another panic attack?"

Bendy was almost embarrassed to write his answer down, but he knew he'd probably wake Glisten again if he left things as it was.

"Could you keep the light on.. please?"

Glisten rubbed Bendy's back in a comforting manner. "Sure, no problem at all."
Bendy leaned into the touch, his initial fears becoming a distant memory again. The mirror seemed to notice this.

"I assume you're fine with this..?"

Bendy nodded his head in response, his tail lightly wagging. Glisten smiled, continuing to rub his back. "You remind me more of a dog than a cat like Scraps said."
The demon didn't write anything in reply.

Bendy wasn't so sure why he graciously accepted Glisten's touch, why he wasn't opposed to the rubbing motions on his back. It was comforting, yes, but he didn't know why. He wasn't used to being touched in such a manner. So many questions, so little answers, it all bothered him deep down.

He questioned why he wanted more of this.

Glisten stopped rubbing his back; Bendy held back from making a pathetic whine. "Is that better?"
The little devil nodded his head, smiling.
"That's good.. I'll leave the light on for you."

And with that, Glisten got up and crawled back into his bed. Bendy hated to admit it, but he missed the backrubs already. Once Glisten was comfortable in his bed again, he flipped the sleeping mask over his eyes. "Good night for real this time, Bendy."
Bendy wanted to say it back to him, but he didn't know how to. He gave up and just laid back down in his own bed.

This time, there was no darkness trying to swallow him. No chains to wrap around his wrists, no ringing in his head. Just pure bliss, a feeling that Bendy had never experienced in all his time in the studio.

He closed his eyes, and years of built-up exhaustion took hold of him. The world around him became silent, and his thoughts became blank.

Tomorrow is another day.

~END OF CHAPTER 2~

Chapter Text

The abyss around him was dark, and the sound of ink dripping from the ceiling echoed through the void. The demon walked through the darkness, a feeling of curiosity driving him to keep going.

After walking for what felt like forever, the inky floors revealed a wooden flooring underneath, with a trapdoor straight ahead. He'd seen this trapdoor before, although he never knew why it was there. The demon stepped forward, leaning over and forcing the trapdoor open. A white glow overtook the area, blinding him temporarily. He heard the sound of a train roaring, and despite all other instincts telling him not to,

He stepped into the trapdoor anyway, and the roaring stopped.

Bendy slowly opened his eyes, the light from the lamp still illuminating the room. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, feeling more fatigued than he did the previous day. He wasn't sure how he felt about this 'sleeping' activity, but he was willing to try it again later.

Speaking of sleeping, Glisten was still sound asleep in bed, his sleeping mask over his eyes. Bendy decided to take this opportunity to look around his room more, and he got out of his mattress bed. He noticed a couple of notes on the floor, so out of curiosity, he took these notes and read them one by one.

Yesterday I was trying to perfect
my reflection trick all day.
                                                            I always get sort of dizzy
                                                            after I do the whole thing.

Of course, I never tell people that!
Can't have them thinking I don't know
how to handle everything.

I think SOMEONE has noticed though.
He kept bothering me.

Saying 'don't overwork yourself'

I don't!
I know how to handle things!
I am perfect.
I have to be.

Bendy noticed how the word 'perfect' was circled each time. He also remembered how Glisten mentioned last night that he liked to look in the mirror.. something about his 'perfect' figure. Oddly enough, he was reminded of the Angel. Her excessive need to be perfect, to be beautiful again.. as much as he hated the Angel, he felt...

... Numb.

Bendy felt numb, staring at the note. He was glad at least Glisten had more sanity than her, yes, but he still felt nothing.

"If you claim your failures are because these things are soulless, then damn it, we'll get them a soul! After all, I own thousands of 'em!"

He simply put the note back where he found it. He didn't need to know anything about Glisten. His goal was to go home, and whatever business these Toons had, was none of his concern. Bendy then read the other note, hoping it was less intrusive than the last.

I saw Rodger carrying a large stack
of files recently into the elevator.

Obviously he was struggling to carry it all!
So being the perfect, kind, AMAZING
Toon I am... I helped.

He told me I showed up at the right time.

Of course I did.
I'm always there at the best times.

I just wish everyone could see that

         I should spend time with him more.

Once again, Bendy felt numb. He wasn't interested in what these Toons did in their daily lives. He put the note back where he found it as well. Bendy never knew how to process empathy of the sort, which led to his studio being overtaken by him and the dark puddles. He was certain he'd eventually cause damage in this place, too.

He didn't need anyone to care about him, or to seek his validation. No one needed the validation of a demon.

Bendy noticed the desk with the large vanity mirror, and decided he wanted to see exactly how he looked. He took a chair that sat in front of the desk and used it as a stepping stool, since he was too short to properly see himself in his reflection.

He was still surprised to see a cute and plush cartoon character, with big pie-cut eyes, a clean bowtie.. he was perfect. He pressed a gloved hand against his squishy face, examining his features in the mirror.

Bendy thought back to his cartoons, the ones that starred him. He was nothing like his cartoon counterpart, and yet he looked just like him. He felt like a fraud, a mimic. Bendy stared at his reflection, a sad expression on his face. Would things had gone different if he looked like this from the beginning? If he was made perfect, like Glisten was?

The Ink Demon knew better than to question himself so much. The Creators lied to him, to everyone. There was no point in wondering about them now.

He sighed and stepped down from the chair, wondering if he should explore while everyone else was likely asleep. If Glisten had such a strict routine, then surely other Toons must have the same, right?

Bendy walked to the door, placing a hand on the doorknob. He had to remind himself to leave as quietly as possible, to not wake up his temporary roommate. The little devil carefully turned the knob, occasionally glancing back to see if Glisten was waking up. Once the door was slightly ajar, Bendy stared at the mirror Toon as he slowly and carefully opened the door-

Creak!

Bendy froze up, stopping in place as soon as the door made that accursed sound. He kept his eyes on the mirror, but it seemed like he wasn't disturbed by the door. Bendy sighed in relief as he continued to-

Creaaaak!

Oh how he desperately wanted to tell this door to shut up. Lucky for him, Glisten was still sound asleep. Though Bendy didn't trust that the door wouldn't creak again, so he just decided to kick it open. No creaks that time!

Finally, Bendy walked out of the room and carefully shut the door, hoping he didn't wake up Glisten by recklessly kicking his door. Mission accomplished! He was now out of the room, and into the ugly hallway he didn't like. Yippee!

Right as Bendy turned around, he was met face to face with Brightney. "Good morning, Bendy!"
The little devil jumped in surprise, his tail sticking up.

"Oh, sorry! Did I startle you?"

Bendy reached to grab his notepad... only to realize he left it in Glisten's room. Brightney noticed this. "Did you forget your notepad?"
The demon simply nodded his head, frowning. He couldn't believe he made such a dumb mistake.

The lamp Toon let out a sigh. "Well, if you didn't wake up Glisten getting out, you'd probably wake him up trying to get it. And he gets cranky when he's woken up early."
Bendy's tail began to swish in irritation, now having no proper means of communication. Brightney then smiled at him. "I was just going to ask if you wanted to come by my room later for my Book Club!"

Bendy raised an invisible eyebrow, pondering what a 'book club' even was. As if she could read minds, Brightney began to explain. "See, my Book Club is a place where we read books together, and talk about common interests."
The demon wasn't sure how to respond. On one hand, he really didn't want to deal with anyone today, but on the other hand... this was inevitable.

Plus, he was a little curious to see what he could learn while he was here.

"So, what do you think? Would you be interested in something like that?" Brightney asked with a smile. Bendy nodded his head, and he could swear the lightbulb in the lamp's head just got a little brighter.
"Great! I'll see you around 8 AM then!"
Bendy tilted his head. He knew what time was, and how to understand it... but where were the clocks in this place? Brightney turned heel and left, presumably to the kitchen area he saw the previous day. "You should come eat breakfast!"

The little devil sighed and followed the lamp, curious as to what these Toons ate for breakfast. He was surprised to see most of the Toons on the floor in the kitchen already, eating various different things he didn't recognize. The only people he didn't see there were Glisten and Shrimpo. Poppy spotted Bendy almost immediately and she waved her hand.
"Bendy!! Come sit with us!"
Once again, Bendy internally panicked and didn't know what to do. Unfortunately for him, while he was frozen in place, Poppy had gotten up and dragged him over to the table with Boxten, Goob and Scraps, and she sat him down next to her.

Bendy snapped out of his dazed state, realizing the choice had already been made for him. He was going to have to get used to this until he eventually returned home. The demon looked up at the rest of the Toons at the table. Scraps started the conversation,
"Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
Bendy mentally punched himself for forgetting his notepad... luckily, Brightney came to his rescue. "He forgot his notepad in Glisten's room, so he can't really communicate right now."

"Aww, that sucks. And he probably won't be able to get it back without waking up Glisten." Scraps stood up and walked over to where the food was being cooked. "Want some bacon and eggs, Bendy?"
Bendy tilted his head, trying to figure out what this was. He'd seen cans labelled "bacon soup" before, and even tried some, only to dislike it due to how expired it was by that point. Eventually, he decided to give it a try, and he nodded his head. Scraps seemed pleased to see his response. "Okay!"

Goob continued the conversation for Scraps. "How'd you sleep?"
Bendy simply gave him a thumbs up. The fluffy Toon seemed happy to hear (or see) that. "That's good!"
Scraps didn't take long to grab plates for Goob and Bendy, and she placed down their respective meals in front of them. "Breakfast is served!"
Goob happily smiled at the paper craft. "Thanks sis!"
His sister smiled back at him. "No problem at all!"

Bendy simply stared at the meal in front of him. He wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at, but he did admit it looked good...
He noticed that Poppy had gotten her own breakfast and started eating, a cheerful smile on her face. He also saw her using some strange mini-trident to eat. Looking down again, he spotted the same utensil beside his plate. The little devil took the fork in his hand, figuring out how to use it. He watched Poppy eating, aware of how weird he looked, but he just needed to know how to copy her movements.. even if he couldn't communicate that properly.

Lucky for him, he was always a quick learner. Bendy studied her movements just enough for him to get a decent understanding, then he copied these movements by stabbing at the scrambled egg on his plate and eating it.
His eyes lit up in pleasant surprise. The scrambled eggs had a fluffy texture to them, making it enjoyable to eat. Bendy's tail began to wag as he got comfortable with digging in to his food, comically shovelling as much egg as he could into his mouth. The other Toons at the table watched in concern.
"Hey, don't eat so fast! You might choke!" Scraps tried to warn him.

To their surprise, however, Bendy didn't even cough as he ate, like he wasn't even breathing anymore. It wasn't long before all the scrambled eggs on the plate were gone, and the bacon was up next. The Toons watched in both shock and awe as the long strips of crispy bacon were instantly devoured, not even crumbs were left behind.
Bendy let out a satisfied purr as he put his fork down and sat back in his chair, eyes closed in content. Scraps and Goob exchanged looks, then glanced back at the little devil. "Have you ever had bacon and eggs before..?" Scraps asked him.

The demon thought for a moment before shaking his head. She wasn't sure why, but Scraps felt a little worried about this. What did he mean he'd never had bacon and eggs before? What kind of food has he eaten before?

***

After breakfast was over, Brightney took Bendy to her room at the appropriate time, and they arrived around 8 AM sharp. Brightney set up 4 chairs in a circle. "Take a seat! The others will arrive shortly."
Bendy did as told and sat in one of the chairs. The lamp Toon eventually handed him a new notepad and a pencil. "Here, you can borrow this for now."
The demon was relieved to finally have a means to communicate again.

3 minutes later, the two-headed mask Toon was let into the room, with Razzle dead asleep and Dazzle being the one in control.
"Dazzle! Always nice to see you!" Brightney cheerfully greeted him. The mask nervously nodded. "(Always glad to be here...)" he then noticed Bendy in the room. "(Oh, did he want to join too..?)"
"Yep! Bendy wanted to see what our club was about, so he's here to join. Who knows, he might like it and want to come here when we're on break!"
"(Oh.. I see.)"
Bendy could read on Dazzle's face that he was hiding his excitement. The little devil then noticed Razzle sleeping away, so he wrote down a question.

"Why is Razzle asleep?"

"(Oh, don't mind him.. he always falls asleep before I make my way to the Book Club. He's not much of a reader.. he's more energetic, so he prefers activities that suit his interests.)"
Bendy understood and nodded his head.

Not long after Dazzle took a seat next to Bendy, a quiet knock could be heard again. Brightney hurried toward the door and opened it. "Good morning Astro!"
Astro stood in the doorway, looking tired like he got up earlier than usual. "Good morning, Brightney.."
Once the moon Toon walked into the room, Brightney closed the door and walked back over to the chair ring. "Have a seat! We can start our meeting now that everyone is here."
Astro nodded his head and sat in a chair across from Dazzle... which also happened to be next to Bendy. The lunar being noticed the new Toon right away. "Oh... hello. You're that new Toon that Dandy introduced us to..."
Bendy nodded his head.
"My name is Astro... I couldn't get an opportunity to talk to you yesterday, due to how many Toons were there... so, you're interested in the Book Club..?"
The demon wrote down his response.

"Yeah. I've read books before, usually when I'm bored. Helps to pass the time."

Astro nodded in understanding. Brightney sat in the last chair remaining, which would be across from Bendy. "Okay everyone, we have a new temporary member! Bendy here is interested in seeing what the club is all about."
"Bendy was just telling me he has read books before.." Astro said, adjusting his blanket. Bendy was quick to notice that the lunar Toon was more focused on keeping that blanket wrapped up tight. Perhaps he was hiding something he didn't want anyone to see...?

"Oh really? What kind of books?" Brightney asked curiously. Bendy sighed and wrote down his answer.

"My studio had a small book area, sort of like a library. Whenever I got bored, I'd go there and read. Most of them were all written by my creator, so I didn't have much variety."

"(What kind of books did they write..?)" Dazzle seemed more engaged than usual. Probably because Razzle was passed out beside him, leaving him to be the sole head. Bendy wasn't about to question the twins and their anatomy as he wrote his vague answer down.

"It's complicated. My creator had very strange ideas. Concepts no other human could dream of."

"Like...?" Astro tilted his head curiously. Bendy let out a sigh as he tried to come up with an excuse he could use. Welp, when all else failed, trash-talk your creator.

"You wouldn't wanna know. He was a total loon."

"Oh, that's unfortunate." Brightney responded, frowning a little. Bendy was relieved they bought his excuse.

***

Glisten woke up to his lamp still on. He figured it'd be fine if he turned it off now, so he did and got up to start his day. First thing he noticed was that Bendy was gone, which meant he left completely silently. At least he respected the rules.

The mirror then noticed that the strange Toon had left behind his notepad and pencil. He sighed and picked them up. "First day here and you're already forgetting your things."
Well, since he was such an amazing Toon, Glisten decided to find Bendy and give him the notepad. Should be easy, right?

Glisten put on his makeup and fixed up his pink bow, then he left his room with the notepad in hand. Where could he have gone, the mirror wondered. He decided to check the kitchen first, only to find Boxten washing the dishes. Figuring maybe he'd seen the new Toon around, Glisten walked up to him. "Hello Boxy!"
The music box jumped a bit, clearly startled, before turning around and seeing the mirror. "O-oh, it's you. Hi Glisten."
"Have you seen Bendy at all? He left his notepad in my room." Glisten showed him the notepad. Boxten nodded his head. "Yeah.. he was here for breakfast. Then uhh.. I think he went with Brightney somewhere."

Ah, right, the Book Club. Glisten had been invited by Brightney a few times before, but he usually never went. If Bendy is where he thought he'd be, then finally Glisten had an excuse to check it out.

"Alright, thank you!"
"N-no problem at all!"
Glisten gave the music box Toon a smile before leaving, now confident in where he needed to go in order to find that strange little Toon.

Bendy closed the book he was reading, content with his experience. He quickly noticed that everyone else were still only halfway into their books. The book that Bendy had read was something Astro recommended about space and astrology, which had the little devil engaged. He'd never seen anything like stars before, obviously, considering his living situation.
There was a knock at the door, and the other Toons looked up from their books.

"Hm? Who could that be?" Brightney got up and walked to the door. She wasn't expecting anybody else to show up, so who-?
She was surprised to see Glisten at the doorway. "Good morning, Brightney!"
"Oh, good morning Glisten!"
Bendy perked up, and promptly stomped on his tail to stop it from wagging. He wasn't so sure why he felt glad to see the mirror awake... maybe it was because he was holding the notepad the little devil had forgotten earlier?

"I just came by to see if Bendy was around. Is he?" Glisten questioned the lamp.
Brightney nodded her head with a smile. "Yep! He's right here."
The mirror was let in and immediately greeted by Bendy.
"Ah, hello Bendy! Here's your notepad, by the way." Glisten handed over the notepad, which the demon took eagerly. "You're welcome."
Bendy wasted no time in writing a response.

"Thank you!"

"Well, Glisten, since you're here, do you want to stay around for the club?" Brightney asked him. Glisten seemed like he was about to decline, but he couldn't help but actually consider it. He did like being included, after all...

"Oh, fine, I suppose I can stay for it." He answered after a good minute. The other Toons, especially Brightney, seemed glad to hear that Glisten would stick around, which of course they would be. He was the most perfect Toon in this building!
"Alright, now we can proceed with activities!" Brightney announced as Glisten stood beside Bendy's chair. Astro offered to grab him a chair, but the mirror declined, saying he was fine with standing.

All the while, Bendy was just happy to experience something new.

***

Bendy and Glisten walked out of Brightney's room, after the little devil had given back the notepad Brightney let him borrow. "Well, I have to say.. that wasn't so bad. I should stop by more often."

"Has Brightney invited you before?"

"Yes, she has, but I'm so busy that I never really turned up until today."
Bendy hummed in thought. Glisten walked past the kitchen area, then stopped at the desk from yesterday. "I'm going to be heading to Teagan's room for a tea party. You can.. do whatever, here. Sound good?"
Bendy nodded his head.. then proceeded to follow him to the elevator, which Glisten noticed. "Oh... did you want to come, perhaps?"

"Yeah. I don't know a lot of things, so I'd like to take my time to learn all I can."

"Hm.." Glisten hummed in thought. "... I'm sure Teagan won't mind if I bring a +1." he stepped into the elevator, waving Bendy inside. "Come along, Bendy!"
The demon walked into the lift as Glisten pressed a button. The elevator's door slammed shut, and it began to move up. Once again, the elevator was silent, as if neither of them knew what to talk about. Of course, being the only one able to speak, Glisten started the conversation. "Bendy, I hope this isn't intrusive of me to ask... but what do you mean when you say you don't know a lot?"
Bendy thought for a moment, then wrote his answer down.

"Well, I've never seen so much color before. Never had proper food, never read about stars, never heard of a book club or a tea party. There's a lot of stuff I haven't seen or done."

Glisten frowned at the explanation. "What do you mean, you've never seen so much color?? And what's that about food?"
Bendy didn't write down anything this time, just stared ahead at the door. The mirror didn't want to admit this, but his new little friend was... concerning. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know a single thing about this cat-like Toon. Sure, he knew he came out of an old animation studio from the 1930's, but what were his creators like? What was his life in the studio like before coming to Gardenview?

Not to mention the Toon's panic attack the previous night... Glisten was sure something was deeply wrong with him, but he felt that Bendy wouldn't be so willing to answer all his questions.
He wasn't willing to explain his panic attack, so why would Bendy want to explain his home life?

Glisten left his train of thought when the elevator door opened, revealing a similar floor to the previous one. "We're almost there, just stick close to me."
Bendy nodded and followed the mirror as he walked down the hallway, passing by a kitchen area that was familiar. Glisten walked to a door, waiting for the little devil to catch up. He was about to read the label beside the door,

"U-00"

Unfortunately, Bendy was pulled right into the new room by Glisten, so he couldn't finish reading it. He was immediately greeted by the sight of cups resting in a circle on a table. Chairs sat around said table, with each cup resting neatly in front of them. Bendy's tail perked up once he heard something boiling.
"Teagaaan! I'm here!" Glisten called out. He then noticed it was just him, the teacup Toon and Bendy in the room. "And incredibly early, too."
Teagan turned to face him with a smile. "Good morning, Glisten." she then noticed the little devil beside him. "Oh, and Bendy too! Did Glisten bring you along?"

"Yes, he did."

"He followed me to the elevator, and I just couldn't say no to his adorable little face!" Glisten said, squishing Bendy's face while emphasizing 'adorable'. Bendy frowned, squeezing his eyes shut. He wasn't used to being treated like this, nor he will ever get used to it.
"Ah, I see," Teagan approached them to give a proper greeting to the new Toon. "I don't believe I've introduced myself before. My name is Teagan. It is very nice to meet you, Bendy." They gave him a warm smile; a smile that almost made Bendy's soulless heart grow three sizes larger. "Do you have any preferences for your tea?"
The little devil shook his head, then wrote his answer down.

"No, I've never had tea before."

"Never? Oh my." Teagan perked up in surprise.
"I know, right? I was just as surprised as you!" Glisten ushered Bendy into one of the chairs. The demon nearly fell out of said chair, but he managed to stay on. Teagan hummed in thought as she walked over to their kettle, still boiling water. "Hmm... perhaps I should make something simple for him. What do you think?"
"I think so too! Just to get him used to the idea of tea." Glisten turned to the shorter Toon. "How does that sound?"
Bendy gave them both a simple thumbs up.
"Good, glad to hear- erm, see it."

Glisten and Bendy sat at the table, waiting patiently as Teagan boiled water in the kettle. The little devil noticed two extra chairs, implying there may be another guest coming over soon.

"Glisten, will there be anyone else joining?"

"Hmm... not that I remember-" Glisten was cut off by the sound of the door opening. Another Toon stood at the doorway, with a head shape that Bendy couldn't recognize. Well, in all fairness, Bendy didn't know what any of these characters were supposed to be.
"Teagan, I'm here!" The new Toon called out. Teagan simply smiled as they focused on the kettle. "Glad you could make it, Shelly. The tea is brewing."
Shelly closed the door behind her and walked over to the table, taking a seat. She turned her attention towards Bendy. "Oh! The new Toon's here too?"
"Yes, I brought him along as a plus one." Glisten responded to her.

Shelly smiled at Bendy. "My name's Shelly! We didn't get a chance to talk before, so I'm glad we could properly meet now!"
The little devil smiled back, politely waving. He couldn't make heads or tails of what she was supposed to be, but he didn't want any bad impressions with these new characters.

At least, before his impressions are ruined by the Ink Demon.

After a few minutes of talking, a whistle could be heard gradually increasing in volume. The noise irritated the demon greatly, to the point where he covered his ears (or where they should be). Thankfully, the noise stopped abruptly, relieving him. Bendy put his hands down.
"Do you not like loud noises?" Shelly asked, a bit curious.

"Not really. I have sensitive hearing."

"Ohhh, I see." Shelly seemed satisfied with his answer. Good.
"Tea is ready!" Teagan announced, holding a tray with three teacups. Each cup held a different kind of tea. Bendy assumed that the other teas were more to Glisten and Shelly's preference.
The tea Toon placed down the cups in front of its respective guest. "Careful, it's hot."
Bendy gazed at the new liquid in awe. It looked nothing like ink, to his surprise. The tea looked clear, the inside of the cup still being visible through the liquid. Despite its dark coloring, he could still see all the patterns inside. It was mystifying to see, especially with the steam wafting from the tea and filling Bendy's senses with a fresh scent... that he once again couldn't decipher.

He was so used to the smell of ink and decay that he couldn't recognize other scents to save his life.

After staring at it for a good two minutes, he perked up when he noticed Glisten and Shelly taking sips of their tea. Bendy noted that the drink must be in a good state to drink, so he picked up his cup and took a sip-

And promptly spat out his tea back into the cup, coughing. The others perked up, glancing at him in worry as he put the cup back down. "Oh dear, did you not wait long enough?" Teagan asked him.
Bendy couldn't tell; what he drank felt as though he was taking a sip of something radioactive. He coughed into his gloved hands, eyes squeezed shut. Even without a single drop of tea in his mouth, he still felt as though he was burning.
"Bendy? Are you okay?" He heard Glisten's voice among his own coughs and wheezes.
The little devil opened his pie-cut eyes, inky tears pricking the edges of them. He didn't know what was going on, why he was coughing and wheezing so much. He couldn't figure out why he was-

Dripping ink. His ink was dripping through his fingers and staining the nice floor with him. His eyes shrunk in terror, realizing what was happening to his lower jaw. Bendy pushed himself up and rushed out of the room.
"Bendy!?" Shelly called for him, growing increasingly worried about the new Toon. Glisten put his cup down on the table and stood up. "I'll be right back. I need to make sure he's alright."
"I'll come along. I can't help but feel responsible." Teagan said to him, worry in their tone. Shelly put her cup down as well, standing up from her chair. "Let's all go together!"

Glisten, Teagan and Shelly walked out of the room, walking down the hall and following a trail of ink on the floor. Glisten was up further ahead, so as he reached the end of the hall, he saw Bendy at the sink, trembling and heaving.
"Bendy?"
The mirror approached him, his heart feeling heavier than usual. "Is everything alri-?"

The sight of the little devil's jaw in the sink sent chills down Glisten's back. Ink painted the inside of the sink like someone dumped a whole bucket of it in. Glisten could see that the source of all this black liquid was from Bendy, who was hunched over the sink, the bottom half of his mouth missing and bleeding ink. Some of his teeth were melted in with the ink, bits of white in the pitch black, along with bits and pieces of his grey tongue. Shelly gasped in horror as Teagan covered their mouth in shock.
"Oh my goodness..." Glisten glanced between Bendy and his jaw that now laid in the sink. He noticed that the little devil was still shaking, and he assumed that the poor Toon was terrified.
He lifted a hand and held it over the demon's back. "Can I?"

Bendy glanced at the hand for a moment before nodding, turning his head back over the sink. Glisten gently rubbed his back, noting how Bendy's tail began to wag. He then turned to Shelly and Teagan. "Rub his back, it helps soothe him."
Shelly didn't hesitate to start rubbing, feeling his shakes in her hand. "It's going to be okay, Bendy, you're going to be okay."
"I'll get Cosmo." Teagan called as she left, feeling guilty and responsible for such a horrific injury.

Shelly attempted to grab Bendy's jaw with her free hand, but the demon gently smacked her hand away, shaking his head. Glisten got out Bendy's notepad and pencil, placing it on the counter beside him. "Is there anything you'd like to say...?"
The little devil shuddered as he lifted his hands and wrote something down, trying to avoid getting ink droplets all over the paper.

"Don't touch my ink. I don't know what it'll do to you."

"Ink?" Shelly questioned as Bendy put the notepad and pencil back where Glisten put them, leaning over the sink again.
Glisten frowned, continuing to rub the little devil's back.

The mirror may have seemed unusually calm, but that was because he was hiding how panicked he really was. Glisten didn't want Shelly or Teagan, heaven forbid Bendy, to see him panic.
He would have plenty of time to freak out to himself later, but right now his new friend needed help, and screaming in terror wouldn't help anyone.

After a good while, Bendy stopped shaking, making a noise that almost sounded like purring. Shelly couldn't help but smile, yet she was still at unease. "Is this helping, Bendy?"
The demon nodded his head, still keeping his face over the sink and watching his ink slowly go down the drain. The three Toons heard Teagan return with another Toon, the same one that asked Bendy if he liked sweets yesterday.
"How is he?" Cosmo asked, medical gauze and bandages ready in his hands. Shelly turned to look at him. "He's calmed down, but he says he doesn't want us touching the ink."
"Ink?" The cake roll questioned as he approached them. Now that he could see what had happened, he tensed up. "Oh... are you in any pain, Bendy?"

"A little. I'll be fine, I just need something to stop losing more ink."

"Okay. I've got something for you, please stand still."
Bendy did as Cosmo asked, and the sweet Toon wrapped his head with gauze, making sure to effectively cover his mouth and his missing jaw. Ink tried to leak through, but the gauze was too thick for it to seep.
"I can go get Dandy to help, too-" Shelly was cut off by Cosmo perking up in panic. "N-no, don't do that! Please."
"... Okay?" She stayed by Bendy's side. The little devil was confused by how Cosmo was quick to reject the idea of Dandy helping out.

But deep down, he was relieved. Bendy never liked it when he was exposed in such a vulnerable state. He would much rather be alone, but alas, he was currently surrounded by four other Toons that were helping him out of the kindness of their hearts.

Even though he didn't deserve it. Bendy didn't deserve their kind hospitality. Their soothing backrubs, the tea (as acidic as it was to him), all of it. He found himself wanting them to fear him, to kick him while he was down.

To despise him and his demonic guts.

He didn't even need to question why they were being so nice and caring toward him. It was because he looked just like them.
Would the Ink Demon change all of it? Would they treat him like his Creator did all those years ago? If they knew how truly imperfect he was, would they treat him as the monster he was known to be?

Would Dandy hate him? Would he hate himself for bringing such a monster into their home?

Bendy snapped himself back to reality when he noticed that the others were trying to talk to him.
"I'm sorry, Bendy. I didn't mean for my tea to hurt you." Teagan apologized, even though they'd done nothing wrong. He felt the need to write his thoughts for her.

"You didn't know. Honestly, I didn't know that would happen either."

"How are you feeling?" Shelly asked him, already so clearly worried for this stranger.

"I'll be fine. I just need an hour to myself, and I'll be good by then."

"Give him some space. I'll take him back to my room to recover." Glisten lightly pat the demon on the back. Bendy felt comfortable enough to leave the sink's side by now, so he prepared to leave.
"I'll try to prepare something colder next time. How does that sound?" Teagan suggested. Bendy shook his head.

"It's fine, Teagan. Maybe I'm not meant to enjoy the little things in life."

Before anyone could question what he meant, Bendy walked away, making his way to the elevator. Glisten followed after him, seeing as how they were going back together.
As they stepped into the elevator, Glisten turned to him.
"What did you mean by that?"

"Don't worry about it right now. You'll find out eventually. For now though, I want to enjoy the peace while I can."

"Bendy, what has gotten into you?"

"It's inevitable. I just want to enjoy this warm, fuzzy feeling I get when someone is kind to me, while it's still there."

Glisten knew he wasn't getting any answers out of him, so he dropped the subject. But it still irked him that Bendy was acting so strange. Or maybe perhaps this was always how Bendy thought.
As he pressed the button to send them back down to their floor, Glisten tried to ignore the feeling of a pit forming in his stomach.
It was hard to when this new Toon was so mysterious.

Though Glisten wasn't as keen as his friend Rodger was, he noticed that Bendy had implied nobody had ever been this kind to him before.

'I just want to enjoy this warm, fuzzy feeling I get when someone is kind to me, while it's still there.'

What were Bendy's creators like? Were they mean to him?

'It's inevitable.'

What was? What would Bendy do to make everyone treat him unkindly?

So many questions filled Glisten's mind, questions that he knew Bendy would refuse to answer.

And probably for good reason.

***

The moment they returned to Glisten's room, Bendy plopped into his mattress bed, covering himself with the nice blanket he was given the night before. Glisten sat beside him. "Are you going to take a nap?"
Bendy nodded his head, eyes closed.
"Okay. I'll be out somewhere else, so your rest will go undisturbed."

The little devil wanted to tell him 'thank you', but combined with the fact that he currently had no jaw and couldn't talk, he could only watch as Glisten left the room, and left Bendy alone to his own devices. The lamp was left on as a courteous gesture.
Bendy turned to his side and got comfortable again in his bed. He could still feel a burning pain where his mouth should have been, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

To his surprise, he heard the door open again. Bendy turned to look at who was there, and he tensed up when he saw Dandy approach him with a worried expression.
"I heard about what happened from Shelly. How are you feeling?"

Just the little devil's luck.

Bendy took the notepad and pencil in front of him to write.

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

Dandy shook his head. "Nonsense. You are our new friend!" he spoke with a reassuring smile; a smile that nearly broke Bendy into pieces. The flower sat down at the edge of Bendy's bed. "You're part of the crew now. Unofficially, but so many Toons like you already!"

"Why?"

Bendy hadn't even realized he'd wrote a response like this down. Oh great.
"Hm? Why? Because you're a Toon, just like the rest of us. And here at Gardenview, we do our best to make everyone feel welcome here!"
The demon just wanted Dandy to go away, to comfort someone else more deserving.

"Isn't there anyone else that needs help right now?"

"Nope! Just you."

Just his luck yet again. Bendy put his stuff down and laid on his back, too tired to continue. Dandy stood up, still smiling at him. "If you want, I can keep watch over you while you sleep! Just to make sure you're safe, y'know?"
As much as Bendy wanted him to leave, now he was in need of company. Damn it Bendy, make up your mind!

The demon simply gave him a thumbs up, not really caring anymore.
"Alrighty! Sleep well, Bendy!"
Bendy hated how Dandy's smile made him feel warm.

He hated how anyone made him feel warm and fuzzy. Why was kindness so effective on him?

Bendy would ponder this later, as right now, he just wanted the darkness of his mind to comfort him as his body healed on its own.

~END OF CHAPTER 3~

Chapter Text

Glisten, Shelly and Teagan were cleaning up the ink that dripped onto the floor as Bendy ran off earlier. Shelly hummed to herself as she scrubbed to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, ink is a pain to clean, so she sighed in frustration. "Should we get Tisha for help? I feel like she'd be able to clean this better than we can."
"Yes, that may be a good idea." Teagan agreed as they turned the sink on to wash the ink down the drain. The ink, along with some of Bendy's melted teeth and his tongue, were quickly melted and washed away, vanishing into the water. It was then that Teagan realized why Bendy got injured the way he did earlier.

"Goodness... you said that Bendy was bleeding ink, correct?" Teagan questioned.
"Yyyyyyes? Why do you ask?" Glisten looked up at her in confusion.
"Well... I think it might be because ink and water don't mix very well. And tea is mostly composed of water." They explained to the other two Toons. Glisten and Shelly exchanged glances.
"Oh..." Shelly frowned. "Poor Bendy. It must have felt like drinking lava to him."
"Yeah... by the way, Shannon-"
"Shelly."
"I knew that- anyways, did you tell Dandy about what happened? I saw him heading to my room just before I got here." Glisten questioned the ammonite.
Shelly nodded her head. "Mhm. I figured he needed to know. Bendy is our guest, after all."

"I thought that Cosmo said not to?" Teagan asked. Shelly glanced to the side.
"Weeeeell, he only said not to ask Dandy for help. He never said anything about not telling him about it."
Glisten shrugged. "Fair enough."
Shelly put down the scrub she was using. "I'll be right back with Tisha!"

Glisten and Teagan continued to try and clean as Shelly left to find the tissue box Toon. They didn't want the ink to dry up and completely ruin their nice floors!

***

Once again, he was in darkness. It was nothing new to him, being surrounded by the inky void. The demon began to walk into the seemingly endless abyss. As he progressed, he eventually walked towards a large, oval-shaped mirror with a golden frame. It looked familiar to him, but he couldn't place why. In his reflection was not the Ink Demon, but Bendy, seemingly the one from the cartoons. He stared soullessly into the demon's inked eye, smiling all the while.

"Who are you?"

The demon stared back into the mirror, the question echoing through the abyss. He answered this question with utmost certainty in his mind.

"I am the Ink Demon."

Bendy tilted his head curiously, still smiling.

"And yet you take on my appearance?"

The Ink Demon looked down at himself, only to find that he became Bendy. The Bendy in the mirror remained the same, staring back with a cold, dead smile.

"I don't know why. I feel wrong, staring at myself in this form. I want to go back."

Bendy tsked as he shook his head, closing his pie-cut eyes.

"You brought this upon yourself, Inky. You should've learned..."

When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were no longer pie-cut, and instead were white with a small black pupil, bleeding ink.

"That wandering is a terrible sin."

To the demon's surprise, he suddenly fell down, splashing as he fell in inky waters. He tried to swim up, only for metal chains to wrap around his arms, legs and neck. The beast struggled and squirmed in these binds, hopelessly sinking further and further into the abyss.

Bendy tried to extend his hand to the fading light above, but the chains were too heavy. It was hopeless, trying to escape his fate, but he still tried. He'd denied fate before, why should he give up now?

Bubbles rose past him, catching Bendy's attention. Where did those bubbles come from? He looked down out of curiosity, and saw that a giant version of the Ink Demon was waiting for him at the depths, grinning menacingly at him. For once, he was the prey.

Try as he may, Bendy sunk deeper, kicking and screaming into the darkness. The Ink Demon opened his maw, and the last thing Bendy saw was his teeth getting close and closer, before the teeth were above him, and they clamped shut.

***

Bendy woke up in a startled manner, tail sticking up. He was immediately greeted by a rock with eyes staring at him. For some reason, the rock had flower outlines drawn on its face.
The little devil sat up, rubbing his head. The bandages that Cosmo had wrapped around his face were still there, and they felt cramped and uncomfortable now.

"Oh, you're awake!"
Bendy perked up and spotted Dandy sitting on Glisten's bed. "Don't mind Pebble, he's just very curious about you!"
Pebble, the rock, perked up and his little rock tail began to wag. "Arf!"
The demon stared curiously at Pebble for a moment before beginning to take his ink-stained bandages off. Dandy noticed what he was doing, and panicked. "Wh- wait! You've only been recovering for an hour!"

And that was plenty of time, Bendy thought, as he unwrapped his face. Dandy tried to stop him, but paused in his movements as Bendy stretched his mouth around, his new jaw looking as though he never lost one in the first place.
Dandy stared in awe. "Wow.. how did you do that? Shelly told me your entire lower jaw was gone!"
Bendy grabbed his notepad and pencil.

"Just need time to heal."

"Well that wasn't much time at all!"
"Ruff?"
Dandy gently grabbed the demon by the shoulders. "How did you do that??"
Bendy simply shrugged and pulled himself away.

"I just can, Dandy. I'm not some kind of miracle Toon."

"Well I'd say you are. Nobody can just restore their lost body parts like that!"

"Not even you?"

Dandy shook his head, almost amused. "Nope. Sounds like a cool ability to have though!"
Bendy let out a quiet sigh, once again thinking about how different he was from these Toons.

These Toons were unnecessarily kind.

Pebble, meanwhile, was curiously sniffing Bendy's face, trying to piece together how his jaw was restored. The demon flinched, not sure how to feel about the rock dog being so close to him.

After a minute of thought, Bendy began to pet Pebble, the rock dog barking in content. Dandy smiled warmly. "Aww! I'm glad you're getting along well with him! Maybe you'll be friends soon!"

Friend... friend. The word sounded foreign to the demon. Like the stars, it sounded so out of reach, far from his grasp.
Bendy felt nothing, but at the same time, he was filled with curiosity. A need to learn more about the world around him. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time; not since the day he was created. Born from the Ink Machine.

There was a small knock at the door, interrupting Bendy's train of thought. Dandy perked up. "Oh? Who could that be?" he got off of Glisten's bed and approached the door, turning the knob and pulling it open. A Toon with a round head, an "8" marked on her head, stood at the doorway with a smile. "Hiya Dandy!"
Dandy smiled at the little Toon. "Oh, hello Toodles! Looking for Glisten?"
Toodles shook her head. "Nope! I was actually looking for Bendy!"
Bendy tilted his head curiously as the little one approached his makeshift bed.
"I heard you had a big ouchie earlier! How are you feeling now?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks kiddo."

Toodles seemed to be happy with that answer. "That's good!" she then shifted nervously, as if she had a more intrusive question on her mind. "I wanted to ask you something, but I'm not sure if it's polite."
Bendy shrugged.

"Don't worry about it, I can answer almost anything."

"If you say so.." she looked up at him with those big innocent eyes. "How come you don't talk? I know why Flutter doesn't, but what about you?"
Dandy sat down on the bed, looking at both of them as he held Pebble in his arms. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask that myself. Why is that, Bendy?"
Bendy winced. He really wasn't sure how to explain in a way that didn't expose the studio too much. But if he didn't answer, he'd keep getting these questions about his lack of speech, he figured.
Racking his mind for explanations, he eventually came up with a good one and wrote his answer down.

"Well, when my cartoon was made, I didn't have a voice actor. It was just a silent series of mischief my cartoon counterpart wound up in. By the time I was brought to life, the people around me didn't bother teaching me how to talk."

"Is that why?" Dandy hummed curiously. Pebble barked on his lap, not really understanding what was going on around him.
Toodles perked up. "What if I teached you?"
"Heheh, the word you're looking for is 'taught', Toodles." Dandy held back a laugh.
"Oh, thanks Dandy!"
Bendy's head tilted curiously.

"You want to teach me?"

Toodles nodded her head with a wide, toothy smile. "Yeah! Do you wanna learn? I think it'd be easier for you to talk to us if you could!"
The little devil thought for a moment. He didn't want to take advantage of their gestures of kindness, but on the other hand, he really wanted to be able to just say something, rather than write down his thoughts.

Words could be forgotten. Letters could not. He hated the thought of his written words being immortalized.

Bendy finally made up his mind and wrote his answer.

"Yeah, actually, that sounds good."

Toodles squealed in excitement. "YAY!!! I'll go set up our classroom right now!!" she spun around and scurried out of the room, forgetting that Bendy was still new and not familiar at all with the place. Dandy smiled warmly as he watched the doorway. "I'm happy to see that you're getting along with the other Toons! It's been so long since we've seen anyone new."
Bendy nodded in understanding. Dandy stood up, placing Pebble back down on the floor. "Well, if you ever need anything, I'm always happy to help! Don't be afraid to come to me, okay?"

"Ok"

And with that, Dandy left the room. Pebble, on the other hand, stayed around, staring at the demon. Bendy stared back, his tail swaying side to side.

Pebble blinked. Bendy blinked too.

It was a silent conversation with only their eyes talking. Bendy wasn't sure what they were doing, but he understood they were both curious.

Their contest went on for a good while, Pebble having met his match. Neither of them moved their heads, nor their bodies, with the exception of their tails.

Finally, Pebble let out a bark, and he waddled out of the room, presumably to find Dandy. Bendy blinked a couple of times before letting out a sigh. He worried that he was beginning to lose his mind, having a staring contest with a dog.

***

Bendy walked through the hallway, notepad and pencil in hand. He figured that if he was going to be staying in this place for a while, he'd need to understand the layout of the building. This sanctuary, far away from the Twisteds that he encountered hours ago. A thought crossed his mind; did the Toons know about those monsters below? Or did they already know, and they were somehow fine with their existence?

In a sense, this building operated similarly to his domain. Everyone sought to survive down there, fighting for their lives. It was kill or be killed in that place. There was only one rule in the studio: "beware the Ink Demon". And yet, here he was, under the guise of a Toon. A mimic, a copy of the demon his creator wanted him to be.

He couldn't help but wonder... were the Twisteds just like him?

"Ah, hello."

Bendy tensed up, his tail sticking up in a stiff motion. He turned to look, and in front of the "reception" office, or whatever it was called, was a Toon with a pocket-watch for a head. The clock's hands made up a fancy moustache, and the Toon held his chain like it was a purse. The Toon stared at him with a neutral expression. "You must be Bendy. The new Toon Dandy was telling me about."

For some odd reason, Bendy immediately felt distrustful of this new Toon. Who was he? Why wasn't he at the group meeting in the lobby yesterday? Much to the demon's dismay, the Toon walked closer to him, stopping just within 5 feet. Bendy could appreciate the personal space, at least.
"I know, I wasn't there during the meeting Dandy set up last night. I was busy with other important tasks." The clock Toon smiled, but it wasn't as warm as Dandy's was. Not necessarily cold, but not too welcoming either. It felt like a smile one would give to their new co-worker on their first day. "I should introduce myself. The name is Dyle, Dyle Timesly."

Bendy tilted his head, not sure what to feel about Dyle. He hadn't seen this Toon in any of the posters on the walls so far, and out of all the Toons there, Dyle seemed to appear the most unique, yet he couldn't place why.

Dyle coughed and cleared his throat, his smile dropping. "It's considered rude to stare at people, I'll have you know."
Bendy perked up, almost embarrassed at himself.

"Sorry, I'm still getting used to the Toons around here."

"Ah, that's fair. There's quite a lot of Toons in Gardenview." Dyle's formal smile returned as he continued. "There are even some Toons you won't get to meet until certain events of the year come up!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Have you ever heard of holidays? Like Christmas, Easter, or Halloween?"

Bendy thought for a moment, trying to recall certain episodes from his own cartoons that matched what Dyle was saying. The episodes "Haunted Hijinx" and "Cookie Cookin" came to mind, and Bendy nodded his head.
"Oh, good! Glad I don't sound like an absolute madman right now."

"So, you're telling me there's special Toons for these events?"

Dyle nodded his head, with a faint ticking sound. "Why yes. You won't get to meet them yet, due to them feeling rather uncomfortable when it's not their time of the year. But I assume you're planning to leave, so this doesn't really matter, now does it?"
Bendy tilted his head, curiously.

"How'd you know?"

"I can see it in your eyes. You remind me of a homesick puppy."

Bendy almost felt embarrassed that this Toon could read him like a book. Oh, how he missed the days when ink covered his eyes and made his vision so blurry he relied on cardboard to see.
... Now that he thought about it, he actually preferred the better eyesight.

While in thought, Bendy didn't realize that Dyle moved up closer to him, briefly startling him at the sudden movement.
"I can also see something else about you that the others haven't."
The little devil's tail swished in a nervous manner, betraying Bendy as he tried to maintain a neutral stance.
"Some Toons say that you remind them of a cat. Others say you remind them of a dog."
Dyle's eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowing as he concentrated on Bendy's face.

"But you remind me of something else."

Bendy glared at him. If Dyle was intentionally trying to intimidate him, he'd rather show that he wasn't having it, instead of giving the clock a reaction he wanted.

"What else do you see, Dyle?"

"I don't see cat ears, but rather, horns." Dyle glanced at Bendy's tail, swishing and swaying ever so lively. "I see a pointed tail."
Bendy's own emotions were betraying him; he really didn't want his identity to be revealed so soon.

"You may not be aware of this, but Toons here portray their personalities based on the design they take. Poppy is bubbly, Glisten is vain, Teagan is composed..."
Dyle tilted his head, staring into Bendy's pie-cut eyes. "And so far, I see that you get into trouble quite a bit. Almost like a mischievous troublemaker."
The demon could feel Dyle's breath on his face from the close proximity. He felt increasingly uncomfortable with this conversation.

"Demons get into mischief a lot, don't they?"

Bendy had to mentally restrain himself from throwing a punch right into Dyle's face. All sorts of feelings were swimming in his body; fear, rage, dread, a need to fight, and the need to run.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I can see right through you." Dyle stepped back, generously giving Bendy his personal space. "I won't say a word about this conversation, but just know that I will be keeping an eye on you. My job is to make sure Gardenview is well-taken care of, and if you think I'm going to immediately trust that you won't cause any harm to this place, then you'd be sorely mistaken."

Bendy felt his heart pounding, his body shaking with all the mixed emotions he was experiencing. Dyle pretended not to notice the shaking. "I will leave you be for now. After all, Dandicus appears to like you a lot."
The little devil gave him a confused look.
"Dandicus, as in, Dandy. The flower who welcomed you into our home."

Huh, so Dandy had a full name... Bendy would ponder this later, as for now, Dyle was turning around and leaving. But not without a warning:

"If I find that you've done something to threaten the Toons' livelihood, I will make sure that your time."

He turned around again to glare at the demon.

"Runs."

His glare grew more menacing as red pinpricks briefly appeared in his black pupils.

"Out."

And with that, Dyle walked away, the sound of the elevator buzzing to life shortly after his departure. Bendy let out a shaky breath, feeling the weight of the confrontation on his shoulders. Normally he wasn't scared of anything, given how big of a threat he was back in the studio...

But something about Dyle unnerved him. Maybe it was because Dyle immediately knew what he really was. Now, the threat of Dyle exposing him loomed over his head, and Bendy could do nothing about it as an insignificant Toon.
If he couldn't even fight a Twisted without getting hurt and/or killed, there was no way he could take Dyle on. Not right now, at least.

"Jeez, looks like someone hates you more than Shrimpo."

Bendy flinched, looking around for the source of the new voice. How many Toons were going to ambush him with confrontations today?!
To his surprise, a blue ghost appeared in front of him.
"Heya. Couldn't help but watch that juicy drama, heheh." Connie lazily smiled as she floated without a care in the world. Bendy tensed up, realizing the ghost might've heard everything Dyle said. Connie seemed to pick up on Bendy's unease, and waved her hand dismissively.

"Hey, no need to worry. I won't spill the beans. In fact, I kinda guessed that you were a demon already. It's pretty obvious."

"Really? But everyone else says I'm a cat."

Connie simply shrugged. "Well, duh, they've never seen a demon before. I've seen some pictures, though." she then facepalmed. "Ah, dang. Forgot to introduce myself. Name's Connie. I'm the Toon that said you bullying Shrimpo was funny."
Bendy's face flashed with recognition, and he nodded in response. Connie chuckled, rubbing her hands together in a devious manner. "Say, if you ever wanna prank Shrimpo, you're welcome to ask me for help. I'm known as the local ghost prankster around here."

The demon felt a bit relieved that Connie was indifferent to his identity. He would remain cautious, though, due to the fact that there was still the Ink Demon to account for.
"Well, I gotta get goin'. See ya around, Bendy!"
Bendy waved goodbye as Connie disappeared, likely having gone invisible. The demon let out a quiet sigh, now having to live with the fact that two Toons knew what he was. At least it wasn't Dandy, or Glisten, or Shelly, or Toodles...

Wait, wasn't Toodles preparing to teach him how to talk?

Bendy winced, realizing he was going to have to interact with more Toons today. He glanced at the clock nearby... it was only 10 (presumably in the morning), and he was already tired of everything. Not like time really mattered, either here or in the studio. But it felt ironic that he was mentally exhausted so quickly.

Oh well. With how many Toons were supposedly in this place, he was going to have to get used to communicating with them.

~END OF CHAPTER 4~

Chapter Text

Bendy sat at a table alone, surrounded by other chairs with colours he didn’t know. The ‘kitchen’ area was empty, for the most part. Dishes sat in the cupboards, the stove still smelled of that bacon and eggs stuff he had earlier, and the sink was still wet from being used by previous Toons.

He let out a silent sigh, unsure where to go from here. Toodles would likely come get him when her little classroom is all set up, and he’d rather be in a location where she could easily find him. Plus, he still felt on edge from his confrontation earlier, with that strange ‘Dyle Timesly’.

He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but that clock Toon unnerved him greatly.

While in thought, Bendy’s tail swished and swayed to the tick of the clock hanging from the wall, the rhythmic tick-tocks slowly soothing him. He laid his head on the table, pie-cut eyes growing heavy. Was he always this tired?

Well… what was the harm in taking a quick nap?

Bendy closed his eyes, and let the dark consume his mind once more.

***

“Bendy?”

Bendy winced at the intruding sound in his head.

“Time to wake up, Bendy.”

The little devil tried to roll away from the voice… only to fall off his chair and collapse onto the floor, waking him up with a pained yelp.

“Oh, goodness! I apologize for the rude awakening!”

Bendy let out an annoyed hiss under his breath as he looked up at the intruder.
He was met with a magnifying glass Toon with a single eye, wearing a tuxedo of some sort, and a frilly jabot (that was also a colour Bendy was unfamiliar with).

“I don’t believe I got the opportunity to introduce myself before, during the meeting. My name is Rodger. I’m the Centre’s detective around here.”

“Did you want to ask me something?”

“No, not at all! For now, at least. You’ve met Toodles already, yes?” Rodger asked with a tilt of his head.
Bendy nodded.

“Perfect- she sent me to collect you for her ‘Speaking Class’, as she called it.”
About time, Bendy thought as he stood up. Rodger motioned to the hall in front, leading to the elevator. “This way, Bendy!”

The two went into the elevator, with Rodger pushing a button that closed the door, and Bendy could feel them going down. While waiting, the detective decided to ask at least one question;

“So, Bendy. What exactly are you?”

Bendy tensed up, reminded of Dyle.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just- you don’t look like any other Toon I’ve seen so far.”

“You don’t need to know what I am if I’m gonna be finding a way back home soon.”

“I…” Rodger paused in thought. “Well, we don’t know how long this will take. It’d be nice to know now, for future reference.”
Bendy thought for a moment before coming up with a good enough excuse.

“I’m a deformed cat.”

“Ah, I see..” Rodger squinted before moving on.

The elevator door lifted open, and they were now on… an exactly identical floor to the previous one. Bendy frowned, wondering how these Toons were able to tell which batch of rooms were theirs.

“How do you tell which floors are yours?”

“You get used to it after years of travelling back and forth through the elevators.”
They stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway.

“Where’s Toodles?”

“Ah, right, the classroom. Follow me!” Rodger walked on ahead, which Bendy tried to follow at a reasonable pace… but he noticed very quickly how much faster his walking speed was compared to the detective’s. So, to compensate, he just walked a few steps, stopped for a bit, and then kept walking, rinse and repeat.

Eventually, they reached the classroom, even if it took Bendy a bit more time than necessary. When they entered the room, they found Toodles setting up books on the very small, plastic table. The classroom in question was actually just Toodles’ room, with plastic colourful chairs around said table. It took a while for Toodles to notice him as she excitedly placed children’s books on the table, but when she did, she had a wide smile.

“There you are! Thanks for getting him over here, Rodger!”
“But of course.” Rodger nodded as he took a seat and sat down. Bendy sat down in another seat, although more hesitantly.

The speaking “class” came and went with what felt like the entire day, and even though Bendy barely grasped a lot of what happened, he still felt like he learned a little bit. He still had to understand what the hell “sentences” and “subjects” were. Among a lot of other things.

And of course, why certain words had to be written the exact same way but be pronounced differently! Seriously, why did ‘read’ and ‘read’ have to be written exactly the same but be different depending on how you pronounce it?

In any case, he knew a bit now. Progress!

So, after class was over, he started to walk back to the elevator, before he met a Toon with an oversized light blue hoodie, a big red head and a lazy smile on her face.

“Yo, you’re the new Toon guy, right?”
Bendy nodded. “Mhm.”
“Oh cool, you’re not using your booklet thing.”

“It’s a work in progress. I still have to use this to communicate fully.”

“Aww, was kinda hoping you’d let me have that.”

“Maybe one day.”

“Yeah, one day… whether you expect it or not. Mwehehehe..” She gave him a mischievous look.
Bendy clutched the book close to his chest while his face made an expression of fear.
“Oh relaaaax, I’m not gonna take it… yet. Anywho, you just finished up doin’ your English thing in Toodles’ room, yeah?”
Bendy nodded once again.
“Mhm.”
“Cool! I have a question.”
“Mm?”
“Got any cool stuff?”

Bendy searched his cartoon pockets and picked out the remains of a bandage that he found on one of the floors, which the capsule Toon straight up snatched from him.
“Mwehehe, sweet.” She popped the plastic top of her head and threw the bandage inside before closing it again. Bendy was flabbergasted.

“I have never seen something like that before!”

“What, never had any Toons on your show with the ability to put in or take stuff out of their head?”

“No, never! Most of the Toons I knew were either a gang of misfits, a wolf and that angel.”

“You sound- err- read like you don’t like whoever,” She changed her voice to mimic how she imagined Bendy sounding, “that angel, is.”

“I really don’t.”

The red Toon chuckled while holding her sleeved arms to her face.
“Y’know, for a weird looking cat, I would’ve thought you’d hate the dog Toon more. Since y’know. Cats and dogs hate each other.”

“Like I wrote, wolf. It’s similar, but he’s not that hostile… other than hogging all the food.”

She shrugged. “Well good thing the wolfie’s not here! ‘Cuz uhh… Cosmo would be in trouble.”

“I’m almost scared to ask why.”

“Cosmo is a pastry Toon. Like- like he’s an actual pastry. Food.”

“KEEP HIM AWAY FROM THE WOLF.”

Bendy could picture poor Cosmo getting his head bitten into by that gluttonous canine, and he didn’t like it one bit. Especially since Cosmo helped him.
“Oooo-! I gotta go now, I see some cool stuff! Gotta add to my collection!” She sprinted out of the conversation to go and grab something on the floor that Bendy couldn’t quite see.

Well, at least he could finally go back to the elevator and not deal with a thieving… ball? He didn’t even ask what kind of Toon she was! He also didn’t even ask her name, either… ah well, he could always learn later.

When he got back on his floor, he went straight to Glisten’s room and collapsed on his floor mattress.

Tomorrow was another day.

~END OF CHAPTER 5~