Hope you all had a nice thanksgiving, although I'm pretty late, and happy holidays! I've been pretty busy with school, but here's a chapter for ya!
"(Y/n), why are you smiling like that again?"
The demon broke your train of thought yet again, and you hadn't even realized that you spaced out. It had happened quite a few times since you had returned to the lounge with Bendy. The two of you were on the couch, sitting beside one another.
Looking over to see that Bendy was concerned, you cleared your throat awkwardly. "Erm...sorry, I must've spaced out again." The toon wasn't very convinced with your answer, and his expression made that very clear to you as he frowned.
"You've used that excuse before, and I'm getting pretty tired of hearing it. If something is bothering you, you can just tell me."
Now hearing that was a little alarming, but it would have been even more surprising if the two of you hadn't formed some kind of bond over the last few weeks. It was kind of like an awkward friendship, although neither of you had really announced anything to describe your relationship with the other. You were pretty sure that he saw you as a friend, but oddly enough, he seemed to dislike the idea of making it known to anything else in the studio. You weren't quite sure why, but guessed that he was trying to keep his reputation high.
You sighed heavily, slumping your shoulders as your little smile stayed right where it was on your face. "I was just thinking about the guy I was talking to in that weird room, the one you had taken me to earlier."
Before you dragged out the conversation, you were reminded of what Dale had told you before you left. It probably wasn't a very good idea to tell Bendy about what he had warned you about, and said nothing more.
Bendy was unmoving, and there was a brief moment of silence before he responded. "The lost ones? I wouldn't imagine they had anything too interesting to tell you."
"They were very interesting, and I enjoyed my time there." You objected, frowning at the fact that the toon thought so little of them. "They were more exiting than you had been when you so rudely introduced yourself."
The demon growled, his smile quickly turning into a snarl. "Well excuse me for defending MY territory from an intruder!" He roared, the vibe in the room being so suddenly changed into a violent one. "You may have worked here before, but this place is mine now, sweets!" You sat with your head in your palm, and didn't actually mind the nickname this time around. There were very few times where he would call you something other than your name, but there was never anymore backlash.
Bendy immediately noticed his error and turned to see if you reacted to it at all. Your smile had uncontrollably gotten a little wider, and he internally grinned at that.
Catching yourself before you spaced out again, the notebook on the table quickly caught your attention. You leaned forward and grabbed it, taking the pen beside it as well. There wasn't much in the notebook, just a few drawings of Bendy and Boris. There weren't really any Alice sketches...She was never really your main focus when it came to drawing. Your job had been to sketch out, well, Bendy mostly. Boris was rarely your responsibility to animate, and Alice was never thrown into the mix. If you wanted to get specific about it, then that was it.
Bendy silently watched you draw, moving closer to watch you at a better angle. You didn't mind it, and smiled as his grin grew with the realization that you were drawing him. He was used to being the center of attention, and found it funny when Alice got jealous of his fame all those years ago. Being the center of your attention at the moment made that same sense of pride in himself arise.
The sketch wasn't of his friendly, cartoon self, but rather his more demonic and terrifying form. He watched with both surprise and delight as the picture slowly came together, and before long the whole situation got to a point where you could hardly focus.
It wasn't because of the demon sitting beside you, but rather the way that you had drawn him on the page. Your skills were good...a little too good...
You weren't sure why he was suddenly so attractive to you, but drawing him definitely made it more obvious about how you were feeling. The Ink demon averted his eyes from the page and up to your face, confused as to why you had stopped. You caught his gaze and buried your face in your hands, a light blush on your face.
The constant feeling you got when Bendy had been with you the last few days was almost unbearable by now. You recalled the moments when he had encouraged you to be brave, or when he had made sure that you stayed safe and out of harms way. It definitely had an effect on your emotions, and now you were certain that you liked him a little more than a friend.
Bendy was confused, but suddenly realized what was happening after looking back and forth between the picture and your face a few times.
"I didn't know that was how you felt about me (y/n)~"
Your face grew a hundred times more red, and you didn't look at him. He took the notebook and stood up, holding it up in front of him and grinning at the picture. "It looks exactly like me~" He complemented, purposely making it more known that if you were fangirling over the picture, then you were technically fangirling over him personally.
"S-Shut up and let me finish the picture." You grumbled, trying to hide the blush with a more irritated expression. Bendy saw right through your little act, and held up the notebook tauntingly. "How would you be able to finish it if you can barely look at me without blushing~"
Narrowing your eyebrows, you got up and tried to grab the book from him. The moment your feet touched the ground you knew that every attempt you made would be pointless. He towered over you, and didn't even have to try to hold the notebook away because you barely reached his shoulder to begin with.
"If you can reach it, pipsqueak, then I'll let you have it back."
You let out a groan in annoyance, but tried to reach it anyways. Nothing really worked, and then a really stupid idea came into your head. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to try, or maybe it would, you climbed into the couch and stood on its arm. You were now positioned at a higher angle, but not close enough to him.
Bendy quickly caught on and frowned, taking a few steps away from the couch. "Don't you dare jump from there."
You squinted your eyes, which locked themselves onto the notebook. He was not getting his way again, and this time you were gonna make sure of that.
"Give it back!" You yelled, springing forward off of the couch and lunging forward into the air. Your hands stretched out for the notebook, but realized that either way you would end up on the floor. Bendy reacted almost immediately, dropping the notebook and catching you as your body slammed into his. His arms quickly wrapped around your legs and waist, and you were totally caught off guard by the fact that he dropped the book in order to catch you.
The blow drove him backwards slightly, but he was plenty strong enough to keep himself stable. He didn't let go of you, and you found yourself just staring at him in surprise. Bendy actually started laughing, and you totally disregarded the notebook after that moment. "What the hell (y/n)? Why do you always think of the dumbest solutions to your problems?" He continued to chuckle, and you held your head in your palm again.
"I only think of dumb solutions to the problems that you create."
He grinned wider at your response. Bendy had never genuinely felt this content since the studio shut down. The demon couldn't deny the fact the he loved spending his days with you, everything you did was either so utterly stupid, or pleasantly surprising that it made him laugh.
You couldn't help but laugh at the situation yourself. There was probably a much better way to solve that, but I guess you just weren't thinking.
"Ok, fair, but jumping off the couch? Now you're just trying to hurt yourself!" He laughed, his arms shifting from under you and reminding you that you were still in his arms. Your face went beet red, and you didn't even bother trying to get the notebook on the floor.
"I'll try to listen to my brain next time then." You snipped back, your blushing face now carrying a large smile.
"You'll try? The reason you're even here is because you didn't listen to your brain."
Your eyes shifted up to his grin, which was again much larger and more genuine looking than the forceful one he wore when you met. It was nice knowing that you may have had a friend down here, and you no longer cared if he was the one who imprisoned you in the first place. You knew that you cared about him, and that was all that mattered.