[BATIM/BATDR]A Lonely Sepia Melody

Part 17: The Archives

Later, when the others came to join them, Tom wrenching the metal doors open and Allison skidding into the room, the weight of Charlie's chin against Bonzy's head had increased significantly. Bonzy themself, was eyeing the pool of ink at the back of the room with a crease of a smile on their forehead. Allison quickly stepped up to the duo, hand slightly raised and confusion written, or drawn, across her inky features.

"Wh- what happened here?" Bonzy let a huff of a snicker leave their battered throat. They'd yelled a fair amount about an hour ago, yelled themself quite silly, in their opinion. Charlie had simply sat next to them, a hand gripping vice around Bonzy's as silent comfort. Bonzy loathed to admit it, but they were glad it was Audrey and not Charlie. Something about losing Charlie always felt... final, in a choking way.

Bonzy turned their head, the brim of their hat raising slightly to squint up at Allison, "Trio-turned-duo, no more world-tours for us, Miss Allison. Turns out when you keep on truckin' there's gonna be a bigger man to blow out your tires."

"I don't understand."

Bonzy narrowed their eyes slightly more, roving them back to that ink pool. It was flickering slightly, unsettled. Maybe, if the Ink was ever still, that would be more to worry about. Still didn't mean Bonzy was down with any form of the Ink. Not when the threads were ruined for, quite possibly, ever, and a friend had been eaten by something that was supposed to be inanimate. But down here in good ol' Joey's hellscape? Everything that was supposed to stay on paper came animated in from of their eyes.

"Audrey is dead. Ink Wils- Wilson is dead but we're still here. Something went wrong." A brief and humorless smile crossed Bonzy's face as they dragged their eyes away from the slick liquid. "Charlie's passed out and I'm buggin' out in the corner of this room so clearly..."

Bonzy hadn't ever been so still in their life, sitting there against that wall with Charlie using them as a sleeping post. They hated being still. It was like holding a spring down.

"...we're gonna have to do a little reviving revising of Joey's work."

Their fingers traced the tape reel that still sat deep in their pocket, as it had been there since Bonzy's dumpster dive in Downtown. They felt the ridges of old words scribbled on the face of the reel and decided they might have to edit the reel.

As it wasn't The End just yet.