✔️Ink Bendy x Reader - Alone Within the Ink #Wattys2019

End to the Endless

7/30/19

You sat comfortably on the couch in the lounge. Some candles were alight, and the TV was playing a program quietly in the background. It had been so long, so terribly long since you had set foot in the room, it almost seemed forbidden to even be there.

But no matter how surreal it felt to finally be back in the lounge after all this time, everything was the same as before. The atmosphere, the lights, the sounds, everything. You and Bendy were together, sharing the space once more. The warmth had come rushing back as soon as the two of you walked through the door.

You guys didn't really plan on staying there for too many days, though. There were still a lot of loose ends to tie up and a lot of unfinished business to check up on in the studio. The two of you just needed some time to relax and be together after being separated for such a dreadfully long time. Once you guys were at ease once more, you and Bendy agreed that you would go tie up the loose ends in the studio. Until then, in the lounge you two would stay.

"Are you ready to try again?" You asked Bendy quietly. A thin stack of sketchbook papers were resting in your hands.

He nodded quickly, anxious to continue with the lessons.

"Do you want me to help you through it?"

Again, he nodded.

You picked a random paper from the small pile. "Okay, let's do this one." Looking at the paper, you found the word "love" written on it in pen, the same pen you used earlier. You then turned the page around so Bendy could read it.

He eyed the paper blankly for a few seconds, staying quiet as he carefully studied the word. When he was at a loss for pronunciation, you started to help him. You sounded out the L sound, and you watched as Bendy's mouth moved as he slowly copied you. The process of mimicking sounds continued until you helped the demon through the entire word.

"Love." You started when he finished getting through the word.

"L.... Lo....ve...." Bendy finished.

"Yes, yes!" You cheered. "See? You're getting the hang of this!" Leaning towards him, you placed a kiss on his cheek as a congratulations for getting through another word.

You were ecstatic when you had first heard the demon speak back at the Ink Machine, but you noticed that after he changed back, after his smile changed, and after all crazed emotions left his body, leaving him calm and natural once again, he lost the ability to speak freely. You figured that his temporary psychotic state had triggered something in his mind, giving him the ability to speak so long as his craziness stayed.

So, ever since you and Bendy got back to the lounge after explaining everything to Henry at the Ink Machine lair and then further leaving the machine, you had been helping Bendy try to speak again. It had taken a while to figure out exactly how to get his mouth to move, but once it did, things got easier. Much easier. His voice was also calmer and more relaxed, sounding nowhere near as psychotic and distorted as it was when he was still insane. It was much nicer and soothing to listen to.

When you finished placing a quick peck to his cheek, you pulled away only for the demon to pull you right back into him. Now that his mouth was able to move, he was able to kiss you properly, though he always fluctuate between actually kissing you and using ink hearts. It depended on his mood and the occasion, you found out.

You giggled into the kiss as the two of you tilted your heads. The kiss was short, sweet, and simple. He slowly dragged his tongue across your lower lip, sending a shiver down your spine. He chuckled into the kiss when you shuddered against him. When Bendy pulled away, he placed a small ink heart onto the tip of your nose.

Laughing, you playfully pushed him away as you sat up straight, taking the papers back into your hands. "I love you, Bendy. You know that?" You smiled at him.

He nodded in response as his smile grew slightly larger.

"So, what to try another word?"

This time, however, Bendy shook his head.

"Oh, okay then." You replied. "We can take a break. I'll go get a drink, then." As you were about to get up, Bendy grabbed your wrist and shook his head, pointing for you to sit back down. Tilting your head quizzically, you obliged and waited to see what it was he wanted.

You saw him take a breath as he fiddled with his fingers, avoiding eye contact. You waited patiently, your eyes widening at what he began to do. Rather, what he began to say. "I.... L-Love.... Y.... You...."

Bendy then looked up to look you in the eye as he repeated himself, this time with more confidence. "I love you."

Tears of joy sprang to your eyes. "Oh, Bendy! You did amazing! I love you too!" You crashed into him, hugging the tall inky demon. He hugged you back, placing a small ink heart to your forehead affectionately. This is how things were supposed to be, always meant to be. You and Bendy had never felt better, never had a stronger connection together.

~~~~~~~~

"Henry? So soon?" His old voice croaked out. "I didn't expect you for another hour yet. Now you're just trying to impress me. I know, I know. You have questions. You always do!"

"The only important question is this: Who are we, Henry?" He finished messing with the dishes in the sink. "I thought I knew who I was.... But the success starved me. Nothing left but lines on a page."

"In the end, we followed two different roads of our own making. You, a lovely family. Me, a crooked empire. And my road burned. I let our creations become my life." He hung his head down over the sink in defeat.

"The truth is, you were always so good at pushing, old friend. Pushing me to do the right thing. You should have pushed a little harder." He grumbled.

He turned around, placing his hands on the counter as he now faced old his friend. "Henry, come visit the old workshop. There's something I need to show you." He motioned to the door on his left, Henry's right.

Henry turned and approached the door, slowly turning the knob. He just barely cracked it open when Henry stopped. And the second he did, the second the knob stopped twisting, the second the door and its hinges stopped moving, everything else stopped as well.

Time completely stopped. It flowed no more. Not a single thing moved further, not a single sound traveled more. The flow of time had stopped completely, trapping everything with it. Yet nobody noticed, nobody had the slightest feeling that time had stopped. The world had completely broken, the world stood still. And all of a sudden, as movements and sounds came flooding back in a loud, rushing blur, it was as if a record scratched back into a resume. As if a reel continued to wind once more.

Henry quickly shut the door in front of him, not even seeing what rested on the other side as many memories came rushing back to him. Many of them the same, and many of them different, he even received different outcomes to the same scenario. And everything took place in there, in the place he knew resided behind the door he just shut. He saw it every single time, the same thing every single time.

Well, not anymore.

"Y'know," Henry's tired voice began, "I don't think I'm in the mood anymore. I'm just going to head home." And with that, Henry said goodbye to Joey and left the apartment.

Whether anyone else felt it or not wasn't a concern, but Henry felt it. The rip in the flow of time, how the world stopped moving for a brief moment. The sudden halt in the flow of time when he changed his mind.... There was only one explanation.

The loop had been broken.

~A perfect end. The end.~