Just a Happy Ending

Buddy's New Truth

Henry heard the door close, followed by the gentle padding of oversized wolf feet. He stood from the table and waited.

Boris rounded the corner, his arms full of soup cans. He smiled at Henry. When the man hesitated to return the gesture, the wolf's gaze lowered to the papers on the table. His ears drooped along with his shoulders as his eyes stretched wide.

Henry sighed, "So it's true. You're Daniel Lewek."

Buddy shrank in on himself, hugging the soup cans like they were his last line of defense.

"It's alright, Buddy. I'm not mad. I don't blame you for anything, either. I just..." Henry rubbed at his mouth, "I always thought there was-... s-something more h-human-..." his voice broke.

Boris set down the soup cans and gingerly stepped toward Henry.

"Y-you were just a kid," Henry lamented, his eyes misting, "You didn't deserve any of this. I could never save you...."

Buddy reached for Henry. Henry lurched forward and wrapped the wolf in a hug, "I'm sorry, Buddy. I'm so sorry."

Buddy stiffened. Slowly, after a few seconds, he exhaled and returned the hug. Henry felt him start to shake, so just held him. He figured the boy needed it.

He also made a silent promise.

Alice would not take him. Buddy would not die this cycle. Not again.

Yes, some things were constant in the cycles.

But this wasn't going to be one of them.

He'd do what he could as many times as he had to until Buddy escaped the tainted angel's clutches.

He didn't realize his grip was tightening until Buddy tapped his shoulder. "Wha-? Oh, sorry about that." 

Buddy rubbed his eyes and smiled. A small, genuine, and hopeful smile. Henry returned it.

The two sat down and were quickly lost in conversation. Henry was patient with the slower written responses, something Buddy was thankful for.

Buddy talked about how he'd survived in the studio and his internal struggle with Boris. [He's definitely here,] he'd written, [it's like two minds in one body. I had control for a long time, but then it was like he slowly leaked over me until I was kicked into the back seat. I'm not really sure what it was that put me back in control, but I'm glad for it.]

"You mentioned having to outrun the Ink Demon on occasion?"

[Yes. The Miracle Stations have been literal lifesavers. They never fooled Sammy, though.]

"Sammy chased you?"

[Well... no. But yes?] Buddy scratched his head with the end of his pen. [It's complicated. I never knew what to do about him. Sometimes he'd leave me alone and other times he'd run after me with an axe.] He paused before writing again. [I've seen him cut down other Borises and throw them to the Machine.]

Henry sighed, "Is that why you were so wary when I brought him in?"

[Yes. I wasn't sure who either of you-] He stopped, then crossed out the phrase. [I felt like I knew who you were even though I'd never seen you before. At least, I don't think I've seen you before.]

Henry's brow lowered.

Buddy added more. [It's strange, really. I've been getting deja-vu all day today. It hit really hard when I found you.]

Henry set the paper down, "The cycles."

Buddy's head tilted.

"Oh boy. Okay, how to explain this? We, er specifically, I, have been stuck in a time loop. It's all part of some kind of sick game Joey invented to get revenge on me for leaving."

The pen scribbled. [The blips.]

"The what?"

The reply took a while. [It's like this recurring dream I've been having. It's not exactly a dream but it's also the closest thing I can think of. Like, when you wake up and you know you had a dream but can't remember what it was about. All of this felt familiar but at the same time, I knew it shouldn't have. But since you mentioned the cycles, I do remember that, in those not-dreams, there were times the whole world kind of... stuttered. Blipped. I remember those.]

Henry read it twice. He'd wondered what his dying and coming back felt like to the rest of the world. After all, every time it happened, he was fairly certain time itself had been cranked backward. So apparently this is how it felt. Like stutters. Blips. And it was something Buddy remembered. "Do you remember anything at all in the cycles? Do you remember what happened in the last one?"

Buddy started to shake his head, then stopped. He thought for a moment, then picked up the pen again. [Darkness.]

"I... see."

A few seconds of silence passed. Buddy jotted down a question. [Do you know what caused them? The blips?]

Henry sighed. "I... didn't always play the game perfectly. I sometimes lost the fights. Or didn't run fast enough."

Buddy's head tilted. His expression asked the implication, but he wrote it anyway, [You died?]

A small nod. "Though, this swirling ink tunnel always brought me back at these statues of Bendy, healed and oblivious to the fact I'd died in the first place."

Henry folded his hands together and thought aloud. "Whenever I'd come across those statues, I'd look at them and my vision would get blurry for a second. I think that's what... marks time, I guess? So then later, if I died, I'd come back at the time I set the marker. And, even if I was hurt when I set the marker, I'd be healed after the resurrection.

"And it makes a bit of sense, I guess. I know that the ink can heal and apparently Joey found a way to make it literally turn back time. I just didn't know you remembered them. Or, were aware of them, at least."

Buddy listened intently. He set the tip of his pen to the paper, paused, started a stroke, paused again, then finally wrote, [Does it still work?]

Henry's eyes widened slightly. "I... don't know." If Joey really was the one who triggered the resurrections, would they? Did Bendy know how to trigger them?

Or, did they just... happen? Like some kind of independent thing Joey didn't have to directly control?

"If they did still work," Henry tapped his chin, "then having a nifty little 'turn back time' trick might be a useful thing to have. Or, at least, be aware of."

Buddy gave him a 'Why would you entertain that idea?' look.

Henry tried to laugh, "It wouldn't be intentional. And I don't exactly plan on testing it."

[Can we change the subject?] Buddy wrote.

"Ah. Yes." Henry dragged over a clean sheet of paper and passed a pencil to Buddy. "How about a drawing lesson?"

Buddy's whole complexion lit up.

Henry Stein, giving him a drawing lesson!?

His tail wagged and thumped against the chair legs as he gave a happy yip! of gratitude.

Henry laughed, "I'll take that as a 'yes.'"