#why'd you make such a henry song HUH

[yrsonpurpose]

Comfort — Nicholas Galitzine

[queenofcats17]

The Ink Demonth 1

Today's theme is Nostalgia

===============================================

"Grandpa Henry!!"

Henry looked up from the book he'd been reading to see his granddaughter Ruth bounding toward him, waving a framed picture in her hand.

"What've you got there?" He asked as she scrambled into his lap.

"It's a picture!" Ruth proclaimed proudly, handing the photo over to Henry. "I found it in the box Gramma and Mama were going through!"

"Is that so?" Henry murmured, looking over the photograph.

It was a photograph from the opening of the studio, old enough that the paper was beginning to yellow. Linda had told him that she and Sarah would be going through some of the old boxes in their attic, but he hadn't expected they would come upon things from his studio days.

"Gramma said that's you!" Ruth said, pointing to the younger Henry standing in the middle of the group.

"She's right, that is me," Henry confirmed. "I looked pretty different back then, huh?"

"Not really." Ruth gave a little shrug. "You're just more wrinkly now."

Henry stifled a snort. Well, she wasn't wrong.

"Did Gramma point out anyone else to you?" He asked.

"Mm-hm." Ruth nodded, pointing to Joey. "She said that's Mr. Joey. She said you started the studio with him."

Henry's smile grew sad. "I... did start the studio with him."

The ache in his heart when he thought of Joey had lessened considerably over the years, but every so often he still felt that twinge. A part of him still missed his old friend, even after all this time. The sight of Joey's young, smiling face brought back old memories of the two of them crouched over a table together, excitedly workshopping ideas. Those memories were fond ones.

It was a pity those good times had ended so soon.

"Why'd you leave if you made it with him?" Ruth looked back at him. "Weren't you friends?"

"Sometimes friendships don't work out, honey," Henry said gently, patting Ruth's head. "Joey and I just... weren't a good fit for each other. Working with him made me very unhappy."

Ruth frowned, turning her attention back to the photograph.

"That's really sad," she concluded. "I'd be sad if me and my best friend didn't get along anymore."

"Well, it does happen sometimes," Henry said. "And it's always sad when it does. But you can always make new friends. Or hold onto some of the old ones. Like him." He pointed to Wally. "You remember him?"

Ruth's frown deepened as she narrowed her eyes to scrutinize Wally's younger face. Finally, she sighed dramatically and flopped back against Henry.

"I can't tell," she announced. "Who is he, Grandpa?"

Henry couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I guess he's probably got a lot more hair here," he said. "But this is Wally."

Ruth gasped, sitting straight up. "Funny shirt man!"

"Yes, funny shirt man," Henry laughed.

Ever since the photo Wally had sent them the year before, Ruth had referred to Wally exclusively as "funny shirt man" due to the Hawaiian shirt he'd been wearing in the photograph.

"He's not bald here!" Ruth exclaimed, pointing to Wally's younger self.

"Come on, he's got some hair," Henry playfully chided her.

"Yeah, but not a lot," Ruth said, rolling her eyes. "He's got way more here!" She pointed at the cloud of hair spilling out from under Wally's paperboy hat.

"Alright, alright, you're right," Henry conceded.

Ruth straightened up a bit, clearly pleased at having "won" the argument.

"Anyone else you're curious about here, honey?" Henry asked.

"Mmmm..." Ruth screwed her face up in thought as she scanned the line of faces. "Who's this?" She pointed to Sammy, who was, of course, standing right beside Jack.

"That is Sammy," Henry said. "And right beside him is Jack. They made the music for the cartoons. They're the ones who wrote Sheep Songs."

"Did they write Lonely Angel too?" Ruth asked. "That one's really pretty."

"Probably, but I wasn't there for that."

Ruth looked a bit disappointed that he didn't have any special insights about the song but bounced back quickly.

"Was Sammy scary?" She asked. "He looks scary."

"He definitely was a little scary." Henry tried not to wince. "Jack kept him from being too bad most of the time but he could definitely be... intense."

"And who's that?" Ruth pointed at Norman, predictably on the outskirts of the group, smiling at the camera as though he knew something they didn't.

"That is Norman," Henry said. "He ran the projectors and probably knew every secret in the studio."

Ruth let out a little gasp, immediately turning to look at Henry with wide eyes. "What kinda secrets?" She asked, her voice hushed with awe.

Henry smiled apologetically. "Sorry, honey. I never asked."

Ruth flopped dramatically back against him again. "You're so boring, Grandpa!"

"I know, I'm so sorry." Henry ruffled her hair.

Ruth let out an adorably beleaguered sigh, resting her head against Henry's chest.

"Did you like working with them?" She asked after a moment or two.

"Hm?"

"Did you like working with them?" Ruth repeated. "The people in the picture."

Henry paused before answering with a nod. "I did."

"If you liked it, then why did you leave?" There was no judgment in Ruth's eyes as she looked up at him. Just curiosity.

"I told you, honey, Joey and I didn't work well together," Henry patiently reminded her. "Working there wasn't good for me."

"Not good for you how?" Ruth tilted her head to the side.

"A good partnership involves a good balance of giving and taking," Henry explained, setting the photo aside and shifting Ruth so he could gesture better. "If one person is asking the other for more work than they're doing themselves, then that's not a good partnership. And Joey was asking for me to do more work than he was doing himself."

"That doesn't seem fair," Ruth concluded.

"It wasn't." Henry smiled sadly. "Which was why I had to leave."

Ruth seemed to consider this for a moment before giving a little nod.

"Okay, I get it," she said. "Can we have a snack now? I'm hungry."

Henry chuckled, easing himself up from the chair with Ruth cradled in one arm.

"Of course, sweetie. Now, what are you in the mood for?"

.

"...Could you tell me what this place used to be like?"

Henry looked up from the locker he'd been rifling through.

"This place?" He gestured around them.

"Or, well, the original studio," Audrey corrected, shifting a bit. "...I was always kind of curious what it was like working here back in the day."

Henry was silent for a moment, turning his attention back to the locker.

"I was only there a year, so I can't tell you much," he said. His voice was quiet. Audrey had noticed he always got rather quiet when the studio or Joey got brought up.

"That's another thing I always wondered about," Audrey said with a frown. "You helped start the studio. Why quit after only a year?"

Henry let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping. "Are you sure you want to hear about this?" He glanced back at her, a weary and defeated look in his eyes. "It's not a very happy story."

"I want to hear it," Audrey insisted.

Henry let out another sigh, closing the locker. "Alright. If you're sure." He turned to face her, walking over to lean on the railing that overlooked the main area of the Demon's Rest. "It was always a bit... chaotic. Joey was a man of ideas, but only ideas. Execution was never his strong point. He'd come up with the ideas and then expect you to make them a reality."

"If it was like that, then why did you start the studio with him in the first place?" Audrey leaned on the railing next to him.

"I didn't know it was going to be like that." A hint of annoyance entered Henry's voice. "I didn't find that out until the studio was up and running." His shoulders hunched as he stared down at the Lost Ones milling around. "I thought it would be different. I thought we would be partners."

"But you... weren't?" Audrey frowned slightly.

"We weren't," Henry confirmed. "Instead, I gave and gave and gave, and all he did was take."

Audrey shifted uncomfortably. "That sounds... hard."

"It was." Henry gave a short nod. "That's why I only lasted a year. I couldn't stand it anymore. I can't stand doing all the work while he reaped all the benefits. And that's not even counting all the times he'd suddenly spring deadlines on us and expect us to work through the night to get it done." For a moment, absolute fury flashed across his features before it was replaced with bone-deep weariness. "It was exhausting. He was always asking so much."

"...Why do you think the others didn't leave?" Audrey asked. If conditions were that bad, why didn't everyone leave? Why had Henry been the only one to go?

"I mean, it was the Depression," Henry said with a rueful laugh. "Not a lot of other places were hiring."

"Oh, right." She'd almost forgotten that the studio had been founded during the Great Depression.

...That did explain why most hadn't left. Where else would they have gone?

"Do you... regret leaving?" Audrey tentatively asked.

"No," Henry answered without a second thought.

"Never?" Audrey raised an eyebrow. "But, you loved Bendy, didn't you? You helped make him. Didn't you miss these characters? Didn't you miss some of your coworkers?"

"I did," Henry said. "But that was before Joey did this." He gestured around them. "Now... I'm more sure than ever that leaving was the best choice I ever made."

Audrey fell silent, looking away from Henry. "I'm... sorry. That he did this to you," she said after a moment.

"Let's just get going." Henry pushed off of the railing and began to walk away.

"...Right..." Audrey nodded, falling into step behind him.

[chuuyas--boo]

BIRTHDAY FIC FOR MY BEANNNNN

(short ish?)

An: I APOLOGIZE IF I SLAUGHTER ANYONE'S PERSONALITY ESPECIALLY LUCIAN'S @onesheart101

"Rileyyy~! Wake upp!" Lucian said in a sing-song voice, gently shaking the ginger. Riley blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the light and sat up, looking at the fluffy, white haired boy who was smiling, showing his little fangs. "Happy birthday~!" Riley tilted her head, her ginger hair messy from sleep and hadn't been brushed yet, fell into her face. "Birthday..?" "Did you forget?!" Riley hesitated and nodded. "I never really knew when it was..." "ahh! Don't worry about it!" Lucian grabbed her hands and led her out of the room.

Riley ran her hand through her hair, smoothing it out the best she could without brushing it and looked at Lucian. "What're we-"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY~!" Eddie and George cheered in unison as they both jumped out from behind furniture.

"Yooo! Happy birthday!" Carl chirped, jumping up as well, Eddie shot him a glance as the three boys ran over to Riley and hugged her.

Riley stood between the four; Lucian, Eddie, George and Carl, blushing heavily from embarrassment, surprised anyone would've remembered.

"Wait... where's Al? Do you know where he is?" Riley asked, eyes gleaming with concern.

"Nopeeee!"

"Nu-uh!"

George giggled when Riley's face turned bright red, as hands gently grabbed her waist. "A-Albert!"

Tears started to well in her eyes, not because she was sad, infact it was quite the opposite, she was extremely happy.

"H-hey! What the hell're you crying for? You're gonna ruin the day before we've even done anything if you start crying idiot!"

Riley turned and hugged Albert, who in turn blushed heavily.

"Crying? Hey what's wrong?!"

"Did we do something wrong...?"

"N-no! Ahh, sorry.. It's just I've never had my birthday celebrated before..and didn't expect anyone to remember."

Albert gently wiped the tears running down Riley's cheek and hugged her tightly.

"Shoo! We've gotta decorate!!"

Riley glanced at Lucian and giggled quietly, then went to go change. She changed into a white dress, and brushed out her hair.

❀

Each of the Bros and Lucian took turns doing things with Riley.

Carl played video games with her, George played murder with her, she, Eddie and Lucian had gone outside and ran around and played in the yard, Albert played piano for her,...and now she sat wearing a flower crown in the yard, watching the dogs.

"I haven't seen Henry at all today, that's weird...whatever!" She giggled to herself, knowing Henry had left her, and everyone else alone all day.

Suddenly a darker thought crossed her mind. She hadn't seen any of her family, of course they were dead, but the thought still bothered her.

"Riley...you scared me...it hurt... why'd you do that? It hurt a lot... why'd you kill Lexi and momma, and daddy too...?"

Tears started running down her cheeks, and she started shaking violently, sobbing.

"S-SHUT UP! I HAD TO! THEY WERE GONNA–...I had to..." Riley's voice shook as she spoke, not to anyone in particular, there wasn't actually anyone there.

"You didn't have to do it...Momma could've just stayed in jail, you didn't have to kill Lexi or daddy either...so why'd you do it?"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I HAD TO! I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Riley's hands slowly balled into fists, holding the skirt of her dress in her fists.

"You always have a choice Riley."

"No I don't...they needed to die by my hands, not anyone else's. I had to be the one to do it... or else it would've hurt them more..." Riley's gaze fixed on a pale, ghostly figure deeper in the forest and her heart sank, it was Jack. She'd seen him...or his ghost at least before, but it seemed different, he seemed angry.

"Anyway...Happy birthday." The pale figure slowly faded out of view

"WAIT NO! JACK–" It was too late, the ghostly figure was gone. "god I'm so horrible and stupid..."

"Rileyyy~!.... Riley!"

Riley glanced back to the house, and noticed George standing at the door, wiping her face, she ran back towards the house, the dogs followed her.

"We need y– Heyyy! Why were you crying? Who were you yelling at?

Noticing the resemblance between George and her dead brother, Riley stood there silent, the resemblance was sickening, she loved them but they looked a little too similar.

"I wasn't crying..don't worry about it."

George looked up at her, blue eyes shining with worry but he grabbed her hand "Close your eyes!" Riley sighed, closing her eyes and then the two of them went inside.

"Don't peakkkk!"

"I'm not!"

Riley could hear Eddie's giggle, the one she'd heard so many times before, Eddie whispered something but Riley couldn't make it out, but she heard Albert's name and assumed Eddie was talking to his older brother.

"Open your eyes!"

Riley hesitated for a moment before slowly opening her eyes, once she did she gasped.

"Y-you guys– You guys didn't have to do all this!"

"Tch...Yes we did! It's your birthday, idiot!"

Riley still looked shocked, the entire bottom floor was decorated.

Lucian ran downstairs, carrying a box with holes in it.

Riley choked on her emotions, unable to speak.

Albert walked over to her, using up all his confidence, picked her up and held her close to his chest.

Riley's face flushed deep red as Albert held her.

"Heyyy! Put her downnn! We gotta hug her!"

Albert glanced at George and just rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath and then missed Riley on the cheek. Riley's face turned a darker shade of red and she shut her eyes, flustered.

Letting out a small huff, Albert put Riley down, everyone else ran over and hugged her, Lucian handed her the box, which shook a little.

"You did not...I- no...YOU GUYS DIDN'T, DID YOU?!"

"Hehe~! Open it and find out!"

Riley sat on the floor, with the box on her lap and carefully untied the ribbon, took the top off and gasped. There was a white puppy in the box with a blue ribbon loosely tied around its neck in a bow. Riley grabbed the puppy and hugged it, tears started to slowly toll down her face again, but she wasn't sad anymore.

Unable to speak, Riley say there, hugging the puppy, who licked her.

"I– I don't know what to say...THANK YOUUU!"

The brothers giggled, Albert looked at her fondly. "I'm glad she's happy..."

"I guess you like it huh~?"

Riley nodded. "Hehe~ Good! Marigold and I picked her well then!" Lucian looked proud of himself while Eddie nervously fiddled with his scarf.

Shanon came into the room, looking at Riley worriedly, she had heard Riley yelling outside, but was relieved to see the girl smiling.

"We have some more gifts for you dear!"

Riley looked up at Shanon, shocked. "R-really?!"

"Yep yep! Lots of em!"

❀

The rest of the day felt like a dream, Riley had finally had a proper birthday.