#i’m fucking so sorry to all banjo players. DO NOT!!!! look at that banjo too closely ☺️
Note
Hi! Art request here -- could you draw Peter playing his banjo? Wearing beads? Thanks so much!
peber and his banjo 💖
#i’m fucking so sorry to all banjo players. DO NOT!!!! look at that banjo too closely ☺️#peter tork#the monkees#rhubarb asks#another monkees drawing prompt!
72 notes
·
View notes
Text
ok. samwell college of music au. i wrote all four years let's go babey
eric bittle is this lovely southern tenor (sounds kinda like mitch grassi or ben j pierce) who posts covers (& sometimes originals, but always with neutral or no pronouns because he can't post anything that says he or him ☹) on his youtube channel and has major stage fright but is very talented; he also plays ukulele
he got into samwell college of music on a voice scholarship and his dad doesn’t exactly approve but eric was never the 6′2″ masculine football player he wanted anyway so why not go for his dreams
he auditions for the very competitive samwell men’s contemporary chorus (there’s like 20 choirs; chamber choir, jazz choir, a cappella groups (lax bros do a cappella), combined choirs, etc- smcc does contemporary pop/rock music) and while he’s very very nervous and shaky as he auditions, directors hall & murray see a lot of potential in him (with major grumbling from student director jack)
(the rest of this ridiculously long au under the cut)
the group is small, for a chorus, because the point of the group is not a wall of sound but a focus on all of the very talented guys’ voices coming together in these gorgeous harmonies and basically they’re like one of the best choruses on campus and all the male singers want in
so there’s jack zimmermann, who of course eric knows because everyone knows who he is, he’s the son of bob and alicia zimmermann, both incredibly talented and famous musicians, and basically those genes were in his favor because he’s mega fucking talented
(jack was supposed to sign a recording contract to be in a band with his best friend kent parson when he was 17 but something happened between them and the pressure was too much and jack overdosed on something- there’s so many rumors no one knows what’s real- and kent signed solo in LA & went on to win grammys for his albums about a mysterious ex and jack disappeared for a few years to be a counselor at a music camp and reappears at samwell, knocking everyone’s socks off again like he’d never left, except with a renewed vigor and intenseness that freaks everyone out)
jack is a contemporary writing & production major, freaky talented and sings like a modern day frank sinatra, and he plays like 20 instruments and can read music like breathing air and writes songs like if he stopped he’d die; his music is folksy and mournful and he plays all the instruments on his tracks himself- guitar, piano, strings, drums- it sounds like a full band but nope. just jack. he’s intense
“we all get nicknames in this choir,” justin informs eric on his first day, “we’re those kinda guys.” so he’s bitty, which he finds vaguely offensive (bc he’s not that short!) but still cute, & the rest of the group is introduced to him:
“shitty” knight (voice like colyer) is a musical education major and an enigma of a singer with this awesome, earthy, raspy voice that’s really interesting to listen to and a very.... unique style & look; he writes cheesy but shockingly good raps about social justice topics and he will sing-lecture you if you’ve said something offensive (he also plays banjo)
justin “ransom” oluransi is a music business & management major with an angelic voice you can’t help but listen to; he’s sultry and has an incredible range and does runs like nobody’s business (with a voice like daniel caesar or leslie odom jr UGH)
adam “holster” birkholtz is a voice performance major, wants to be on broadway and it’s all he ever goddamn talks about basically, he’s a belter and has a lot of charisma and starpower and he’ll charm the pants off of you within one note; can also play piano and irritates everyone constantly because his regular volume is like a level 11 (voice like the frontman of my brothers and i combined w/ x ambassadors lead singer)
larissa “lardo” duan is at the local art institute because performing arts is not her jam and she’d much rather paint; she’s a barista at annie’s and supervises open mic nights and keeps the annoying choir dudes from driving away all her patrons
“i’m not even in your dumbass choir,” she says when the group gave her her nickname. holster just told her that she was an honorary member and then started sing-shouting a song at her about how good she is
bitty’s first year is hard because he’s talented and he works hard but he shies away when anyone asks him to sing outside the group and like, he can sing to a camera by himself but being on a stage with everyone looking at you and the sole responsibility of the song on your shoulders is terrifying and no thanks
jack does not. understand this. he’s been performing practically since he came out of the womb and he doesn’t really get performance nerves (what he gets is anxiety about how he did after he gets off stage that follows him home and makes it so he can’t sleep) - so he bothers bitty about it constantly like “you just need practice, you just have to sing by yourself a lot and then you’ll get over it” which like.... that’s true but it’s also hella scary and bitty’s like “no thanks!!!!”
but jack’s annoying and intense so he makes bitty do open mic with him every saturday night and it’s going okay and bitty loves his choir and loves his school and these new friends he’s making and he finally feels comfortable enough to come out to them during his second term
then during their spring choral showcase at the end of his freshman year bitty has a solo and he’s worked really hard on it and he’s feeling good- okay he’s completely freaked out but he’s trying to feel good- but when he gets up on stage there’s so many people and the stage lights are so hot on his face and he flips out a little and maybe he passes out from anxiety and stress right on stage and it’s terrible and he’s so embarrassed and ashamed that he ruined their set at the showcase
of course jack blames himself because “we shouldn’t have given you a solo before you were ready, i misjudged it, i’m sorry” - and they all feel kinda bad bc holy fuck they didn’t know his stage fright was that bad like they didn’t know someone could pass out just by being anxious to sing
he practices all the time over the summer and goes to his local open mic at jack’s insistence and it actually helps a lot because instead of a sea of strangers judging him it’s a bunch of people he knows and they’re all smiling at him and when he finishes his song they cheer for him and it boosts his self-confidence a lot
his sophomore year they have three new members- chris ”chowder” chow (voice like ieuan), an excitable music education major with impressive rapping skills, derek "nursey" nurse (frank ocean or leon bridges type), a songwriting major who can also play violin and guitar, and will ”dex” poindexter (like tom west), a production & engineering major who tried out with chowder bc he needed moral support and didn't expect to get in but impressed the directors with his voice
the year’s going pretty good, bitty’s still pretty scared of singing alone but more confident now and the open mic nights with jack haven’t stopped, so he’s getting better. and one night they’re hanging out at annie’s after closing waiting for lardo to be done so they can walk her home, and bitty suggests that jack sing with him one of these nights, and jack says he doesn’t know any of bitty’s songs and bitty says they can write one together half jokingly but then jack is like “yes.” with that Intense Look
SO they get together a couple days later in jack’s room at the house they all live in together (bitty moved in at the beginning of the year after previous smcc member john johnson called him- how’d he get his number?- and told him he could take his room if he wanted), jack with his guitar and bitty with his ukulele, and it’s a little awkward until bitty says jack should play him one of his songs
and, okay, he doesn’t really know what to expect because the only music jack ever released to the public was that one single he did with kent parson when they were 17 so bitty doesn’t even know if he has anything to play him, but he does- he starts playing these soft, sad notes on the guitar and opens his mouth and sings about being lonely and scared and unsure, about false starts and shaky ground and not knowing where you stand with someone, about expectations and lying awake at night and wishing so hard you were someone else, and bitty watches him sing and just kind of... realizes he’s head over heels for this boy and internally Freaks Out a little
he tries to put that aside and they start to write this song, at first it’s weird because jack’s like “all your songs are love songs i can’t really relate to happy love songs” and bitty’s like “listen... i’ve never even had a boyfriend i just write a bunch of sappy love stuff because it’s not about me it’s about whoever’s listening to it, they’re gonna project their own experiences on my music anyway so it doesn’t matter if it’s my real life or not” and jack’s like “alright while fake af that’s smart and i respect you” (what bitty doesn't say is that he writes about what he really wants which is to fall in love & be in a happy relationship)
they say they’re just gonna write this kinda vague sad song but they both secretly write lines about their actual lives so it ends up being really personal and real and raw for the both of them
they sing the song at open mic that saturday and the crowd at annie’s is never that big but they’ve never got a standing ovation here before, and some girl shouts “MAKE AN ALBUM” (it may or may not be lardo) and they both blush furiously and bitty’s like “... that was really nice, jack” and jack’s like “... yeah it was good good job you’re really getting some confidence out there nice work” (bitty: “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT AAAAH”)
around this time jack’s really thinking about what he’s gonna do when he’s done at samwell, talking with his parents and his agent and looking into different record companies and deciding if he wants to sign with anyone or possibly start his own company- the head of a small company called falcon records in rhode island has been talking to him a lot, and jack talks to bitty about how he thinks it’d be nice to start small, and the record exec georgia and the producer marty had both been really nice and welcoming, and bitty’s so happy for him but also just... sad that he won’t be around jack every day after he graduates
THEN at a haus party celebrating their win of a local choral competition, who shows up but none other than pop star kent parson to Ruin The Fun
bitty sees the way jack pales when kent walks in, notices them disappear upstairs together and feels a little sick worrying about jack but chalks it up to the highly alcoholic concoction shitty and lardo had cooked up but nonetheless decides he’s sick of the party and goes up to his room and hears.... a little too much
and YIKES he’s standing right there and kent parson, pop star, two-time grammy winner, is looking a little rumpled and staring right at him and he puts his hat on and clears his throat and snaps at jack- “hey. well. call me if you reconsider. but good luck with rhode island. ...i’m sure that’ll make your parents proud.” and jack’s shaking, and bitty doesn’t know what to do but jack goes back into his room and bitty’s just kind of standing there like What The Fuck
so.... he kind of stews over winter break but tries not to think about it too much and he and jack text a bit and jack tells him to practice and bitty’s like “oh, you” and jack’s like “im serious” and bitty’s like “>:( it’s christmas”
spring semester starts and they're doing well in competitions and they go to semifinals and then finals for a prestigious collegiate choir competition and the pressure is mounting but they all are so optimistic and really feel like they're on the same page and bitty’s confidence is better than ever and then.... they don't win
jack especially takes it very hard, but then he also has signing to worry about, which everyone helps him with and he decides to sign with falcon records and start work on an album after graduation
speaking of graduation, shitty and jack graduate and it's hard for them but harder for bitty who feels like he's losing jack in a way, he knows how intense jack gets when he's making music and it doesn't feel like he'll have any time for bitty anymore so when they say goodbye bitty goes back to the haus and listens to his and jack's song and just cries
but, like in canon, dadbob has words of wisdom to impart and jack has an "oh" moment and races across campus to kiss bitty
they get together and the next few months are spent with jack working nonstop on his album (which tbh, he'd had many of the songs written already so it's mostly recording and producing) and texting bitty constantly and coming to visit him and playing him demos of all the songs
jack also asks bitty if they can record the song they wrote together & have it as a bonus track on his album & bitty says of course, so when jack visits they set up an impromptu studio and record vocals in the guest bedroom and this deeply personal song they wrote before they were ever together means so much more to them now
and bitty is so happy but so scared and sad too because jack is playing him these songs telling him "they're all for you bits, & a lot of them are about you" and he just doesn't know how he's going to keep all this love inside even though it feels like jack's career is at stake
he tries to shove it down and stay strong though, especially since he's now an upperclassman and they're taking on new members- connor "whiskey" whisk (voice like finneas or the male singer in valley), a music business/ management major who seems to hate bitty's guts and tony "tango" tangredi (like chaz cardigan), a jazz composition major who astounds everybody with his endless questions but also his ridiculously impressive composition skills & naturally perfect pitch (he can also play saxophone??)
i want ford in this au so fuck it she is a composition major with dreams to write scores for musicals and she stars training as a barista at annie's (aka training to corral the smcc)
the pressure of it all proves to be a lot and bitty and jack have their hi, honey moment where bitty's like i can't be this deep in the closet!!! and so they tell the smcc and also jack's label that they're together and that eases things a bit
jack's album comes out to much critical acclaim and shouting in the groupchat ("#1 ON ITUNES BRAHHHHH!!!!!!!!") and several months later, when smcc has already been eliminated from choral competition in an earlier round, jack is nominated for SEVERAL grammys including best album, song of the year, and best new artist
when the time comes he takes his parents and bitty on the red carpet which, everyone keeps being like "who are you here with jack?" and he's like "my family and my good friend :)" and yes it is awkward
jack wins... all three awards. it's the comeback everyone is stoked to see and when his third win is announced, he and bitty are so elated that they kiss before he goes to accept the award
his speech is basically just "um... wow. thank you. i just kissed my boyfriend on live tv. this is amazing and i'm so humbled. i'd like to thank my boyfriend and georgia and marty and my parents and my friends and my boyfriend"
obviously the press has a FIELD DAY with this but bitty & jack are honestly vibing and so happy that it doesn't matter untiiiillll bitty's mom calls and he has to tell her "mama i'm gay and i'm going on tour with jack this summer okloveyoubye"
the last few months of bitty's junior year pass quickly and he's voted student director which is a huge honor considering how much he struggled with stage fright and confidence & how he'll now be stepping into ransom & holster's shoes
r&h and lardo all graduate (the smcc basically crashes the art school graduation and all scream when lardo gets her diploma lmao), which is a bittersweet occasion and they all do a bit of tearing up
that summer bitty goes on tour across the u.s. & canada with jack and his touring band (snowy is a bassist, tater is a drummer and poots does backing guitar, he also brings nursey to play violin on a few songs) as well as georgia who's there to manage logistics
and tour is so fun & chaotic with many bi and rainbow flags in the audience that end up thrown on stage and draped around jack's neck and they spend so many nights in the bus drinking and laughing and fooling around on the guitars and bitty's uke and exploring new cities bitty has never been to before and it's the freest bitty has felt in a long time
summer ends though, and jack leaves for the uk/europe leg of the tour, and with the new school year brings a few new members- river "bully" bullard (voice like gregory alan isakov), a music therapy major who draws his own cover art for his songs, lukas "louis" landmann (like jr jr), an electronic production and design major with a penchant for EDM, and johnathan "hops" hopper (like keiynan lonsdale), a film scoring major who wants to write music for movies and video games
bitty meets and befriends some of the other student directors- shruti, sd of the women’s contemporary chorus; sharon, sd of the chamber choir; and edgar, sd of jazz ensemble (even chad l., sd of the all-male a cappella group)
senior year passes similarly to the comic; coach visits and sees one of bitty’s competitions, jack comes to madison for christmas, smcc does well in competition and goes to regionals etc
however… bitty keeps putting off and putting off gathering the songs for his senior recital
he has a hard time doing that because he’s so focused on the group and making sure they’re performing well and as they advance in competition, everything else starts to fall away
eventually the rest of the smcc has to lock away his uke and change his youtube password and FORCE him to choose songs for it and start preparing because he cannot graduate without doing this recital and doing well on it
he chooses (of course) a beyonce song, a few of his own songs, an ellie goulding song, and an adele song
with all that his breath hitches and his hands shake before he goes on stage, he does really well and his voice instructor prof atley tears up a little in the audience as does his mom
meanwhile smcc goes to semifinals, then finals, of the national collegiate choral competition they participate in
and i imagine bitty faces somewhat less homophobia in this au because i mean, he’s in the performing arts, but i think it’s still there and he also faces a good amount of classism from richer students and performers who think they’re better because they had the resources and money to be performing professionally from a very young age, and he has been practicing via filming himself on a shitty camcorder and posting it to youtube
but they still get there! and the national finals are fucking HUGE and a big deal and a little overwhelming
bitty’s stage fright is Present because this is the biggest stage and the biggest stakes he's ever had and he has a big solo in one of their songs so if he fucks up, he fucks up a national championship for his whole group and school
luckily though, when he steps on the stage with his best friends and sees his boyfriend and family and smcc alums in the audience and they perform their first song, a high-energy pop medley that always gets the crowd going, everything seems to melt away and it's just him living in this moment and singing his heart out
when it gets to the next song and his solo, he forgets to be nervous and belts it out, getting screams of approval from the audience when he finishes
(dex and nursey do have a duet together that they had to practice for many long nights in the practice rooms alone but that's neither here nor there)
their time on stage seems to last both hours and no time at all and then they're done, the crowd gives them a standing ovation and it's at least 30% r&h & shitty's hooting and hollering and jack's enthusiastic clapping that makes bitty & the others beam with pride
then it's just waiting, giddy and nervous beyond belief in their green room, for the judging to be over
after what feels like forever they're back on stage, arms linked together waiting and hoping for their name to be called and it is, they win and it feels like years have built up to this moment, and bitty tears up because years ago when he was fainting from anxiety at having to perform in front of people he never could've imagined that he'd do this, that he'd be the student director that led them to a championship
they get the trophy and a ridiculous amount of flowers from their loved ones and they all are just in giddy disbelief that this is happening, they're national champs!!! they are the best choir boys in the nation!!
they come home and the rest of the school year passes by so quickly that it's very suddenly graduation and bitty can't believe his college career at samwell is over 😢
(he and ollie and wicky take pictures together, o&w talk about how excited they are to devote full time attention to their band & wedding planning and bitty's just like wait you're gay??)
bitty got plenty of offers from record companies but he likes his freedom of creativity and he has a built in fanbase from doing youtube all these years so he decides to make an album independently (jack helps him produce & master it 🥰)
when bitty's album comes out about a year later, full of bops about being gay and in love and having struggled but come out the other side more confident than ever, it doesn't get any grammy nominations- and he didn't expect or need that.
what it does do is it resonates. it makes the rounds in youtube and queer internet circles; people his age reach out to him saying this is the music they wish they had as a kid and kids reach out to him saying he's a role model and they're so glad to have his music to listen to. his album is written about as an underrated gem that shines with queer brilliance and is sure to start a party when it comes on.
his parents may not fully understand the road he's chosen for himself but they're still so proud and promote the album as hard as any of his loyal fans (especially the one country-inspired song on the album that he wrote and dedicated to them).
and jack, jack who saw this album from its infancy to its release date, who took the film photo that ended up being the album cover, who worked with bitty to make sure his vision was realized exactly how he wanted it to be, is proud beyond words.
jack starts using his semi-abandoned twitter again to tweet "stream [album name]" every day and bitty retweets them sometimes, with just a "this boy. ❤"
and they're happy. they're good. they have come so far and they are reaping the rewards of all the hard work they put in to make the music that they truly love.
the end :)
#check please#omgcp#samwell college of music au#mine#my writing#eric bittle#jack zimmermann#omgcp fic#check please fic#zimbits#uhh idk what else to tag#this fucking thing is like 4.1k words i'm-#i hope you enjoy it (and reblog it!) bc i've been working on this for literal years#i know i'll never actually write it as a longform fic so here's a bullet pt fic instead#pls let me know your thoughts i have so many things to say about this au
249 notes
·
View notes
Text
Like It Never Happened, chapter 2.
Susie found work in the city fairly quickly. It was just as a store clerk, but she said that the first thing she needed was an income, and she could focus on having a real career when that was settled. And anyhow, it seemed like a pretty nice place to work. Her only complaint was the hour-long commute each way.
Sammy found out about this while they were talking during one of their dates. At first he didn’t ask if she was planning on moving into the city, opting instead to ask about her coworkers. He saw the opportunity, but the longer he could keep her only seeing him during dates, the longer they could pretend that nothing had happened. It was Susie who had brought it up, and Sammy couldn't resist the urge to ask.
“It’s awkward. I don’t know that I want to live by myself again. Which I know, I’ll have to, and I am looking for a place-"
“Want to move in with me?”
Susie was a little taken aback. “You sure you're okay with that? We’ve only been seeing each other a couple weeks.”
“Sorry. It’s kind of hard to tell where I’m supposed to treat this like a new relationship, and where I’m supposed to act like we can just pick up where we left off. We were fine living together back then. But I understand.”
“No, let's do it. It sounds great” There was a long pause. “I’m going to try and make this as much like before as possible, alright? You’re going to have to be patient with me.”
“Okay,” Sammy had said. After that, they agreed on the day she would move in, and then changed the subject. Sammy wondered what she’d meant by that, but he supposed he would find out. Any signs of trauma she had, she was hiding well. He almost hoped, sick as it sounded, that she was doing worse than him. He’d hate to be the one testing her patience.
Their first week of living together went by without any serious issues, but there was one thing that Sammy noticed, and that was that Susie seemed to be avoiding music. He started noticing the pattern when he’d tried bringing it up once or twice, and she’d immediately changed the subject. Later in the week, he'd decided to play banjo in the apartment while she was around, and she quickly decided that she had elsewhere to be.
"Where are you going?" Sammy had asked.
"I'm going to get some milk." Her eyes were shifty- clearly she was lying.
"We have milk."
"Well, there are other things we need," she said before leaving. Sammy returned to his banjo. He supposed it was Susie's right to not want to listen to him, but still, he was frustrated. When Sammy heard her unlocking the door some time later, he turned on the radio. He wasn't much for 60s music, but he wanted to give her one last test. As Susie came in, carrying a few non-perishable grocery items they'd use eventually, she turned it off.
"Hey, Susie. Since coming out of ink hell, I found a nice little church. I'm going to a service this Sunday, and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me."
Susie looked a little... stunned. Sammy supposed he should have made it less obvious that he was studying her. “I didn’t know you were religious,” Susie said.
Sammy shrugged. “My parents took me to church maybe five times a year. I think I went about ten times in my entire adult life. Believe it or not, it was my experiences with my cult that convinced me that I should go back.”
“Cool, you wanna tell me more about that?”
“Not really.” Sammy could remember years of comforting the barely sane creatures that came to him for guidance. Back then, he’d been the most stable creature around. Now, well, Sammy was glad to have the luxury of being the lost sheep, coming to others for guidance and community. Plus, Susie surely realized that the church would play music, and he still wanted to test her comfort level with it. His little bird being afraid of music seemed just perverse to Sammy, and he wanted to know just how bad the damage was.
"Okay, then. I'll go," Susie said. Good. And hopefully she'd fucking enjoy it.
---
Sunday morning rolled around. Susie had been rather uncomfortable coming to Sammy's church, being that she had strong suspicions about why he wanted to take her there, but once she was there she saw no real reason for it. It was a fairly standard church, full of friendly old people that Sammy introduced her to. Of course, Susie knew there would be music, and she was ready for that. As the service began and the choir began to sing, she focused on the visuals in the room, averting her eyes from anything with an angel on it. It still made her tense, but she was managing. Then, her eyes landed on Sammy's face. He had been staring right her, studying her, just like he had that one night. She realized that she looked rather distressed and spent about a second trying to fix that before she got up and left.
Sammy followed behind her. “Susie, what's wrong?”
"Why don't you guess? You already have your theories, don't you?"
"It's the music, isn't it?"
"No, it's you!" she snapped.
Sammy could tell they were in for a fight. “Maybe we should talk elsewhere.” He’d hate for the other churchgoers to overhear them fighting, especially if Susie had figured it out.
“Fine. We’ll talk at home. Should we go back in there?”
“Are you going to break down because of the music?” Sammy felt like the father of a petulant daughter.
“I'll be fine,” she growled.
And she was. Grumpy, but fine. No worse than uncomfortable when there was music. The church service was fairly average, which for this church meant quite pleasant, though Sammy would have liked to stay at the end to talk to the other churchgoers. Ah, just like old times, Sammy thought, Susie going into theatrics and taking it out on whoever’s closest. Which just so happens to be me.
After they got home, Sammy asked, “Okay, where were we?”
“I was going to tell you that it wasn’t the music. Yes, it does make me uneasy because of ink-related craziness, but what really upset me back there is that you have been... I don’t know... testing me about it. Did you think I couldn’t tell? I’m not stupid, Sammy, and I don’t appreciate you making weird plans like that instead of talking to me, alright? I'm not your daughter. I'm not for you to go planning stuff behind my back like in the you did in the forties. Alright? I need you to respect me.”
“Alright, I hear you.”
Susie sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry for overreacting. Is that everything? I'm sorry I didn't just tell you about this when I first suspected you were testing me.”
“Well, I guess I would like to know if you're planning to get back into music.”
“I don’t know. Probably. I mean, who am I without it? But not right now. Sorry. Voice acting I definitely still wanna do, though." There was a pause, and a heavy sigh. "Sammy, have you ever read 1984?"
“Yes, decades ago."
"I know that music is a lot of what we had in common. I just hope we're not like Julia and Willson after room 101- too damaged to still love each other. And it'll be all my fault since you don't seem to be having hardly any trouble with this at all."
A part of Sammy was honestly just relieved he was apparently hiding it so well. "Actually, Susie, I'm struggling a lot. When I first came out, I was pretty much jumping at shadows. Even now, going anywhere new is pretty hard for me. And there's a reason why I'm just as tired as I was back when Joey was working me to death. I have a lot of trouble getting to sleep, and when I do, I have some pretty ugly nightmares. It is kind of like you said- I don't really know who I am anymore. Am I the person I became in that dimension, or am I the person who helped ink everyone in the first place? Neither of them are very good people, and I know I'm not exactly like either of them. I guess, we just have to be the best version of whoever we are now."
"I guess you're right. I might have a solution to the sleeping thing, though. I know that you aren't normally one for sleeping together, but, well, my sister's dog started crawling in with me when I was having nightmares, and that helped me. We could try it."
"Sure," Sammy said. It was mostly to indulge her. He remembered the nights they'd slept together in the 40s, before Susie was put away. Of course, then it was because she was freezing cold due to being made out of ink. Sammy would have refused her, but he half suspected that that was half the reason they were even still together. The two of us sleeping together because ink-related issues. Nothing ever changes.
---
Alice Angel turned on the record player. "Sing," she ordered, letting Susie into the forefront of her consciousness.
Susie blinkered awake. She wasn't really in the mood to fight. She got up anyhow, intent on finding a knife.
Alice took back control immediately and sat back down. "Don't you even think about it. Do that, and I'm popping the eyeballs of the next ink creature we get in here, and you'll have to watch. Now, sing. I need your voice to hit the high notes." Alice restarted the record and allowed Susie back out. Susie began to sing. It was the Alice Angel theme song- one of her headmate's favourites. After she'd gone through it a couple times, she got up. Alice didn't seem to try to stop her. Susie kept singing, as though doing so would keep her placated. She didn't know what was going on, but she wasn't about to waste the opportunity it presented. Her voice caught on the high notes as her breath grew unstable. She made her way to the tool drawer, retrieved a kinfe, and began cutting through the ropes that were holding a captive Edgar in place. She could barely hear the music of the record player now, and she was more muttering the words under her breath than singing them. Her hands were so tense she could barely handle the knife.
The knife flew into the Edgar's eye socket, and Susie was thrown out of her locus of control. The creautre wailed and writhed in agony. "You were never in control, Susie. Remember that. Even when I let you control certain parts of us, you're never in control."
Of course, that wasn't true. There were times when Susie took control by force. Still, she felt utterly helpless. And without a body to pilot, she couldn't even curl up and cry.
Susie woke up with wet eyes. She touched the gloxinia plant she kept beside their bed. It felt green. Its velvety petals felt purple. She felt her pulse (as useless a feature as that had seemed), and it felt red. Then, she felt Sammy beside her, also struggling with a nightmare. She snuggled into him, calming him down. Everything was fine now. It was all over.
#Bendy and the Ink Machine#susie campbell#sammy lawrence#sammy x susie#my fanfiction#Like it Never Happened
17 notes
·
View notes
Text
Promise - Sally Face/Larry
Just boys being bros
Larry was lazily strumming his guitar, strewn across Sal’s floor waiting for him to return from the kitchen with lukewarm beers and a package of chips. Larry couldn’t help but stare out the window at the way the trees shook with the windy rain that was pouring out over the apartments. The tree house was visible, almost, through the downpour. The soft thudding of feet came rumbling from down the hall. Larry’s gut turned, he didn’t know if it was a trauma response or general excitement to see his friend again.
Sal walked into the room, carefully shutting the door behind him as if there was anyone in the house to bother.
“What.”
“Nothing, you just look cute.”
“Shut up. I’m wearing a mask.”
“Yeah but it’s cool,” Larry laughed.
“Then tell me I look cool.”
“Ice cold baby.”
“I’ll literally fucking kill you.” Sal sighed, behind his mask he felt his lip begin inching its way towards a smile.
“Only if you promise.”
Sal sat down beside Larry on the ground, picking up the guitar. He strummed softly, it sounded as if someone was brutally murdering a banjo, but it was soft in a way only Sal could do.
“Let me teach you to play.”
“No. I play fine.”
“Sal if you make me listen to your drunk chimpanzee attack on my guitar again I will literally shit on your floor.”
“Hot.”
Larry sat up from his lounging position, scooting over to sit closer to Sal. He reached down and repositioned the guitar in the other man's lap. “Now put your right hand at the top, left at the bottom.”
“Ok.”
“Now press down with your middle finger, and on this string with your other.”
Sal strummed the guitar after his fingers found their way to the right position, it sounded nice, Sal sighed a defeated sigh. “Fine, teach me.”
“I’m gonna gym teacher you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sit in my lap.”
Sal stared at Larry for a moment, in total silence. The rain kept trickling down, licking the windows in long laps. Sal sighed again, he got up and scooted to a position with Larry’s legs around him. Sal has confined himself to this moment of defeat. Once he was sitting the room remained quiet, Larry’s chest was pressed against Sal’s back so close he could feel the deep indent in Larry’s chest.
Larry rested his head on Sal’s shoulder so he could see the guitar strings. He took a moment to smell Sal’s hair, the aroma of sweat and strawberry shampoo. Larry picked up Sal’s hand and began pressing his fingers against different chords. This carried on for a second, or moments, for centuries or millennia. Long enough for Sal to shake away Larry’s hand and begin pressing the chords on his own. Listening to the choppy strumming Sal was producing, Larry reached over and opened one of the beers. He chugged it quick, escaping the idea that it was probably time to scoot away from Sal and let him explore the guitar.
Larry sighed, beginning to push away from Sal. “Stop.”
Larry looked over Sal’s shoulder, trying to make eye contact.
“Just,” Sal paused, “Keep showing me.”
Larry swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat, and suddenly the dreary rain filled apartment felt hot. “Ok.”
Sal reached over Larry’s thigh and grabbed one of the beers, popping it open and chugging it like his life depended on it. The two sat in awkward silence for a moment before returning to the guitar.
Sal kept moving, shifting in his sitting position.
“Are you okay?”
Sal turned his head to look at Larry, his eyes were piercing and serious. After a few moments he looked away, grabbed another beer, and treated it like a glass of apple juice.
“Teach me on the bed.”
“What?”
“Teach. Me. On. The. Bed.”
“Hot.”
“If you talk again I will kill you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Larry smiled and pushed himself off the floor, each of his joint cracking on the way up. Sal stayed sitting for a moment while Larry got comfortable on the bed. Larry wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to be drunker. “Can we drink something else?” Larry asked, rolling his head to look at Sal.
Sal reached under his bed and revealed what appeared to be gasoline in a plastic water bottle. “It’s like six different alcohols… whiskey, rum, whatever I could find.”
Larry smiled, “Damn.”
Sal got on the bed and gave him the water bottle, “I have two, we can drink this one all if you want.”
This caught Larry off guard, typically his blue haired counterpart was more certain. Offering an option was different than the typical conversation styles. The two drank, leaving the guitar on the floor. The boys laughed at the noises from different apartments and they way they echoed through the floors. They guessed who was talking, even guessing people that weren’t there anymore.
Sal got quiet, his skin was prickled with goose bumps but he had never felt more warm.
“You’ll catch a cold baby blue.”
“What did you just call me?”
“Baby blue.” Larry smiled and winked.
“Do it again.”
“Okay,” Larry suddently couldn’t make eye contact anymore, “Baby blue.”
“Look at me.”
Larry was getting frustrated and he wasn't sure why, as if he was caught in a lie.
“Baby blue.”
Sal sat there, he did nothing, just sat. Larry’s ears began to heat up, something was caught in his throat.
“Why do you want me to call you that.”
“No one calls me that.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No.”
Sal reached down and took another swig from the water bottle. He leaned over and got close to Larry’s face.
“When do you call me that?”
“Just leave it alone Sal, I’m sorry if you're mad.”
“I’m not, I just know a secret.”
“Oh?” Larry’s voice cracked, there was no playing cool when Sal’s blue eyes pierced into his brown ones. Dirt and mud mixing but this was like a mudslide.
“I’ve heard you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve heard you, singing, you wrote a song and you say baby blue.”
“It’s a colour.”
“Yeah. It’s a colour. But you called me that.”
Larry reached over and grabbed the water bottle, taking a deep gulp. “And?”
Sal leaned over, pressing his forehead against Larrys. Larry could hear his breath, laboured but not the typical difficulty breathing that Larry knows.
“Touch me.” Sal whispered.
Larry couldn’t move, suddenly forgetting how his hands worked. Nothing made sense right now. Larry jerked away, “Woah.”
Sal sat back quickly. “Im drunk.”
The pit in Larry’s stomach felt deeper than the marianas trench.
“No.”
Sal squinted his eyes, “What?”
“No.”
Larry leaned back over, his hands on either side of Sal’s thighs. He used one hand to yank on Sal’s piggy tail, “I can touch you.”
Larry has in fact, zero idea what he was doing, but he liked it whatever it was. Sal shook his head, moving Larry’s hand away. He didn’t let go, he grabbed tighter and pressed Larry’s palm against the straps on his mask.
Larry knew what was happening, and it was happening faster by the second. Warp speed ahead. He unclipped the mask, it fell onto Sal’s lap. Before Sal could say something bossy Larry had his lips on Sal’s. It was rough, tactless and very boosey. Larry smiled into the kiss, this is exactly what he wanted as his first kiss.
Sal didn’t do much, as if by magic he no longer had instructions for Larry. This was uncharted territory and Sal was lost and going through the motions.
Larry pulled away, “I’m so sorry.” Larry’s stomach felt like it was going to turn, worried that he had fallen for a joke and taken it too far. “I’m just drunk.”
Sal’s blue eye appeared to be watering, something Larry had never seen.
“Sorry for what.”
“Kissing you, you were joking right? I went too far. I shouldn't have don-” Larry was cut off mid pitiful apology by Sal’s finger.
“Don’t apologize.” Sal’s finger began to trail down Larry’s chin, brushing against the stubble developing. He carried down Larry’s neck and to his chest, drawing circles on his descent. The room was quiet, Larry was holding in his breath in anticipation on how far Sal was going to go. Sal paused above the belt, and Larry watched the way Sal’s breath was hitching too.
“I thought I was supposed to touch you.” Larry laughed, grabbing Sal’s arm tightly. His courage was coming back, and he was ready to be a present player in this mixed up game of repression and graveyard alcohol. Larry grabbed Sal’s other arm too and pushed him against the bed.
Sal’s brain was mush, “Hit me.”
“Excuse me?”
“Slap me or something.”
Larry began laughing, “Why?”
“Need to feel real.”
Larry leaned down, squeezing Sal’s arms tightly and pressed a kiss into his forehead. “Make me.”
Sal squinted, establishing control through eye contact. Sal began to squirm, his back arching to make contact with Larry. He began to moan, never stopping eye contact with Larry.
Larry couldn’t breathe, everything he had read in the porno rag he found in the woods did not compare to this moment.
“Okay, Baby Blue, okay.”
Larry leaned back, still straddling Sal, and slapped him across the face. Sal moaned, arching further. “Okay?” Larry asked.
“Okay.” Sal whined.
Larry leaned down and kissed Sal again, biting his lower lip to get inside. As their mouths moved together Larry began to get lost. Almost forgetting where he was, almost.
“I want you to kill me.” Sal sighed.
“Excuse me?” Larry laughed.
“I want you to choke me to death, hide my body in the tree house, and fuck it until I rot.”
“Sal.” Larry paused, “You’re kind of fucked up.”
“Yes.”
“I promise, but not today.”
“Promise.”
Larry gave Sal a look, “Say not today.”
Sal stole a quick kiss, “Not today.”
“Good boy, you follow direction too.”
Larry rolled off of Sal, laying beside him.
“Am I your boyfriend?” Larry asked nervously, his body still felt like fire.
“Why?”
“Because we kissed, and I promised to hide and fuck your corpse.”
“Ok.”
“Okay? You’re my boyfriend?”
“Sure.”
“Will your corpse also be my boyfriend?”
“Shut up or I’ll kill you.”
27 notes
·
View notes
Text
Reality Check: Chapter 2
Chapter One: SCARY STORY 101
Next Chapter: WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW? I’M AT SOUP!
CHAPTER 2: DON’T JOIN CULTS KIDS
Jacqui closed her eyes for a moment to focus. This place was creepy sure, but above all she had to try and remember where the exit was. If Sydney was actually right and there was some paranormal shit going on here, she had to keep her cool. Stay strong, don't freak out. The more you react to the spooks, the more you will get spooked. She opened her eyes back up and looked around them. There was still only one way that they could go but the door was boarded up. “Well, there is still only one way to go. So, I guess cut down the boards Syd.” Jacqui instructed, her voice much calmer after her thoughts. She figured that if she could keep herself calmer, then maybe it would help calm Sydney down a little.
“Right.” Sydney clutched the axe in her hands tightly as she stepped forward to chop down the boards in their way. She was still thankful that there was something physical that she could focus her mind on. Everything in this place seemed designed to rattle her, and seeing the pentagram and coffins was the most worrying thing yet. People have died in this studio, or at least that was the conclusion Sydney had come to anyway. Jacqui and herself could very well become the next victims here. She tried to push these fear-inducing thoughts to the back of her mind as she brought the axe down on the boards blocking their way.
Once Sydney had done the task, Jacqui stepped in front of her scared friend to lead the way. She huffed a breath of air as she thought about how dumb it was that she was the braver of the two but she was not allowed to have the weapon. Usually the person leading the group held the weapon. Jacqui rolled her eyes as they walked but then suddenly took a few quick steps to distance herself a little from her friend. Hopefully Sydney wouldn't just whip the axe out in fear behind her and hit her on accident. Jacqui winced, yeah… that was probably how she would die at this point.
Looking ahead of them, the two girls saw the words HE WILL SET US FREE written on the wall next to a Bendy cut-out, some candles, and a banjo? A small smirk appearing on her face and her love of musical instruments filling her, Jacqui couldn't help herself. She walked up to the banjo and ran her fingers along the strings, creating a small, quiet, little musical strum. Much to her surprise… the banjo was not out of tune.
“What are you doing!?” Sydney snapped in a harsh whisper. “Do you wanna die?!?”
“Maybe…” Jacqui rolled her eyes sarcastically and turned away from the instrument. She decided that telling her already spooked friend that the instrument wasn't out of tune would probably just make her freak out more, and she would be more convinced someone was here. Then again, someone did lunge out at her from the ink machine room on the first floor. She turned to look at the Bendy cutout as she thought about it. Sydney dragged her away pretty fast but she could've sworn… the person had the same Bendy grin. She reached out and touched the cutout as she got a flash memory of her imaginary friend once again. She quickly shook her head to rid herself of the thought. Looking over to the right, against the far wall Jacqui saw a couple more coffins. “Great, more creepy coffins.” She complained in a sigh, knowing her friend would not be pleased.
“Why all the coffins?” Sydney’s voice quivered. “How many people died here?”
“None? Some? You think I know?” Jacqui responded as she walked forward into the larger space. Turning her head to look down the hallway to her left, Jacqui’s eyes widened slightly when she noticed yet another Bendy cut-out leaning against… a fucking pentagram. “Yeah… the amount of cult shit has skyrocketed… love it.” Jacqui sarcastically sneered.
“Damn cults…” Sydney muttered, glaring angrily at the Bendy cutout in front of the pentagram.
“Oh hey.” Jacqui announced when she saw a tape player sitting on a shelf. She walked over and pressed play, wondering what was on it. The tape inside had a little label on it that read ‘Sammy Lawrence’. She remembered Sammy, he used to be one of her main targets to play pranks on. He was kind of mean though, not like straight up mean but he just seemed like he was perpetually done with the world.
“Why are you playing that tape?” Sydney hissed. “Whoever’s down here is gonna hear us!” Jacqui turned to her friend and simply shrugged but remained quiet to hear what the tape was going to play.
“He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me. The figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you, my savior. I pray you hear me. Those old songs, yes, I still sing them. For I know you are coming to save me. And I will be swept into your final loving embrace. But, love requires sacrifice. Can I get an amen?” The voice of Sammy Lawrence played through the tape player. The room once again fell silent and Jacqui raised an eyebrow.
“I said: “Can I get an amen?”” The voice of Sammy echoed through the hallways and the room. The real Sammy, this was not a recording. Jacqui sucked in a deep breath in panic and flung herself up against the wall.
“AHHHHHHHHH!” Sydney screamed when she heard an unexpected voice down the hallway. She turned and flung the axe blindly down the hallway. “DEMONS!” The axe flew and hit the chair in the hall handle first and clattered to the ground. Not even waiting for her friend to react Sydney ran to pick back up the axe. She looked around wildly, still unable to locate the source of that voice.
Jacqui sighed after her initial start and removed herself from the wall. “Nice throw… I feel… so protected.” She taunted but relaxed her tense muscles.
“SHUT UP!” Sydney yelled. “I'm just a little… frazzled. If anything tries to hurt you I’ll murder it without hesitation, don’t worry.”
Jacqui patted her friends arm as she walked past. “Thanks… I guess.” She then continued down the hallway towards the Bendy cutout and followed the path to the right. The next turn was to the left and the hallway was filled with ink. The black liquid cascaded from the ceiling to the floor, flooding the entire space and creating a dark, reflective ambience. Jacqui stopped and waited for her friend to catch up. She sighed at the thought of having to trudge through more ink.
As they passed the Bendy cutout, Sydney glared at it and broke it with her axe, cleaving the little devil darlin’ in two. “Damn demons…” Sydney growled, sick and tired of being spooked today.
Jacqui flinched at the sudden assault on her ears her friend caused. She whipped her head back to see Sydney had chopped down the cutout. “What the fuck are you doing?” Jacqui complained. “Sure I may be making noise but at least I’m not breaking their shit.”
“I’m just letting off some steam! Besides they already know we’re here thanks to you, it can’t get much worse can it?”
“Yeah they know we are here, and now they are probably pissed off.” Jacqui snapped.
“It’s just a cut-out anyway, they have more.” Sydney turned around to look at her destruction to find that the Bendy cutout was mysteriously intact again. “Uhhhhhhhhhh, buddy….” Sydney pointed a shaking finger at the cutout. “It’s-it’s-it’s back together…?”
Jacqui moved to look around her friend to see that the cutout was indeed unharmed. Jacqui was a little too irritated to be more than slightly concerned and simply turned to look back at the ink filled path ahead of them. “Yeah… see you pissed them off.” Jacqui muttered through her teeth before boldly stepping into the ink.
“I'm sorry Bendy don’t kill me.” Sydney whispered before following her friend into the ink filled hallway.
Jacqui grimaced as she trudged her way through the thick, dark liquid. All that was crossing her mind was how ruined her dress was, the original stunning coral color now tainted black. The two girls continued until they were about halfway through the hallway when they suddenly heard a voice emanating from around the corner. A shiver jolted down her spine as Jacqui dove down on her hands and knees behind a board. Meanwhile, Sydney squeaked and hugged her axe, pressing herself against the wall.
“Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep. Rest your head. It's time for bed. In the morning you may wake, or in the morning you’ll be dead.” It was the voice of Sammy Lawrence yet again. A tall figure that looked like it was drenched in ink save for a broken Bendy mask and overalls, walked past the hallway from the right side to the left. Both girls just stared in shock for a moment until it once again fell silent.
Jacqui slowly stood up from the ink, shaking her arms to try to rid herself of some of the staining liquid. That… thing… it spoke with Sammy’s voice but… it couldn’t be Sammy… could it? Why would he still be here? Wasn’t this place abandoned? Did he just go crazy? She did recognize that little poem… Jacqui remembered that the music composer always thought there was something off with the little cartoon devil. After another moment of silence, she nervously cleared her throat. “Well… um… forward?” She almost seemed to question, her voice a little shaky. She looked at her friend before once again taking the lead and walking out of the ink consumed hallway.
“Y-yeah.” Sydney stuttered, gathering her courage and following her friend out of the ink.
Jacqui’s head turned toward the left in the direction that the ink-covered man had walked and tilted her head instantly in confusion. “Where… did he go?” Jacqui wondered as she stared at nothing but a pentagram covered wall and a Bendy cutout.
Sydney scowled at the Bendy cutout. “I’ve had it up to here with all this spooky shit!” She complained. She looked over at the shelves to see tons of bacon soup cans. Her stomach gave a pitiful growl before she reached out and took a can. Sydney wrenched the top off and started to drink the soup cold, straight out of its container.
Jacqui watched her friend with disgust. “Um… gross.” She commented and turned her back to the psycho soup-drinker. Jacqui wanted nothing to do with the probably ink-contaminated, probably expired, who knows what happened to it, bacon soup. She continued on and saw a large Bendy statue to her right in a small alcove and a gate to the left.
“Shut up! I’m stress eating, okay?” Sydney complained, opening another can of bacon soup.
The gate had a lever but it looked like it wasn’t powered. There were three spot where lights should be and none were lit… so three switches… levers… something? “Hey I think we need to find like three switches or something to open this door.” Jacqui called to her friend.
“Oh, you mean like this one?” Sydney pressed the switch that had been hidden behind all the cans of bacon soup she had been slurping down.
Jacqui turned back towards the gate to see that one of the lights had begun to glow. “Yeah actually, we just need to find the other two. They are probably back that way.” Jacqui announced and turned to start grudgingly making her way back through the flooded hallway. Sydney followed behind her, a can of bacon soup in one shaky hand and her axe in the other.
Jacqui walked through and made her way past the Bendy cutout that magically had rebuilt itself, eyeing it carefully as if it might move. She made her way forward and saw a panel in the wall to the right... that looked like it would have a switch in it right? “Here, you flip that one.” Jacqui instructed her friend, acting like it would indeed hold what they were looking for before turning to glance over the rest of the room.
“Sure.” Sydney leaned over and set down her can of bacon soup before opening the panel and flipping the switch. She then quickly picked her food back up off the ground.
Jacqui saw the corner of another one of the panels on the wall next to the two coffins and made her way towards it. She opened the box, happy to see the switch inside and flipped it before she turned back to face her friend. “Well that should be all of them... I think. Let's go back and check.” She instructed before again leading their way back towards the flooded hallway and to the gate.
To her delight, all three lights were glowing. Jacqui flipped the large lever and instantly cringed at the exceedingly loud scraping noises that followed. “Shit! That's loud.” Jacqui complained and placed her hands over her ears as an attempt to muffle the excruciating sound as she watched the giant metal door raise upwards.
Sydney cringed at the loud grinding noise. “Well, it’s not like they didn't know we were down here. Stay on your toes buddy, I don’t like this one bit.”
Jacqui looked at her friend for a moment before looking ahead of them. “Fair.” Jacqui muttered before walking forward. She could only go so far before having to wait for Sydney to cut down a few more boards in their way. Once they were removed, Jacqui scampered into the open room. “Hey, I know this place! It's the recording studio! Sammy and Jack were always around here. And Susie! Oh, and sometimes Norman too! Agh, Norman was the best!” Jacqui exclaimed as she ran around a little, absorbing all of the memories from within the walls.
“Sammy? You mean the insane one from the tape? The one we just saw skulking around before? Well that’s comforting.” Sydney sighed. “Damn, why is it so dark in here?”
Jacqui spun around in the open before focusing on a small stairway leading down. “Hey, there’s the exit… but surprise, surprise… flooded.” Jacqui groaned. She walked forward to see a large lever on the wall. “Let there be light!” She commanded playfully as she flipped the lever. The lights slowly came on in the rest of the studio.
Sydney followed Jacqui to the stairs but stayed outside the doorway, eyeing the music department sign suspiciously. Suddenly, as Jacqui switched the lights on, even more ink starting pouring from the ceiling. One particularly large drop came down by the music department sign. Sydney watched in horror as it quickly morphed into a human like shape. It had a gaping mouth and arms but no legs, making a gasping noise as it lunged towards her.
“AHHHHHHH!” Sydney screamed as she swung her axe at it. Her aim was true and she sliced the monster in the head, causing it to burst and return to its puddle state. Suddenly, three more of those creatures popped out and all began slinking towards the two girls. “Stay behind me Jacqui!” Sydney yelled while slicing the ink monster closest to her. Fear was quickly replaced by fury as Sydney butchered the remaining two. There were still three suspicious piles of ink though. Sydney edged cautiously toward one of them, when another one of those monsters popped out of the ink and swiped at her leg. “AH!” Sydney yelled as the creature grabbed her right leg and tugged it out from underneath her, causing her to to fall backwards. Sydney moved her arms behind her in an instinctual reaction to cushion her fall but only managed to scrape her elbows on the floor. The thing moaned as it advanced towards it’s stunned pray but Sydney managed to sit up and swing out with her axe, dispatching the creature.
Jacqui watched her friend but wasn’t able to really form words. These creatures, what the hell were they?! Were these the demons summoned by all these fucking pentagrams?! If only she had a damn weapon she could help her friend instead of being stuck in the corner like a useless pile of shit!! Jacqui grimaced at her lack of usefulness. “Sydney!” She called out when her friend fell down and clenched her fists. “Be careful!”
“Don’t worry, I think there’s only two more!” Sydney called to her friend as she got back up to her feet, before glaring at the other two suspicious ink puddles. More prepared this time, Sydney inched closer to the one by the entrance to the recording studio. As soon as it burst out of the ink, Sydney backed up quickly to escape it’s grasp. She then charged in and brought her axe down on the things sorry head. Sydney smirked, finally getting the hang of this, and ran towards the last ink puddle. As the thing burst out of the ground Sydney darted to the left to avoid it’s grasp and moved behind the creature. Before the monster could even turn around Sydney sliced the thing in the back. As soon as the final ink monster fell, eerily happy music started playing from the speakers. Sydney would have been more freaked out by this if she had not been so satisfied by how she had taken on all the ink monsters. “Done and done.” Sydney looked over and smiled at her friend. “Let’s get moving before more of these things turn up.”
Jacqui still had her hands clenched in her frustration for not being able to help but the music seemed to actually help calm her down. She didn’t know who or what was playing it… but at this point she didn’t really care. She glanced around the room before spotting an audio log on the wall. “Maybe this will have some useful information on it.” Jacqui hoped and hit play.
“So first Joey installs this Ink Machine over our heads. Then it begins to leak. Three times last month, we couldn't even get out of our department because the ink had flooded the stairwell. Joey's solution? An ink pump to drain it periodically. Now I have this ugly pump switch right in my office. People in and out all day. Thanks, Joey. Just what I needed. More distractions. These stupid cartoon songs don't write themselves, you know.” It was the voice of Sammy Lawrence yet again.
Jacqui seemed to ponder the words for a moment. “So… it sounds like there is a pump switch in Sammy’s office.” She noted. The then walked over to look down the long hallway. “Well his office is all the way down there… might as well go check it out.” She shrugged before starting to lead the way down the hallway.
Sydney nodded, letting Jacqui lead the way since she knew the studio better then she did. Sydney still stayed on high alert though, axe held high as her eyes darted back and forth, just in case any of those creatures tried to take a bite out of her best friend.
Jacqui made her way down to the end of the hallway before groaning loudly. “Are you KIDDING me!” She complained. “Why is there so much FUCKING INK!?” She practically shouted and gestured toward the ink that was flooded right outside of Sammy’s office. Sydney groaned as she looked at all the ink. Nothing was gonna be easy, was it? Jacqui stomped her foot into the ground before she spotted another audio log against the wall. She had to step into the ink to get close enough to press play.
“So I go to get my dust pan from the hall closet the other day and guess what? I can't find my stupid keys. It's like they disappeared into thin air or something. All I can think of is that they must have fallen in one of the garbage cans as I was making my rounds last week. I just hope nobody tells Sammy. Because if he finds out I lost my keys again, I'm outta here.” This time the audio was from Wally Franks.
Jacqui huffed a small laugh to herself. “Heh. “I’m outta here.”” She mimicked before turning around to her friend and making her way out of the ink. “WELL, what do you think the chances are that those keys are still lying around in the trash?” She wondered.
“Don’t know but it’s the only lead we have.” Sydney started back down the hallway, keeping an eye out for trash cans.
Jacqui remembered there being a small room nearby that had a few desks in it. There might also be a trashcan there. She walked over to the first door on her left and opened it. She casually made her way inside as if the building didn’t keep having creepy ass shit happening. She saw a garbage can and walked over to it, to her surprise a small pair of keys lie within it. She grabbed the keys and quickly made her way out of the room. “Sydney I got ‘em! Its a fucking miracle!” Jacqui’s voice was very sassy but still full of relief. She glanced down the hallway towards where her friend went but shrugged and walked towards the closet without her. Sydney heard her down the hall and and jogged back towards her.
“Thank goodness, Without those keys we would have been in pickle.” Despite the creepy atmosphere, Sydney was slowly becoming more comfortable as the two of them made more progress.
Jacqui unlocked the door and opened it to reveal yet another audio tape. “What is with all these tapes?” She muttered to herself before pressing play.
"Every artistic person needs a sanctuary. Joey Drew has his and I've got mine. To enter, you need only know my favorite song.The banjo playfully plucks.The piano delicately calls.The drum thunders in triumph.The piano returns in graceful harmony. Sing my song and my sanctuary will open to you." The voice of Sammy… again.
“Banjo, piano, drum, piano. That seems important.” Jacqui repeated to herself.
“I bet it is. My memory is horrible though so I hope you don’t forget that order.” Sydney replied. “Since it involves music… we should check the recording studio.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jacqui commented and started making her way down the hallway. She giggled as she got to the door of the studio. “You know… it's kinda funny… I was never allowed in here when I was younger. Sammy thought I would break the instruments.” Jacqui recalled before opening the door to the large room. Looking around the large room she saw a bunch of different instruments but her eyes focused on the ones she needed. The banjo was right by the door, the drum back in the corner, and the piano was way on the other side of the room.
Sydney looked around the room before her eyes spied another audio tape at the far end of the room by the piano. As Jacqui went to fiddle with the instruments, Sydney wandered over to it. The tape listed the speaker as “Susie Campbell” and Sydney pressed play, curious as to what it could tell them about this studio. Sydney listened as Susie went on about her new role as Alice, and how she felt connected to the part. While the audio gave a some insight into this “Susie” person, it did not help their current predicament.
Jacqui ran over and strummed on the banjo. “Banjo.” She announced before running over to the piano and playing a chord. “Piano.” She ran back over to the drum and hit it hard. “Drum.” Then she ran all the way back over to the piano and played another chord. “Piano.” She huffed but nothing seemed to happen. She walked over and took a seat on one of the chairs, slightly tired from running. She frowned when she looked up and saw a Bendy cutout staring at her from the balcony before turning to her friend. “We must be missing a step. Go see if you can find something up there.” Jacqui pointed toward the projector on the balcony of the studio. “There should be stairs around to the left… I’m just… going to sit for a second.” She sighed.
“Gotcha!” Sydney called as she dashed off to the projector booth. She jumped up the stairs, where she saw yet another audio tape. Sydney hoped this one would be more helpful than the last one as she pressed play.
"Every day the same strange thing happens.”
“OH MY GOD THATS NORMAN! Love him!” Jacqui shouted from the floor below before silencing herself to hear the audio.
“I'll be up here in my booth, the band will be swinging, and suddenly Sammy Lawrence just comes marching in and shuts the whole thing down. Tells us all to wait in the hall. Then I hear him. He starts up my projector, and he dashes from the projection booth and down to the recording studio like the little devil himself was chasing behind. Few seconds later, the projector turns off. But Sammy, oh no, he don't come out for a long time. This man is weird. Crazy weird. I got half a mind to talk to Mr. Drew about all this, I really do. But then again, I have to admit. Mr. Drew's got his own peculiarities."
Jacqui was quiet for a few moments longer as she process the words. “Sounds like we turn on the projector, THEN play the instruments.” Jacqui reasoned, looking up at her friend. With a sigh she stood up from her chair and walked over to the banjo. “Go ahead and turn it on!” She called out. After a moment Jacqui saw the light of the projector as Sydney turned it on. Jacqui quickly strummed the banjo. “Banjo.” Ran over to the piano and played a chord. “Piano.” Then ran over to the drum and hit it. “Drum.” Then ran all the way back to the other side of the room and played another chord on the piano. “Piano.” She sighed and the projector turned off suddenly.
Jacqui jumped and turned around a large metal door behind her began to raise up to reveal a small hallway full of bass fiddles. She started walking into the new area without even thinking and got excited when she saw some pipes. Was this the valve they needed to drain the stairs? She ran into the small area and quickly turned the valve.
“Wait up buddy!” Sydney called down to her friend as she rushed down the stairs. As she was turning the corner though, Sydney’s feet slide on a puddle of ink. “AH!” Sydney yelped as she lost her balance and fell face first onto the floor. “Ow.” Sydney muttered as she lifted her head up and rubbed her forehead. She was thankful that Jacqui hadn’t seen her fall like an idiot, just after she got to look so capable against those ink monsters too. Sydney slowly got to her feet and brushed off her dress. Not that it helped much, her cloths were pretty stained with ink already.
Jacqui stopped and stared at the wall in the room. Words written in ink were written above the desk. SING A MERRY SONG, WHISTLE A MERRY TUNE, WAIT FOR HIS ARRIVAL, HE’S COMING VERY SOON. “That’s… not creepy at all.” She commented but instantly all creepy thoughts left her mind as her gaze drifted downwards and onto a small adorable little Bendy plushie. Jacqui squeaked and lunged for the toy. She hugged it tightly before looking back and walking towards the exit. When she started down the little hallway back into the studio a Bendy cutout suddenly peeked its head around the corner. Unconsciously, she whipped the little stuffed animal that had been in her hand and nailed the board in the head with it. The toy bounced off with a harmless squeak before falling to the floor.
Jacqui ran up and grabbed the toy from off the ground and hugged it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” She softly cooed the toy. She then looked up and instantly froze, her muscles cramping. That guy with the mask from before… the one covered in ink… the one with Sammy’s voice. He was up on the balcony… staring at her.
“Hey buddy! Did you find the ink flow… valve…” Sydney finally rounded the corner and took a single step into the recording studio before she noticed the figure on the balcony. Sydney was frozen in shock as she watched this figure in a broken Bendy mask glare down at her friend across the room.
Jacqui shifted her eyes quickly to glance at Sydney before looking back at the unknown figure. She took a few cautious side steps toward her friend when suddenly multiple black puddles seemed to bubble up from beneath the floorboards all at once. “GAH!” Jacqui shrieked and jumped backwards as more of those ink creatures from earlier emerged from the puddles and grabbed for her. She ran back into the little hideaway as she shoved the stuffed animal into a pocket. With both hands she grabbed onto the banjo that sat inside and ran back out with a vengeance. It might not technically be a weapon… but she was going to make it one!
“Jacqui!” Sydney yelled as the ink monsters popped up and began chasing her friend. “Hold on! I’ll save you!” Sydney swung her axe at the nearest one, drawing the attention of a few others. “Come get me ya dumb ink blots!” Sydney yelled as a few of the ink creatures started make their way towards her.
Jacqui ran back out to find that one of the creatures had followed her into the hallway. Without hesitation she swung the banjo as if it was a bat and hit it twice before the thing seemed to explode and return back to a dormant state. Jacqui’s eyes centered on another one of the creatures as it waited for her next to the piano. She bolted for it and swung the banjo again, this time having to smash the instrument into it a total of three times before it vanished. Before she looked for another target she looked up to the man watching her. Wait… why was he watching her? She glanced over towards Sydney who was practically being swarmed by the ink creatures before she looked back towards him. His grip was threatening to break the railing that he held onto. Was he mad at her?
Jacqui looked down into the now broken banjo in her hands. Suddenly she was hit with the memory again of her not being allowed into the studio for Sammy’s fear of her breaking an instrument. This guy, had Sammy’s voice, knew his rhymes, and was just as upset as the actual music composer would be if she broke one of his instruments. “S-Sammy?!” Jacqui yelled up to the man. He seemed to twitch at the name, he leaned over the railing slightly as if to glare at her more. Jacqui dropped the broken banjo and gulped. She nervously chuckled to herself and took a step backwards. She was wrong… Sydney wasn’t the one who ended up pissing someone off… it was her.
“Take that! And that!” Sydney finally dispatched the last of the ink monsters and now stood huffing and puffing in a puddle of ink. She looked around wildly, still clutching her axe and filled with adrenaline, and saw the creepy figure staring at her friend again. “HEY! YOU UP THERE!” Sydney stomped closer to the figure. “WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?! DID YOU TRAP US DOWN HERE?! TELL ME RIGHT NOW OR YOU’RE GONNA REGRET IT BUSTER!” Sydney continued to yell as she jumped up on the chair in front of the balcony and flailed her axe threateningly at the figure.
Both Jacqui and Sammy’s heads snapped towards the crazed woman with an axe. Sammy let go of the railing and casually took a step backwards. He then turned and seemed to vanish into a wall, leaving only a ink stain behind. Before things would turn from bad to worse, Jacqui walked over and grabbed onto her friend’s arm. “Come on lets just go, I think Sammy is pissed enough.” She muttered.
“HEY! GET BACK HERE! I’M NOT DONE TALKIN’ TO YOU!” Sydney continued to scream as her friend dragged her from the room.
After exiting the recording studio, Jacqui was disappointed that the valve she turned was not in fact for the exit or for Sammy’s office. Instead it had drained the infirmary. Sydney raised an eyebrow at the sign hanging above the staircase that read ‘NOTICE: Anyone found faking illness will be docked a full weeks wage. Not sick, not paid.’ but chose not to comment. Sydney suspected though that it wasn’t just Jacqui having an imaginary friend that caused Jacqui’s parents to quit the studio. Having no other leads on where to go the two girls made their way down the stairs to find another spot where they could turn a valve...the only problem was that, well...the valve was missing.
“Well that’s great.” Jacqui grumbled, irritation dripping off her every word.
“Now what?” Sydney huffed, slinging her axe over one shoulder and placing her other hand on her hip. Before she could even think up a plan though, she heard a low moan behind her. “For crying out loud, GO AWAY!” Sydney spun around and dispatched of the ink creature behind her. She then turned back to her friend who was so fed up with this place that she didn't even bat an eyelash at Sydney slaughtering ink creatures behind her.
“Maybe… this’ll help?” Jacqui found a switch on the back wall and pulled it. The two girls heard a rumbling sound down the staircase and went to investigate to find that the entrance to some sort of sewer system opened up. Upon entering the sewers the girls saw some boards blocking their way and another one of those ink creatures but it was wearing a hat… and it looked like it was holding a valve.
“Hey! We need that!” Sydney swiped out at the ink creature through the boards in an attempt to grab the valve but it vanished into the ink that covered their feet.
Jacqui was completely done with this building at this point, she was ready to leave and never think of it again. “After that fucker! Get that damn valve.” She snapped before ducking under the boards and taking off down further into the sewers.
“Wait up!” Sydney quickly broke down the boards and followed after her friend down the twisting sewer pathway. In their haste to pursue the ink creature they failed to notice a small alcove to their right that had a desk sitting inside of it.
Jacqui ran into a room that had a crate sitting on a pallet and two levers for either hoisting the crate up, or hurdling it back down to the ground. She smirked realizing that she could probably crush this thing under the crate if they timed it right. She pulled the lever to raise the crate just as Sydney ran into the room. “Sydney, chase him under the crate, I’ll drop it on him.” Jacqui explained as she walked over to the other lever in preparation to drop the crate.
“Got it!” Sydney flashed her friend a thumbs up, before charging through the ink after the monster sporting the funny hat.
It was a few frustrating moments before Jacqui was able to pull the lever and drop the crate onto the creature. As she expected the thing was instantly killed. Sydney picked up the lever and the two made their way quickly back out of the sewer. They passed two different sets of ink painted words: THE SHEEP WILL COME TO SLAUGHTER, and WE’RE ALL SINNERS DOWN HERE. Unsettled but unperturbed in their quest, they went back up the infirmary, placed the valve onto the pipe and turned it.
Getting excited that they were almost at the end of these seemingly never ending tasks, Jacqui ran back up the stairs and whipped around the corner to get to Sammy’s office, Sydney right on her heels. “We’re so close!” Jacqui squealed in excitement as the two charged into the office. Jacqui ran up and slammed down the large lever before smiling at her friend.
The two girls walked quickly down the hallway, excited to leave this building in their past.”We’re almost outta here! Man, I’ll be happy to never see this place again, won’t you too bud-” Sydney’s sentence was cut short when she felt a horrible pain at the back of her head and quickly fell unconscious, dropping to the floor.
Jacqui jumped and whipped around when Sydney suddenly fell to the ground. She whipped her hands up in horror to cover her mouth when she saw Sammy standing over her friend with a metal dustpan in his ink-covered hand. “Rest your head, it’s time for bed.” Sammy cooed down at the unconscious girl.
Jacqui tensed when the man’s mask covered face turned up to look at her. “Sammy, I-I’m sorry p-please don’t.” Jacqui stuttered, her eyes darting down toward her friend.
Sammy took a step towards her, actually stepping over her friend lying on the floor in the process. “I said, “it’s time for bed!”” Sammy announced again and raised the dustpan before slamming it into Jacqui’s head. The world seemed to fade to black as Jacqui collapsed to the floor.
---
Jacqui blinked awake to the sound of Sydney screaming. She was upright, she shuffled her position but her eyes flew open in panic when she realized she was restrained. Her hands and feet were tied. “Now, now. That's enough.” The voice of Sammy cooed from her left. Jacqui turned her head just in time to see the ink-covered man gag her screaming friend. He turned his head toward her after finishing his task. He took a step forward and he reached for something behind her, he was uncomfortably close. Jacqui tensed when she felt the ropes around her tighten. “There we are now, nice and tight. We wouldn't want our sheep roaming away now would we?” He seemed to question as he backed away from the two girls.
Jacqui opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the man himself. “No, we wouldn't.” he answered his own question. Jacqui quickly closed her mouth and bit her tongue when she realized Sammy was holding onto Sydney's axe. Best not say anything that could possibly piss him off even more, he had obviously gone psycho. “I must admit I'm honored that you two would come all the way down here to visit me. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem… cruel.” He reasoned, looking at the two of them before turning around laying the axe down against a few wooden beams.
Jacqui watched the man carefully while Sydney was still frantically fighting against the ropes that held her prisoner. Her muffled screams still filled the room as background noise. “But, the believers must honor their savior. I must have him notice me.” Sammy sighed and turned back towards them and walked back up to them.
“S-Sammy,” Jacqui managed to find her voice, although she stuttered slightly. “Don’t you… don’t you recognize me?” She wondered as the man drew closer to her.
Sammy crossed his inky arms and drummed his eight - he only had eight? - inky, fingers and thumbs against his arms in an irritated fashion. “You’re the bitch who broke my banjo.” He seemed to growl slightly. Jacqui winced at his words. He wasn’t wrong after all. She seemed to lose her train of thought and slightly turned her head towards the floor nervously. She started to feel more and more uncomfortable as the masked man continued to stare at her. “Hmm.” He seemed to think something over for a moment before he suddenly leaned down and lifted her chin back upwards to look at him. Jacqui’s eyes went wide in the process as soon as the liquid of the man’s hand touched her face. Sydney’s flailing escalated as soon as she saw the man touch her friend’s face and she tried to yell through her gag.
“You do seem familiar to me… that face…” Sammy seemed to trail off in thought.
Jacqui glanced around uncomfortably as the man continued to study her face. She looked back at the broken mask after gathering a bit of her courage. “I-I’m Jacqui. I-I knew you when I was just a little kid.” She explained.
Sammy let go of her face and took a step back almost as if he was surprised. He stared at her for a moment longer before he shook his head. “No, not now.” He seemed to command himself before looking back towards the two girls. “For our lord is calling to us, my two little sheep. The time of sacrifice is at hand!” He exclaimed and pointed at his prisoners.
“S-sacrifice?!” Jacqui squeaked in a panic but the man didn't seem to notice.
“And then, I will finally be freed from this... prison. This inky... dark... abyss I call a body.” Sammy looked down at his own arms as he spoke in almost a somber tone. He seemed to fall silent for a moment, caught up in the sudden emotion.
“Sammy-” Jacqui began but was instantly cut off.
“Shhhhh! Quiet! Listen! I can hear him. Crawling above. Crawling!” Sammy exclaimed. The girls were practically getting emotional whiplash from his sudden change of tone. A few small thumps were heard above them as and after the man spoke. The sounds caused Sydney to actually fall silent for a moment in panic before she started fighting her restraints yet again, this time with more urgency than before. Jacqui flinched when Sammy suddenly clapped his hands together in excitement, some of the black liquid splashing out from the impact. “Let us begin. The ritual must be completed!” He paused for a moment before leaning his head closer toward both of the girls. “Soon he will hear me... he will set us free." He said quietly before straightening back up and walking away to the left.
Jacqui finally joined Sydney in fighting the ropes that held her as soon as the man entered the other room and closed the door. Thanks to her tiny hands and wrists she managed to shimmy her arms free from the ropes. She leaned down to undo the rest of what bound her just as she heard the speaker system turn on.
"Sheep, sheep, sheep, It's time for sleep.” It was Sammy, he must be talking through a microphone in that other room. His voice seemed to help Jacqui move faster in freeing herself. “Rest your head. It's time for bed.” Sammy continued. By this time her legs were free. Jacqui stepped out from where she was bound but almost tripped over the untied rope in her panic. “In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you'll be dead.” Sammy continued as Jacqui started on the ropes that bound her friend.
“Hear me, Bendy! Arise from the darkness! Arise and claim my offerings!” Sammy started literally yelling through the microphone, his voice echoing in the room and down the halls. If something was around, it would definitely hear him.
“D-Did he say “Bendy”?” Jacqui paused in releasing her friend at the name before she shook her head and continued. She got Sydney's arms free. Jacqui stepped away as Sydney instantly tore the gag out of her mouth and leaned down to untie her own legs from the rope. Jacqui then turned to look at the door where Sammy went until her friend was free, although she did glance at a metal door that was rising on the other side of the room.
“Free me! I beg you! I summon you, ink demon! Show your face and take these tender sheep!” Sammy continued yelling. Jacqui took a step towards the door but stopped when things suddenly changed. “No!! My lord! Stay back! I am your prophet! I am your- AAAHHH!!” Sammy’s yelling turned to screaming and some inhuman noises were heard before the speakers fell silent. Jacqui whipped a hand up over her mouth when she saw a thick black liquid leak out from underneath the door where Sammy had gone.
Sydney finally managed to get her legs free and ran straight over to grab her axe. She then glanced over to her friend to see her transfixed with the ink flowing out from under the door. “Come on, Jacqui! We gotta go NOW!” She grabbed her friend’s hand preparing to drag her to the other exit. Before she could get her friend to safety though, another one of those ink monsters came out from the floorboards and lunged at them.
“Oh, not today mister!” Sydney fumed as she let go of Jacqui’s hand and swung her axe at it, bursting it into a puddle of ink. A few more monsters rose up and began to make their way towards the pair of them but Sydney had an axe and a murderous glint in her eye. The poor things didn't stand a chance.
Jacqui heard the sounds of Sydney fighting behind her, probably more of those ink creatures. However, her own focus remained on the closed door, ink continuing to seep out from underneath it. What had happened to Sammy? Did he die? What was in there? He had mentioned Bendy...but there was no way. Cartoons. Were. Not. Real. Jacqui shook her head as she kept getting flashes of memories of her spending time with her imaginary friend. It couldn't be - NO! It wasn't him, he wasn't real! She clenched her fists but she continued to glare at the door. She was here - as Sydney so gracefully put it - to face her demons. And that's just what she was going to do.
“I have had it up to HERE with these damn things!” Sydney yelled after she sliced up the last one. “Now come on Jacqui! Before something worse shows up.” She turned around to see her friend still staring at the door the Sammy had walked through, ink still spilling out from under it. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about that wack job, are you?” Sydney asked her friend. “It serves him right for trying to sacrifice us like that!”
Jacqui took a few steps forward and began walking toward the door she stared at with determination. She stopped suddenly when something grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She whipped her head around to see it was Sydney. “Come on, lets go!” Sydney’s voice was still full of panic as she began dragging her friend towards the door. “Whatever’s through that door is dangerous and I refuse to let you get hurt on my watch! I’m getting you the hell out of this place if it’s the last thing I do!”
“Gah!” Jacqui complained as her friend literally dragged her away from the room she had been so focused on. Guess facing her demons wasn't going to happen right now. “Hang on a second!” Jacqui complained as she tried to keep up. Luckily the two didn't get very far before they had to stop so Sydney could chop down more boards in their way.
While Sydney focused on chopping down the boards, Jacqui turned to look at a small branching hallway to their right. She narrowed her eyes as something moved downwards. She only caught a glimpse of it but she could have sworn that it was the ink machine. Was someone lowering it? Where were they lowering it to?
“SHIT!” Sydney's sudden outburst caused Jacqui to jump and whip around to her friend. Sydney stared at the floor and Jacqui followed her gaze down to see the head of the axe. The handle still remained in Sydney's grasp. The two girls no longer had a weapon.
“Um, hey,” Jacqui began. “I'm sure we can find something else to use as a weapon. It-it'll be alright.” She tried to comfort her friend. Jacqui knew Sydney was probably panicking at the thought of them suddenly being defenseless.
“Y-yeah.” Sydney could feel herself shaking all over. The determination she felt earlier was quickly replaced by fear. They couldn’t stop now though, they had to find a way out of this nightmare. Sydney slowly started to walk forward, seeing an ink filled hallway in front of them. Sydney felt a shiver go up her spine. “I have a bad feeling about this…”
Jacqui knew that her friend was in a panic. After taking a deep breath Jacqui patted her friend’s arm and walked ahead of her. She too, looked at the ink filled hallway ahead of them and gave a small sigh. There was always more ink… it was actually just ridiculous at this point. Jacqui lead the two of them a few steps before turning to look down a hallway to their left. She stopped and put a hand to her head as she thought. Her memories of this place were so fuzzy from it being so long ago but… she turned to look down the ink filled hallway again… she thought she remembered the exit being that way. She took another step towards the black liquid before she - like her friend - started getting a bad feeling.
Jacqui took another breath. “Come on… it's just… more ink.” Jacqui commented. She took another step and she swore she saw a ripple in the ink like something moved. No, she was probably just seeing things because of all these flashing lights, it was starting to grind on her brain. She took a few more steps forward. “More… fucking… inNNNNNNNAAAAAAHHHH!” Jacqui screamed when suddenly a figure burst out from the ink pool. It was huge and dripping with the black liquid. She fell backwards onto her butt and scrambled back a little ways. Ink started to seep through the ceiling and the walls around them.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” Sydney screamed with Jacqui when the creature burst forth. She instantly reached down and grasped onto Jacqui’s arm. She jerked her friend painfully from off the ground and instantly started running down the hallway that had been to their left, screaming the whole way.
Jacqui winced as she was lurched to her feet and literally dragged off by Sydney yet again. She was certain that she had bruises underneath all the ink at this point. She struggled to keep up with her friend, feeling like she was only slowing Sydney down but the girl would not let her go. Of course it didn’t help that Jacqui’s focus the entire time was behind them. The instant that they had started running the thing began to chase after them. It ran after them, the ink seemingly following its every move. It hunched forward, one large white, cartoonish gloved hand and the other a black ink covered clawed hand. It acted like it was trying to grab something. However, it was the face that Jacqui was focused on. That grin, she would know it anywhere, that was Bendy’s grin. They had seen it on practically every surface from within this building. Was-was this the Bendy that Sammy had mentioned?!
Jacqui started feeling panic begin to set in as the creature - this Bendy, this demon - grew closer and closer, he was faster than them. She tried to move her feet faster to help speed the two of them up but it didn’t seem to help. Jacqui’s eyes grew wide when she was sure that the gloved hand was just moments away from being able to grab her. Suddenly she was lurched forward by the arm that Sydney was still clenched onto and Jacqui stumbled forward through a doorway. She struggled to gain her balance as Sydney let go of her and let momentum carry her. Sydney stepped to the side and slammed the door shut, pushing a board down to lock it in place.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The door literally shook as something pounded against it from the other side. Jacqui wasn’t sure if the door would even be able to hold but she wasn’t about to find out. Without wasting another second Sydney grabbed onto her hand dragged her further away from what Jacqui could only describe as an ink demon. The two of them stumbled into yet another room, both girls breathing hard from both fear and exhaustion.
Sydney leaned forward with her hands on her knees, still panting heavily. Her lungs burned and her knees were still shaking. “What. In. The. World. Was. That?!” Sydney managed, breathing heavily between each word.
“Bendy.” Jacqui huffed. “That thing. It was… some weird… ink… demon… BENDY!” Jacqui explained between breaths. She looked at the door behind them with concern on her face. The only Bendy she really had known had been her imaginary friend Bendy. For only a split moment she thought if it could be the same one but then shook her head at that crazy thought. Her Bendy was just a figment of her imagination...right? And besides, her Bendy was only a 2D cartoon, not a giant ink monster.
“Seriously?!?” Sydney looked back at the door way they escaped through. “Does that mean your imaginary friend was real too? Did your parents waste all their money on therapy for nothing?!”
“There is no way that is the same Bendy! MY Bendy was a cartoon! He was a prankster, sure, but not some giant ink demonic fuck who is TRYING TO KILL US!” Jacqui suddenly got really defensive of her imaginary friend. She stomped her foot in the midst of her sudden tantrum.
“Sorry.” Sydney held up her hands defensively. “Your Bendy might be real though, if something like THAT THING can exist. Maybe-”
“NO! CARTOONS DON’T EXIST!” Jacqui snapped and instantly started stomping away from her friend.
“I mean… cartoons DO exist. The show was a thing. The character just don’t exist in the real world…” Sydney pointed out, lost in thought as her friend stomped away. “Hey! Wait up Jacqui!” Jacqui jumped when suddenly a can of bacon soup rolled out from behind the corner she had been walking towards.
Upon seeing the can of soup roll by, Sydney instantly moved in front of her friend, however her knees were still shaking uncontrollably. “Who’s there?!” Sydney called out, trying to sound intimidating but unable to mask the fear in her voice. “I know you’re there. Come out and show yourself!”
Both girls watched as a tall anthropomorphic wolf walked out from around the corner. They recognized him instantly. “Boris?!” They both questioned in unison from disbelief. However, before they could comment further, another figure emerged out from behind the corner. An older man in suspenders covered with ink splotches entered their view. Jacqui stared at him, there was something oddly familiar to her about him.
The man looked shocked to see them. “How-how did you two get in here?” He asked.
Jacqui’s eyes went wide upon hearing his voice. She knew that voice! “Henry?!” She questioned and took a step closer to the man.
“Wait… How do you know my name?” The man, named Henry apparently, looked even more confused.
“Wait… How do you know his name?!?” Sydney exclaimed, turning to look at her friend.
Boris looked back and forth between Henry and Jacqui and scratched the top of his head looking puzzled.
“Don’t you recognize me? My-my dad used to work here as an animator. I-I would’ve been just a little kid. I’m Jacqui.” Jacqui explained, putting a hand on her chest as if to emphasize that she was trying to describe herself.
“Jacqui…?” Henry looked thoughtful for a second before his eyes widened in recognition. “Jacqui! I remember. Wow, you’ve really grown up. I remember when you were just a little tyke causing a ruckus in the animation department.”
“Heh… yeah.” Jacqui rubbed her head with a little embarrassment. “I’m so glad we ran into you! What the hell is happening here?!” She perked up walking closer to him yet again. She gestured around them. “This place has turned into a horror show!”
“Hold up!” Sydney grabbed the back of Jacqui’s dress and pulled her back. “How do we know we can trust you!?” Sydney pointed an accusatory finger at Henry. “The last person we ran into who Jacqui remembered from the studio tried to sacrifice us!”
“Oh,” Henry began with a small chuckle. “So you’ve met Sammy then.” He noted.
Jacqui turned around and pouted up at her friend. “We can trust Henry, Sydney! Look he isn’t covered in ink like everything else in this damn hellhole!” Jacqui motioned toward the man.
“Um, he kind of is covered in ink.” Sydney gestured to all the ink stains covering Henry while the older man looked down at the marks with disdain.
“But you can still see skin! I mean...in all honesty we are about just as covered with ink.” Jacqui argued.
“Yeah… but…” Sydney bit her lip and looked up at Henry nervously. While she desperately wanted an ally down in this hell hole, she also did not want to be trusting when she shouldn’t and put her and her best friend in even more danger. Boris and Henry turned their heads back and forth as they watched the two girls argue as if they were watching a game of tennis.
“Look, Jacqui, Sydney…” Henry took a hesitant step forward, his hands in front of him in a pacifying gesture. “I know that two of you have been through hell, cause I’ve been through the same thing. Multiple times in fact. But I swear I won’t hurt either of you. I’ll do everything in my power to get you both out of here alive.” He gave the two of them an encouraging smile before extending a hand to them. “If you decide to trust us, I know a safe place where you can get some rest. It looks like the two of you could use it.”
Jacqui didn’t even need to think about it. She walked right over to the man and stood next to him before turning to look back at her friend. “‘C’mon Syd. You can trust the man.” Jacqui urged her friend with a smile. Boris frantically nodded his head at Jacqui’s statement.
Sydney still looked skittish, moving her gaze from her friend, to the toon and then back to Henry. Slowly, she extended her hand and grasped onto Henry’s. “O-okay then. Rest honestly sounds really good right about now.” Sydney admitted.
Jacqui gave a sigh of relief that everyone seemed to be getting along before she turned to look at Henry. “Okay, now that we have all agreed to trust each other. I gotta question.” She announced and her eye twitched. “IS THAT SERIOUSLY FUCKING BORIS BECAUSE I’M KIND OF LOSING MY MIND HERE?!” She suddenly snapped and pointed dramatically at the tall cartoon wolf.
Boris gave a silent chuckle while Henry sighed. “Trust me, you’ll get used to it kid.” He told Jacqui before patting her on the back. “Now let’s get going before the ink demon shows up again. I’m sure the shouting isn’t helping.”
---
A/N: We hope you enjoyed chapter 2! Mod Dead and I are staying on track so we should have chapter 3 up in exactly two weeks from now. And if you haven't already seen it you should check out the awesome cover art for this fic drawn by Dead herself, which you can find here.
#bendy and the ink machine#batim#bendy#henry stein#batim henry#henry batim#sammy lawrence#boris the wolf#baconsoupforthesoul#bacon soup for the soul#bsfts#reality check#batim fanfic
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Nintendo E3 Direct 2019: Reaction
I decided, for the second year in a row, to write my reactions to this years E3 Direct for all of y’all. Before the show starts, a couple predictions/guesses:
Obviously, we’re gonna get Smash Fighter Pack 2. I doubt it’s gonna be Banjo-Kazooie, just because that seems a bit too “Grinch-Leak”-esque to be realistic, if you know what I mean. That reveal will probably be either the first or last thing in the direct.
I imagine, like everyone else, we’re gonna be seeing a fair amount of Animal Crossing, just because there aren’t many other huge upcoming games we haven’t gotten exclusive directs about.
That said, we’ll probably learn a couple more things about Super Mario Maker 2, and maybe even Pokemon Sword and Shield. Nothing too huge, or game-changing, but a few additional details and maybe some later update stuff for SMM2.
We’ll probably hear more about the Link’s Awakening remake for Switch, just to tide over Zelda fans until Nintendo comes up with the next big 3D game (no disrespect to the 2D Zeldas, but the 3D titles are definitely big landmarks and game-changers).
Beyond that, some cool looking indie titles, even more ports, maybe a couple decent-sized 1st or 3rd party reveals, and that's about what I’m expecting. See y’all on the other side of the break.
So, before the show even starts, the YouTube live chat is memeing about tilt controls. Off to a fantastic start.
Ah, so mainly gonna be Switch. I’m down with that.
Like I said, starting with Smash. Though, this is definitely not framed how I expected.
Dragon Quest! Really? Okay! Wasn’t expecting it, but I’m sure this will make some people happy! Plus, as a sword myself, can’t say I’m too disappointed to have another.
Wait, are those three other skins? Like with the Koopalings? Cool.
And some magical abilities, looks cool to me, yeah! I imagine some will be disappointed, but I like it.
And, of course, they follow it up with the game the new guy’s from. So that's two characters who appeared in Smash before their game appeared on Switch. Odd.
Okay, starting with Mr. “Hired Just For His Name” himself. Gotta admit I found that entrance funny.
He’s...okay. Not the world’s most charismatic, but it’s fine. Koizumi is the hunk these days.
Ah, LM3. Should’ve figured.
Oh god, it’s Hotel Mario again.
Looks fun! I’m sure I’ll have fun with this.
Also, does this all mean Arlo was right?
Ah, so, Gooigi is an actually, like, thing? I guess that makes some sense.
And of course ScareScraper returns. It fits with the hotel theme.
Oh! It’s Tower of Terror! So, is this Rod Serling, or Jordan Peele?
Yeah, Doug Bowser is fine. He’s no Reggie, but then again, who is?
Ooh, Netflix? Whats this? Something from The Dark Crystal? Okay.
Ah, Link’s Awakening! This should be interesting.
I actually really like this chibi-esque art style. Seems like sort of an expansion on the style Link Between Worlds Used.
Wait, it’s Zelda Dungeon Maker too? Huh. That’s...unexpected. I dig it!
Alright, September! Sounds good.
Square Enix is doing a thing. What is this again?
Trials of Mana, huh? Fair enough.
...yeah, that’s about my feelings on the Mana series as a whole.
Okay, so Witcher? I guess. Why not? Seems weird to bring 3 over first, but I’ve heard good things.
Ah, more Fire Emblem stuff. Not much interest, and I feel like last FE direct did enough to advertise it, but I guess it makes sense. Odd we aren’t getting one of it’s characters in Smash soon, but I’m not complaining.
Yes, Mr. Koizumi, we all agree the Switch is an amazing piece of Hardware. No one is denying this.
So, play Resident Evil in an evil residence? Because it wasn’t scary enough to begin with? I guess?
Why does the guy sound surprised there are zombies in this game?
So they left went to a haunted house to play the haunted house game. Okay.
Why bother porting 5 and 6 over? 5 was generally regarded as average at best, and the less said about 6, the better.
I’m sorry, what?
No seriously, what the hell is this?
Wait, what? No More Heroes?
Didn’t we just get one of these?
Okay, so it’s officially 3. I guess that makes sense.
A Contra reboot?! Okay?! I mean, why the hell not?! Konami is officially insane.
Okay, seriously, what is up with Daemon X Machina? This is the third time I’ve seen this in a direct, and all I get is “Mechs blowing shit up.” Is that, like, just it? Whatever.
What the fuck, is this Joust or some shit?
Panzer Dragoon, huh? Looks like a Star Fox rip. Cool.
Ah, more Pokemon SW&SH. Pokeball Plus is always fun.
Okay, so there’s more than one Gym Leader. It looks like things are still good.
Okay, this is definitely a shift in gears.
So, there are just, like, two twins in this game? I think?
Looks like the Crash Titans games, but a sci-fi Hack & Slash ala other Platinum games.
Astral Chain. Forgot the name. Looks decent.
What the hell is Romero up to now?
What?
Ah. Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Still looks better than the new Avengers game.
Ooh, Ultimate Spider-Man AND Spider-Gwen AND Kamala Khan’s Miss Marvel? Looks cool!
Ah, Expansion Passes.
Ooh, Cadence of Hyrule. Nice to see Nintendo be friendlier with their IPs.
More Mario and Sonic Olympics? Was anyone asking for this? Wasn’t there a reason they didn’t make a 2018 one?
Holy shit! Already!?
So, there’s voice acting?
Deserted Island? This looks...interesting.
Okay, it looks like we can have at least eight players at once.
Ah, that Tom Nook. Always putting us in irreconcilable debt.
Damn, we have to wait until 2020? Ah well, as they say, a late game is eventually good, and an early game is always bad.
Woo! The quick montage! Yay
Spyro Seems fun.
Hollow knight sequel, natch.
Ni No Kuni, okay.
Can’t keep up, but wasn’t that the free-to-play Elder Scrolls game?
Alien Isolation anywhere, because we should be in mortal terror on buses.
Okay, was that a Stranger Things game?
The weird totally not Conker game, alright.
Just a few seconds of Mario Maker? Okay.
Wait, more DK? Smash?
Holy Shit, WHAT?!
No, seriously, what?!
Okay, I didn’t mention it, because it felt like that much of a long shot, but I figured they might reveal two fighter packs, since it’s been so long since Joker’s reveal, but...
BANJO-FUCKING-KAZOOIE?!
HOLY SHIT?!
Okay, so one last thing. Wonder what this’ll be.
Green squiggles?
Wait, is this...
Holy shit.
Holy Shit.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT.
WHAT.
NO.
NO FUCKING WAY.
DID THEY JUST.
ARE THEY REALLY.
OKAY.
NO.
I’M NOT RISKING SPOILING THIS BUT.
HOLY SHIT.
HOLY SHIT.
HOLY
FUCKING
SHIT.
...
So, yeah, I enjoyed that.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Chaos
So I saw this post from @islandguardiantapumeme , and I knew I had to write it.
Then I saw @blastmecaptcha wrote something and it was so good. So now I really want to write it.
Edit: Now has a longer fic.
Henry let out a sigh of relief as the ink machine gave a last screech, something akin to the scream of a dying animal, and was finally still. He’d done it. The ink machine was no more. Whatever strange magic it had possessed was gone. Now he just needed to get back upstairs and get out. He started to make his way up the stairs, dragging his ax behind him. As he reached Level P, he saw someone stumble out of the room to the left. It was a man wearing a driving cap. He was rather disheveled and Henry didn’t recognize him.
“Who the Hell are you?” The man asked, taking a step towards him. He sounded Irish. Henry didn’t know any Irishmen. For a moment, Henry froze. This could be real, or it could just be a hallucination. He had been breathing in a lot of ink fumes. As the man drew closer, Henry screamed and darted into the Little Miracle Station to his right, slamming the door shut. There had to be a lock on this thing.
“Hey! Come out! I asked you a question!” The man banged on the door to the station. Henry hunched down, hugging his knees. Maybe if he just stayed there, the man would go away. Unfortunately, the man didn’t seem to be going anywhere. The worst part? More people seemed to be gathering outside the box.
“What’s going on?” Someone else asked.
“I got no fucking clue.” The Irish man said. “I asked this bloke who he was and he ran in here.”
“Sir? Are you alright?” Someone else knocked on the box.
“Go away!” Henry pressed himself against the back of the station.
“Sir, we’re just trying to help you.” The person who knocked said. He had a sort of droll, monotonous voice. “My name is Grant Cohen. Would you mind telling us your name?” Grant Cohen? That was the studio accountant. But...it couldn’t be.
“Why’re you givin’ your name out?!” The Irish man yelled. “We don’t know him!”
“Mr. Flynn, please don’t yell,” Grant said. “You’ll startle him.” Henry started to sob quietly. This had to be a dream. He had to be hallucinating.
.
Joey was stuck. He’d been crawling through the vents, trying to find out where exactly Henry was, when he’d felt the magic of the ink machine fade. Suddenly, he was human again. He was considerably thinner than he’d been prior to becoming the ink demon, which made things easier for shimmying through the vents, but now his clothes were dragging him down. Given that he was much thinner now, his clothing was hanging off his frame, snagging on the edges and getting stuck. He huffed as he tried to drag himself through the vents. He was human again, so that was a plus, but on the other hand, it did mean that Henry had destroyed the machine and the other studio employees were human as well. They probably wouldn’t remember what he’d done to them, but just to be safe he knew he should probably get out and get as far away from the studio as possible. This was going to take some work, though.
.
Suse was woken up by the sound of fighting.
“Franks, spit it out.”
“No.”
“Wally, please, it’s unhygienic.”
“It’s mine and I love it.”
Susie sat up, looking around blearily. She was sitting in the middle area of the haunted house ride with a samurai sword at her side. A few feet away, Allison and Thomas were desperately trying to get Wally to spit out a...bone?
“Is that...a human bone?” Susie asked, blinking. Everyone turned to look at her.
“Hi, Miss Campbell.” Allison smiled nervously. “How...How’s it going?”
“My chest kind of hurts, but I think I’m alright.” Susie returned the expression wearily. She should have treated Allison better. The girl really wasn’t that bad. She shouldn’t have been so cruel to Allison. Girls had to stick together.
“Are you still...mad at me?” Allison asked, wandering over to where Susie was laying down. “I really am sorry about taking your role. I didn’t mean to-”
“Sweetie, it’s alright.” Susie pulled her into a hug. “If anything, I should be the one apologizing. It wasn’t your fault Joey gave you the role. I shouldn’t have taken things as far as I did.” She didn’t remember everything she’d done to Allison, but she knew she’d been a bitch. “I’m so sorry, Allison.”
“You...You really mean it?” Allison’s whole face lit up.
“I do.” Susie nodded, pulling away. “I’ve been terrible to you.”
“You have n-no idea how much this means to me.” Allison started to sniffle. “I always admired you, Miss Campbell. I just wanted your approval.”
“Oh, Allison.” Susie smiled softly.
“No way.” Wally’s mouth hung open and the bone dropped to the ground. Thomas scooped it up and stuck it into his pocket.
“No, wait, give that back!” Wally whined, looking towards Thomas. “It was good!”
“You don’t know where it’s been,” Thomas said.
“So, um, how did we get here?” Susie let Allison help her up. “I don’t remember coming down here.”
“I don’t remember losing my arm, but here we are.” Thomas held up his left arm, revealing it was now replaced by an animatronic arm.
“Does it hurt?” Susie asked.
“Nah.” Thomas shrugged slightly. Wally was trying to get the bone out of the other man’s pocket, but Thomas swatted his hand away. Wally legitimately made a doglike whimpering sound. They could almost see his ears drooping. Allison couldn’t help but giggle. Susie joined in.
“Let’s get out of here, alright?” She suggested. “Maybe someone else knows what’s going on.”
“Sure, why not?” Thomas headed for the door, which had a hole in it the size of a bumper car. As Susie looked around, the destruction was plain. It looked like some kind of fight had taken place there. Allison latched herself onto Susie’s arm, delighted that the two of them had made up. Wally followed behind Thomas, trying to get at the bone in Thomas’ pocket. Eventually, the other mechanic just gave up and handed it over, allowing Wally to keep gnawing on it. As they made their way out into the main warehouse, they found Lacie Benton walking out as well.
“Benton, nice to see you.” Thomas smiled slightly and held out his hand.
“Thomas Connor. How are you doing, you bastard?” Lacie chuckled and took his hand, shaking it vigorously.
“Hi, Lacie,” Wally said through his bone.
“Hello, Franks.” Lacie nodded in his direction. “What’s with the bone?”
“Dunno. Woke up with it. It tastes good!”
“That’s nice.” Lacie sighed.
“What are you doing?” Allison asked.
“Piedmont got stuck in his precious machine,” Lacie replied. “Wants me to get him out. Figure I’ll let him stew for a little bit before I actually get him out.”
“Ugh, Piedmont.” The group collectively said together. No one was particularly fond of Bertrum. He was just a real prick in general. A few more people were coming out of the various rooms that led off of the warehouse. They waved to the small group and continued on. The group waved back before saying goodbye to Lacie and heading out. Despite Thomas’ objections, they were headed for the elevator. Unfortunately, they soon found that that wouldn’t be an option.
“Well, if we want to get out we should probably take the stairs,” Wally said, staring at the wreck of the elevator.
“Always knew this thing would crash someday,” Thomas muttered.
“At least I’m not wearing heels.” Allison and Susie said together. They giggled at the jinx. Thomas couldn’t help but smile a little at this. Wally was already starting up the stairs. It was going to be a long way up.
.
Bertrum didn’t know why he’d woken up in the central column of his carousel and he didn’t particularly care. All he wanted was to get out. It was cramped and dark and his arms were starting to hurt. He’d managed to convince that Benton woman to help him, but she’d left quite a while ago. He was starting to think she wasn’t coming back. There was probably a reason she wasn’t too eager to help him. Maybe he’d been a bit too cruel to them. He sighed and tried to wriggle around a little. He didn’t like being cooped up like this. All he could do was sit here and wait for Lacie to come help him. He hated depending on people like this.
.
Norman had been surprised that the first thing he heard upon coming back to the waking world was yelling. Specifically, the sound of Shawn Flynn and Grant Cohen arguing. He got up from what appeared to be an operating table and headed out. He had to go down a flight of stairs, but once he did he found a small group of people gathered outside a box. Shawn and Grant were standing in front of the box, yelling at one another.
“What’s going on here?” Norman asked, pushing through the crowd.
“Shawn saw someone run into this box and we’re trying to figure out how to get him out,” Grant explained.
“He took one look at me and bolted!” Shawn said. “I don’t look that bad, do I?”
“You look fine,” Norman assured him vaguely. He went over to the box and peered inside. It was too dark for him to see the person inside, but he could make out a shock of white hair.
“Hello? Are you alright?” Norman asked. The man inside started to cry as soon as he laid eyes on Norman.
“What the....?” Norman took a step back.
“Great, now he’s crying,” Shawn said. “We’re never going to get him out!”
“Mr. Flynn, please calm down.”
.
Sammy was awoken by the gentle sound of whispering. As soon as he opened his eyes, though, the whispering stopped. It looked like he was in the recording booth. How had he ended up there? He sat up and immediately screamed. Why wasn’t he wearing a shirt?! He quickly got up and got a good look at who had been whispering. The members of the band, all equally drenched in ink, had been watching him through the glass of the window. They were now trying desperately to pretend they hadn’t been watching him.
“Which one of you bastards took my shirt?!” He demanded, storming out of the recording booth and making his way over to the band room.
“None of us, sir.” The banjo player, Drake, said. “We all woke up like this.”
“But why am I not wearing a shirt?!”
“We don’t know.” The piano player shrugged.
“But we’re really enjoying the view.” The cello player giggled. Sammy went bright red and tried to cover his chest.
“Sammy? That you?” Jack Fain stuck his head into the band room. “Where’s your shirt?”
“I DON’T KNOW, OKAY?!” Sammy snapped. “I AM VERY UNCOMFORTABLE RIGHT NOW!”
“Mm.” Jack walked in, looking Sammy over. “I never knew you were this...You know.”
“None of us did.”
“I’m getting out of here,” Sammy muttered, bright red, and stormed out of the music department.
“I’ll come with you!” Jack ran after him. “I’m sorry, Sammy! I didn’t mean to upset you!”
.
When Allison, Susie, Thomas, and Wally finally made their way to level P, the crowd around the box had almost filled the entire floor.
“What’s going on here?” Wally frowned, chewing on his bone.
“Mr. Cohen! Mr. Polk!” Allison pushed her way through the crowd. “What’s going on?”
“Some guy shut himself up in the box and we’re trying to get him out,” Norman said.
“Oh dear.” Allison tried to peek into the box. “Sir? Are you alright?”
“‘M fine.” The man inside muttered.
“That voice sounds familiar.” Susie frowned as she drew closer. “Where have I heard it before?” As soon as she stepped into sight, the man in the box let out an ear-piercing shriek.
“Guess he doesn’t like you,” Shawn said.
“Yeah, I can understand that.” Susie drew into herself. Allison latched herelf to Susie’s side, trying to assure her that everything was going to be okay. Thomas just sort of stood there, hands in his pockets. He wasn’t too terribly interested in the strange man in the box.
“D’ya think he wants a bone?” Wally asked, sticking the bone through the slat in the box.
“Boris?” The man asked in a small voice.
“No. Wally.”
“Boris, you’re alright.” Blue eyes appeared in the slat, pushing the bone away.
“I just told you, my name’s Wally,” Wally said, taking a step back.
“I-I’m so glad you’re n-not dead.” The man was starting to cry again, reaching a hand out to touch Wally’s face.
“Yeah, uh, me too.” Wally nodded slowly. “Being dead is, uh, real great.” Suddenly, a vent cover rocketed across the room, and a bedraggled Joey Drew climbed out. He was considerably thinner than he’d been the last time anyone had seen him, but it was definitely him.
“Fuck.” Joey looked around at everyone in the room.
“Hi, Mr. Drew.” The employees said together.
“What were you doing in the vents, Mr. Drew?” Grant asked, walking over. “Also, I have some serious concerns about our expense reports.” Just then the door to the box burst open and a blue blur passed across the room. The man from the box grabbed Joey by his lapels and hoisted him into the air.
“JOEY!”
“Oh! It’s Henry!” Susie said, clapping her hands together. “He looks much older, though.”
“Henry? The co-founder of the studio?” Allison’s eyes widened. “Whoa. I never thought I’d meet him in person.”
“Should we get him offa Joey?” Wally asked.
“Let him get his aggression out.” Grant and Thomas stopped him. Well, Grant stopped him. Thomas was holding Grant and Shawn’s hands and refusing to let them go.
#bendy and the ink machine#fanfiction#henry#shawn flynn#grant cohen#joey drew#susie campbell#wally franks#allison pendle#thomas connor#lacie benton#bertrum piedmont#norman polk#sammy lawrence#jack fain
315 notes
·
View notes
Note
au where eddie a violinist and richie plays guitar. richie hates classical music until he meets eddie and eddie hates loud rock music till he meets richie.
i am sorry this took so long but i have been a Busy Bee. this is also dedicated to @ilikemethestanbrough who wanted to hear about richie playing the guitar as well! i hope you both enjoy!
ok so here’s the concept: richie and eddie meet in the local music store
eddie’s buying a new bow for his violin, after his mom accidentally stepped on it after he left it out on the floor
richie’s in the guitar section, running his fingers over shiny electric guitars and admiring the metallic buzz of their strings
his dad bought him an acoustic guitar for christmas last year, a cheap starter model because u KNOW richie was the type of kid who went through a new phase every week and his parents have learned to wait until he committed before shelling out cash for nice things
anyway eddie’s mom is distracted talking to the shop lady about pricing for new carbon-fiberd bows and eddie wanders off, past the percussion and drumset section, running his hands over the songbooks for piano beginners, and finds himself in the guitar section
there’s a row of bass guitars with thick strings and a small selection of toy-instruments, like ukuleles, that eddie studies
he wishes he could get a banjo or something and play along to the indie rock he listens to without his ma knowing
there’s a few mandolins tucked into the corners and eddie picks one up, light brown with a shiny neck
it’s close enough to a violin that it feels familiar in eddie’s hands, except he cant quite figure out how he’s supposed to hold it
“oi, need some help?” he hears behind him and whirls around, expecting to find a shopkeeper angry at him for touching without permission
but it’s just another high school kid, probably his age, with big glasses and wearing a hawaiian shirt
(like if buddy holly was a jimmy buffet fan)
“you’re holding it wrong you loon” the boy says, pointing at how eddie is trying to balance this mandolin on his shoulder like a fucking nerd
“i know” eddie snaps, bringing the instrument down to his side
his cheeks are alight and the boy only smiles at him, big and bucktoothed
“it’s like a guitar,” the kid explains patiently, taking the mandolin from eddie with careful but quick fingers, like he knows how expensive it is and doesn’t want to break it but is maybe too excited to stop himself from grabbing it fast, and loops the strap over his head
it rests near his chest, higher than a guitar, and his fingers stretch over the frets comfortably
he strums, ringing out with this pleasing high register and eddie falls in love with the mandolin immediately
anyway the boy plucks out a quick song, something folksy like idk man of constant sorrow or something and eddie is watching transfixed the whole time
because he’s always been fascinated by the guitar but knows his Ma would never go for it because “rock and roll is a slippery slope, eddie” but the mandolin is a cross between the guitar and violin and it sounds so twangy and beautiful and eddie can already hear the band in his head, a mandolin and maybe a flute and a guitar and a cello and it sounds so right
of course his ma has to ruin it
he hears her before he sees her, loud steps as she rounds the corner into the guitar room and spots him with some strange boy
“eddie!” she exclaims and he freezes, the boy looking up from the instrument and meeting his eyes
“i gotta go” eddie says quickly, brushing past him and trying not to anger his momma any more than he already has by wandering off
“wait” the boy says, pulling the instrument over his head and dropping it on the rack where eddie picked it up from “i’m richie!” he says and eddie wants to stay, wants to listen to richie play music for the rest of the afternoon but his Ma is tapping her foot and looking furious
so eddie leaves
he stays by his ma’s side as she hands money for his bow over to the shopkeeper, ranting about him wandering off the whole time and eddie wants to be remorseful because his ma’s got that wild look in her eyes she gets when eddie does something that scares her
but he just cant stop thinking about richie and the mandolin
when they finally walk out of the store, they round the corner and eddie looks in the window
richie is still in the guitar room, alone, and with a fender electric guitar over his head
he’s fake-strumming, wildly and like he’s some kind of crazy rock star
eddie makes himself look away, away from the boy with wild hair and a rocker’s heart
he tells his friend all about it the next day in orchestra, turning around from his second-chair violinists seat to talk to the first-chair cello, stan
“i’ve heard of mandolins before,” stan says thoughtfully, balancing his instrument on his chest “they’re usually for bluegrass”
“bluegrass” eddie says, wondering
and after school he bikes to the record store in town
“do you have any bluegrass?” he asks breathlessly and the shopkeeper points him towards the country section
and eddie finds himself in the sounds of bluegrass, in twanging melodies and a marriage of classic instruments playing unclassical songs
because in bluegrass all the musicians are talented yet unafraid to play poorly, more with style than grace
and he LOVES IT
he brings home records and waits until his Ma has her shows turned up really loudly and puts them on and practices the fingerings on his own violin, trying to learn complicated solos and I IV V blues riffs, stomp and holler fucking music and he tries not to sing along too loudly but it’s the kind of music that makes you wanna run around in a field and dance
anyway long story short eddie seeks richie out and they start a bluegrass indie band
richie brings in this rock influence, power chords and guitar solos, and eddie brings in classical influence in the way he maps out solos in his head and tries to have complicated chord structure
stan is their cello player and bill denbrough, richie’s friend, plays a small drum set
and eddie and richie together are a mandolin, high pitched and sweet
send me requests/headcanons/prompts!!!
#reddie#richie tozier#eddie kaspbrak#it headcanons#it 2017#it stephen king#my writing#i wanted to put more in here abt richie being a pretentious mess who wants to be the Local Emo Boy who does open mics playing acoustic#versions of old rock songs#and eddie has to be like 'my dude u gotta stop this shit lets just have fun'#anyway
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
TIM’S RITES OF PASSAGE PART 2
14th: Sean- R.I.P Sean. I'm sorry that I ended up voting you out but that was only because what I was telling you was being leaked. You are a really cool person and personally I liked you a bunch and wanted to work with you but its just that our goals and ideas didn't align. You were with your people and I was with mine and I think we were after eachothers allies. Before you left you said I was going to get played but I'm not banjo getting strung along or flute. I hope that there's no hard feelings and I hope to see that you're doing good.
13th: Aj- I finally finished watching Survivor Maryland All stars! I'm not sure of you care or not lol but it was really good and I enjoyed it. I'm glad that we found something in common that we could talk about, even if it was just for a little bit. I genuinely loved how unfiltered you were and how you would and could say anything that was on your mind and I respect that. I apologize for voting you out but I hope you understand that I had to in order to get where I am today. See you soon, well hopefully not too soon but one round after soon lol.
12th: Kage- Kage you had an incredible social game and you were phenomenal. Not to mention that you had an idol in your back pocket? Now that's real power. I want to explain if you allow, why I voted you out. You were essentially in the position that I wanted to place myself in which was right in the middle of things safe and sound. If no idols were played that round that I'm sure that I would be where you are and you would be here. I hope that you're doing ok and still as goofy as ever multiple shirt icon lol.
11th: Matt- Matt MOTHERFRICKIN Summers. Boi have you done an amazing job gamewise. You've gotten eliminated and cameback, found an idol and played it, and bounced back with a majority. That's extremely impressive. I really enjoyed playing the game with you and socializing a bunch with you and I still look forward to playing Fallout 76 with you! Im holding that to you lol. After Tee left I had to find someone else to love with all of my heart and it turned out to be you and Lily. Summers I wholeheartedly think that you're a kind soul and a wholesome and pure person and it sucks that I had to vote you out but I had to seperate my personal feelings from my game and flip on you because I knew I was at the bottom over there right along with Mak. I hope you can forgive me if I caused you any grief. I'm gonna close this out with some words from the heart: "In the chill of Fall and the warmth of Spring. And even in icey Winter. I'm always burning up inside because regardless of the season, its always Summer with Matt Summers in my heart". PS: So theres this game called Dead by Daylight that I LOVE and its free if you have Ps plus so download it so we can play after the game lol.
10th: Nick- Nick I just want to start off by saying believe it or not... your vote was the most difficult one that I've ever had to do. Not because we were oh so close or the best allies ever in this game, but because you came here to play the game and you stopped at absolutely nothing to do that. You were able to think critically and even attempt to work me, not one of your biggest fans at that time, all for the sake of the game and great gameplay. That following round after Matt left I talked and talked with you and I genuinely and from the bottom of my heart enjoyed it and it was in that moment I knew that I wanted to play the rest of the game with you. I had put aside all of our past differences and focused on who you were and how you thought and I found myself in that. Duncan, however was adamnt about sending you home and once again I had to seperate my personal feelings from my game and vote for you because Owen had immunity and I knew that you were in fact a threat. The only thing that allowed me to do that was when you told everyone the round before something along the lines of.. "Lets do this even if its for one round". I hope that you can see me for the player I am and acknowledge that our past differences had nothing to do with your voting out and I wasn't bitter. I do think that you're a good guy Nick and I hope that all you deal is a deck full of hearts ♡(get it because you're a poker dealer) and you land that gal you've been talking to. I respect and appreciate you mijo.
9th: Mak- Maksym!! Ah good ole Maksy boy! I'm very proud of you for returning to the game and making it so far. Although I only got to know you a little bit for the time you were here Im sure that you're a great young person with a bright future.
8th: Rodrigo- Before you left you told me "Fuck you and your little friend" and Im so sorry that you feel that way about me and I hope you don't hate me. I know that leaving the game after working so hard has to hurt severely badly. In reality I didn't even vote against you. But you know who did? The very same person who you were trying to save.. Owen. Who voted for you twice! As well as Duncan. I actually voted out RJ because I didn't want to flip on you even though you were trying to protect Owen. Besides that fact, I did enjoy talking to you while you were on vacation and out enjoying yourself and I felt like we connected over boys and videogames and stuff. I hope that I can see you again one day and forge a brand new great relationship thats unrelated to the game.
7th: RJ- Firstly RJ I am so sorry that you went home. I had no idea that you were going to go the round you had went out. But what I truly want to apologize for is not giving you a valif reason as to why I had voted for you on Rodrigos round. The truth of that matter is that I only voted you so that I could maintain the trust that I had formed with Christian and Jake and stay loyal to them but that would only happen at the cost of losing your trust and respect but I hope you understand that I only did that because the trust of two people seemed greater than the trust of one, who at that time was loyal to his allies down to a fault. Besides all of that, I look forward to buying something from Thread and helping out their cause as well as indirectly supporting you lol. I hope that everything is all good between us and that I can somehow fix what went wrong. Thank you for playing as wellas you did and being as great as you are.
6th: Jake- JAKE BROOOOO I had literally no idea that you were going home and I was PISSED as HELL that you left. I genuinely wantedthe 4 of us to be at the end together but Duncan went and fucked all of that up. I'm so sorry for not seeing that coming and stopping it. I really do appreciate you and your game though Jake. You were one of THE most loyal individuals this game has and you showed that time and time again you were trustworthy. I'm aware that sometimes I failed to do that and play as respectfully as you did but in the end I was loyal to you 10000% percent. Even though I was blindsided with RJ gone I still trusted you and knew that you wouldn't turn on me. All bitterness was absent from me but yk who (Duncan) took it upon himself to be SELFISH and maybe bitter and take you out. And in that moment even I, Tim, was blindsided. Not only was my game blindsided by who I thought was my closest ally but also my heart. Once you left I couldn't even see a path towards the end anymore and I felt completely lost and ready to get voted out but I knew that I had to keep fighting. Fighting for myself, fighting for you, fighting for all the little kids at your camp and fighting because.. fighting was all you ever did in the game, and boy were you quite the fighter and underdog. I hope that I can see you again Jake and play another game in the future with you maybe. I love you bro and I miss you in the game and at camp :'-).
5th: Lily- LILY you are one of my absolute favorite people that I've met in this game. Even though my game wasnt the most truthful and trustworthy, everything I ever told you was genuine. Every time I told you that I loved you was real. Every meme, from the heart. Even the cute Final 2 image I made still makes me smile inside today :-). I LOVED getting to know you and talking to you every day at the first part of merge and after Tee left you and Matt were like my absolute favvvvvvvorite people to talk to because you both were so welcoming and warm and just genuinely kind and inviting. I want you to know Lily that although we weren't able to hold up our final 2 and make it a reality, every single thing I said in that last moment and every second of me talking to you and wanting to make a move was real. I would never waste your time like that and make you hurt even more than what was already to come and anyone who would is disgusting and sick. I wished that we could have made something shake but I hope that you forgive me for playing with deciet and untruthfully. You're one of the last people I wanted to hurt and I'm sorry if I ever did and I understand if you never forgive me. I hope to talk to you after the game and still attend your wedding as Olaf if I'm still invited lol.
0 notes
Text
Invasion Of The Coffee Snatchers
“There’s another one! What is that, like, the fifth one this month?” Lew said as she and Bobbie drove passed the newest location for Stepford Coffee Roasters.
“They’re buying up all the struggling coffee shops. They must be doing something right, though. Do you ever remember seeing a line like that when it was a Jolt?” Bobbie replied.
“You mean, like, yesterday? How did they even get the signage up that fast?”
“Australian ingenuity.”
“What does that even mean?” Lew asked incredulously.
“You have to hand it to the Aussies. They didn’t create the flat white or avocado toast, but that hasn’t stopped them from acting like they did. They’ve rode that popularity all the way to the top of the coffee culture food chain.”
“So every time some asshole mashes half an avocado on a piece of bread I’m supposed to shit myself with gratitude.”
“Australian ingenuity.”
“Australian ingenuity,” Lew conceded. “They replaced the old Shocks. No more Shocks.”
“Yeah but who even went there anyway?”
“I did!”
“I think it’s great. The coffee scene was getting stale. We needed some new blood to perk things up a bit.”
“Feel that way now?” Lew asked a smirk, pointing as the pair drove past yet another new Stepford shop.
“Oh HELL no! Not Insomnia!”
Like a lot of baristas in town, Bobbie had gotten their start in coffee at Insomnia. It wasn’t a specialty shop by any stretch—it sold more frappes than lattes by a large margin—but the late-night cafe held a special place in the local coffee scene’s heart. It was an institution.
“Turn around. We’re going in.” Bobbie demanded. They were incensed at the audacity. Lew’s righteous anger had transformed into the sort of smug self-satisfaction you can only get when telling your best friend “told ya so.”
“I think it’s great. We needed some new blood.”
“Don’t do that. Just turn the car around.”
Pulling into the parking lot, Bobbie and Lew barely recognize the building that was once the beloved hangout. Insomnia was like a time machine that transported you back into a late ‘90s coffee shop: dingy, with poorly-drawn murals adorning each of the dark-colored walls, bulletin boards full of flyers, some from years ago. (That Mumford & Sons cover band never found their banjo player, but four of the flyer’s tabs containing contact information had been removed at least.)
But Insomnia was gone now, the wall of syrups, the rickety stage for tragicomic open mic nights, the grinder with the little piece of plastic screwed into it keeping the baristas from adjusting the grind size, all of it. And in its place stood the hyper-white, overexposed, clean to the point of sterile Stepford Coffee. The only thing left unchanged was the owner, Jim Childress, a Gen X burnout still trying (and failing) at his whole “Ethan Hawke in Slackers” look.
Bobbie and Lew stood in the doorway of the Stepford nee Insomnia, mouths agape. Jim spied his ex-employee and ran right over.
“Isn’t it great?!” Jim beamed.
“Love what you did with the place, J Man,” Lew said, chronically incapable of not needling Bobbie.
“This is a disgrace, James,” Bobbie stated sternly. They always called him James when they were upset with him, as they often were when under his employ.
“Oh c’mon, Bobbie, this place needed a change. Just give it a shot. Take a seat and I’ll send Audrey over to take your order.”
“There’s table service now?!” Bobbie was nonplussed.
Lew and Bobbie took a seat at one of the few available tables—all brand new—and waited for Audrey to come take their order.
“At least they kept some of the staff. This place just wouldn’t be the same without Audrey,” Bobbie said, and they were right. Audrey was about two decades into her Hot Topic phase and she was kind of the gatekeeper at Insomnia; once Audrey was something other than standoffish to you, you knew you were in.
“How did they get all that nasty old paint off the walls?” Bobbie wondered to no one in particular.
“Australian ingen…”
“Don’t.”
“Oy bruvs, can I getcha an avo smash and a flatty?”
“We’re good tha…” Lew’s words trailed as she looked up to see Audrey. But not the Audrey she remembered. A different Audrey, bedecked in a crisp white dress shirt and a fresh pair of jeans under a leather trimmed denim apron. The non-descript Oceanic affect was new as well. So was the vapid smile.
“What did they do to you?” Bobbie asked.
“It’s pretty great, huh? So what’ll it be? Tables are for paying customers only.”
“Just a coffee.”
“Same,” said Lew.
“Right now on filter we have a washed Yirgacheffe, a honeyed Costa Rica, and if you want to try some kinda wild, we have an anaerobic g-g-g-g-g-g-esh-ur-ur-ur.” Audrey’s head began to kick repeatedly to the side, her face contorting with each spasm. As the tics continued to get stronger, Jim ran over to usher Audrey to the back.
“Sorry about that, the staff has been under a lot of stress learning the new menu so fast. Come along, Audrey, let’s go take a quick break.”
“Is she ok?” Lew asked.
“She’ll be fine. Still working out the kinks. Did I hear y’all wanted to try the Gesha?”
“Forget it,” Bobbie said, “our shifts start pretty soon. We should probably go.”
“I hear Stepford just bought Man-O-War. We’ll all be in the same coffee family again!” Jim said to Bobbie with a sheepish grin. Bobbie’s face grew ashen. How could Man-O-War, their beloved coffee shop they had devoted so many years of their life to up and sell out like that? It’s not like it was even struggling.
“Come on, Bobbie, we’re gonna be late,” Lew said, concerned.
Back in the car, the two drove silently towards Man-O-War, wondering if there was any truth to Jim’s revelation.
“They can’t, right?” Lew asks, breaking a silence in that ten-minute car ride that felt like hours.
“Jim’s full of shit,” Bobbie spits, trying to convince themself as much as they were Lew.
“Only one way to find out.”
As Lew and Bobbie headed behind the counter at Man-O-War to clock in, Bobbie sees Andrew, the owner, shaking hands with a handsome 50-something man in a Stepford Coffee Roasters logoed shirt.
“What’s going on here? Who’s that?” Bobbie demands.
“This is Steve Hogan. He’s with Stepford Coffee Roasters.”
“And why is he here? You’ve let the devil in your home, Andrew.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything just yet but I guess the cat is out of the bag,” Andrew said. “We partnering with Stepford Coffee to make some updates to this place. It’s going to increase efficiency. We think you’re really going to like them.”
“You mean you sold out,” Bobbie says.
“It’s more like a collaboration.”
“So this’ll still be Man-O-War?” Lew interjects, hoping to deescalate the situation.
“No, we’re rebranding as a Stepford, but there will…”
“Screw this, I’m outta here. I quit,” Bobbie fumes.
“What?! Bobbie, you can’t walk out and leave me to work the shift alone!” Lew pleads.
“Come with me then. There are still shops in this town that have a soul.”
“I… I can’t. I need this paycheck. It’ll still Man-O-War, at least for a while, right? We can look for something else together.”
“Not to me it isn’t. I can’t be here right now. I’ll walk home.”
“Let ‘em go,” Andrew said to Lew. “I think you may change your mind about this place once you see what your pay is going to be once we’re a Stepford.”
“I’m sorry, Bobz, I have to stay.”
“Fine, but call me after your shift. We need to talk about this.”
“Bye Bobbie.”
“Fuck off, Andrew.”
Hours pass and no word from Lew. Man-O-War would have closed three hours ago now and still nothing. She’s not picking up her phone either. Alone, newly-unemployed, and life in general disarray from the day’s events, Bobbie drinks themself to sleep while watching the last episode of Lodge 49 that they were supposed to be watching with Lew.
The next morning, hung over, angry, and under-caffeinated, Bobbie decides to head up to Man-O-War to see what Lew’s deal is. But upon arriving, it’s no longer Man-O-War. All the signage has overnight been changed to Stepford.
This is all too weird. The bones of the shop remind Bobbie of their former employer, but everything else about it is a clone of what Insomnia became. Andrew spots Bobbie and heads to meet them.
“I just want to talk to Lew and then I’ll leave,” Bobbie interjects before Andrew can say a word.
“No problem. Take a seat and I’ll have her come over and take your order.”
“Table service? Ugh”
Bobbie sits at the nearest open table, their eyes darting around the building wondering how all these changes were made so quickly. Whatever it was they loved—or thought they loved—about what this place used to be is gone.
“Fancy a flatty?” a semi-Australian voice said.
Bobbie’s lip begins to quiver as they look up to see the origin of the question.
“Or maybe you’d prefer a filter. If you want to try some kinda wild, we have an anaerobic g-g-g-g-g-g-esh-esh…”
Bobbie’s eyes fill with tears as Andrew comes over to usher the server away.
“We’ll still working out the glitches,” Andrew says to Bobbie, stricken motionless with panic and sadness.
“Did I hear you wanted to try the Gesha?”
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
The post Invasion Of The Coffee Snatchers appeared first on Sprudge.
Invasion Of The Coffee Snatchers published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee
0 notes
Text
Invasion Of The Coffee Snatchers
“There’s another one! What is that, like, the fifth one this month?” Lew said as she and Bobbie drove passed the newest location for Stepford Coffee Roasters.
“They’re buying up all the struggling coffee shops. They must be doing something right, though. Do you ever remember seeing a line like that when it was a Jolt?” Bobbie replied.
“You mean, like, yesterday? How did they even get the signage up that fast?”
“Australian ingenuity.”
“What does that even mean?” Lew asked incredulously.
“You have to hand it to the Aussies. They didn’t create the flat white or avocado toast, but that hasn’t stopped them from acting like they did. They’ve rode that popularity all the way to the top of the coffee culture food chain.”
“So every time some asshole mashes half an avocado on a piece of bread I’m supposed to shit myself with gratitude.”
“Australian ingenuity.”
“Australian ingenuity,” Lew conceded. “They replaced the old Shocks. No more Shocks.”
“Yeah but who even went there anyway?”
“I did!”
“I think it’s great. The coffee scene was getting stale. We needed some new blood to perk things up a bit.”
“Feel that way now?” Lew asked a smirk, pointing as the pair drove past yet another new Stepford shop.
“Oh HELL no! Not Insomnia!”
Like a lot of baristas in town, Bobbie had gotten their start in coffee at Insomnia. It wasn’t a specialty shop by any stretch—it sold more frappes than lattes by a large margin—but the late-night cafe held a special place in the local coffee scene’s heart. It was an institution.
“Turn around. We’re going in.” Bobbie demanded. They were incensed at the audacity. Lew’s righteous anger had transformed into the sort of smug self-satisfaction you can only get when telling your best friend “told ya so.”
“I think it’s great. We needed some new blood.”
“Don’t do that. Just turn the car around.”
Pulling into the parking lot, Bobbie and Lew barely recognize the building that was once the beloved hangout. Insomnia was like a time machine that transported you back into a late ‘90s coffee shop: dingy, with poorly-drawn murals adorning each of the dark-colored walls, bulletin boards full of flyers, some from years ago. (That Mumford & Sons cover band never found their banjo player, but four of the flyer’s tabs containing contact information had been removed at least.)
But Insomnia was gone now, the wall of syrups, the rickety stage for tragicomic open mic nights, the grinder with the little piece of plastic screwed into it keeping the baristas from adjusting the grind size, all of it. And in its place stood the hyper-white, overexposed, clean to the point of sterile Stepford Coffee. The only thing left unchanged was the owner, Jim Childress, a Gen X burnout still trying (and failing) at his whole “Ethan Hawke in Slackers” look.
Bobbie and Lew stood in the doorway of the Stepford nee Insomnia, mouths agape. Jim spied his ex-employee and ran right over.
“Isn’t it great?!” Jim beamed.
“Love what you did with the place, J Man,” Lew said, chronically incapable of not needling Bobbie.
“This is a disgrace, James,” Bobbie stated sternly. They always called him James when they were upset with him, as they often were when under his employ.
“Oh c’mon, Bobbie, this place needed a change. Just give it a shot. Take a seat and I’ll send Audrey over to take your order.”
“There’s table service now?!” Bobbie was nonplussed.
Lew and Bobbie took a seat at one of the few available tables—all brand new—and waited for Audrey to come take their order.
“At least they kept some of the staff. This place just wouldn’t be the same without Audrey,” Bobbie said, and they were right. Audrey was about two decades into her Hot Topic phase and she was kind of the gatekeeper at Insomnia; once Audrey was something other than standoffish to you, you knew you were in.
“How did they get all that nasty old paint off the walls?” Bobbie wondered to no one in particular.
“Australian ingen…”
“Don’t.”
“Oy bruvs, can I getcha an avo smash and a flatty?”
“We’re good tha…” Lew’s words trailed as she looked up to see Audrey. But not the Audrey she remembered. A different Audrey, bedecked in a crisp white dress shirt and a fresh pair of jeans under a leather trimmed denim apron. The non-descript Oceanic affect was new as well. So was the vapid smile.
“What did they do to you?” Bobbie asked.
“It’s pretty great, huh? So what’ll it be? Tables are for paying customers only.”
“Just a coffee.”
“Same,” said Lew.
“Right now on filter we have a washed Yirgacheffe, a honeyed Costa Rica, and if you want to try some kinda wild, we have an anaerobic g-g-g-g-g-g-esh-ur-ur-ur.” Audrey’s head began to kick repeatedly to the side, her face contorting with each spasm. As the tics continued to get stronger, Jim ran over to usher Audrey to the back.
“Sorry about that, the staff has been under a lot of stress learning the new menu so fast. Come along, Audrey, let’s go take a quick break.”
“Is she ok?” Lew asked.
“She’ll be fine. Still working out the kinks. Did I hear y’all wanted to try the Gesha?”
“Forget it,” Bobbie said, “our shifts start pretty soon. We should probably go.”
“I hear Stepford just bought Man-O-War. We’ll all be in the same coffee family again!” Jim said to Bobbie with a sheepish grin. Bobbie’s face grew ashen. How could Man-O-War, their beloved coffee shop they had devoted so many years of their life to up and sell out like that? It’s not like it was even struggling.
“Come on, Bobbie, we’re gonna be late,” Lew said, concerned.
Back in the car, the two drove silently towards Man-O-War, wondering if there was any truth to Jim’s revelation.
“They can’t, right?” Lew asks, breaking a silence in that ten-minute car ride that felt like hours.
“Jim’s full of shit,” Bobbie spits, trying to convince themself as much as they were Lew.
“Only one way to find out.”
As Lew and Bobbie headed behind the counter at Man-O-War to clock in, Bobbie sees Andrew, the owner, shaking hands with a handsome 50-something man in a Stepford Coffee Roasters logoed shirt.
“What’s going on here? Who’s that?” Bobbie demands.
“This is Steve Hogan. He’s with Stepford Coffee Roasters.”
“And why is he here? You’ve let the devil in your home, Andrew.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything just yet but I guess the cat is out of the bag,” Andrew said. “We partnering with Stepford Coffee to make some updates to this place. It’s going to increase efficiency. We think you’re really going to like them.”
“You mean you sold out,” Bobbie says.
“It’s more like a collaboration.”
“So this’ll still be Man-O-War?” Lew interjects, hoping to deescalate the situation.
“No, we’re rebranding as a Stepford, but there will…”
“Screw this, I’m outta here. I quit,” Bobbie fumes.
“What?! Bobbie, you can’t walk out and leave me to work the shift alone!” Lew pleads.
“Come with me then. There are still shops in this town that have a soul.”
“I… I can’t. I need this paycheck. It’ll still Man-O-War, at least for a while, right? We can look for something else together.”
“Not to me it isn’t. I can’t be here right now. I’ll walk home.”
“Let ‘em go,” Andrew said to Lew. “I think you may change your mind about this place once you see what your pay is going to be once we’re a Stepford.”
“I’m sorry, Bobz, I have to stay.”
“Fine, but call me after your shift. We need to talk about this.”
“Bye Bobbie.”
“Fuck off, Andrew.”
Hours pass and no word from Lew. Man-O-War would have closed three hours ago now and still nothing. She’s not picking up her phone either. Alone, newly-unemployed, and life in general disarray from the day’s events, Bobbie drinks themself to sleep while watching the last episode of Lodge 49 that they were supposed to be watching with Lew.
The next morning, hung over, angry, and under-caffeinated, Bobbie decides to head up to Man-O-War to see what Lew’s deal is. But upon arriving, it’s no longer Man-O-War. All the signage has overnight been changed to Stepford.
This is all too weird. The bones of the shop remind Bobbie of their former employer, but everything else about it is a clone of what Insomnia became. Andrew spots Bobbie and heads to meet them.
“I just want to talk to Lew and then I’ll leave,” Bobbie interjects before Andrew can say a word.
“No problem. Take a seat and I’ll have her come over and take your order.”
“Table service? Ugh”
Bobbie sits at the nearest open table, their eyes darting around the building wondering how all these changes were made so quickly. Whatever it was they loved—or thought they loved—about what this place used to be is gone.
“Fancy a flatty?” a semi-Australian voice said.
Bobbie’s lip begins to quiver as they look up to see the origin of the question.
“Or maybe you’d prefer a filter. If you want to try some kinda wild, we have an anaerobic g-g-g-g-g-g-esh-esh…”
Bobbie’s eyes fill with tears as Andrew comes over to usher the server away.
“We’ll still working out the glitches,” Andrew says to Bobbie, stricken motionless with panic and sadness.
“Did I hear you wanted to try the Gesha?”
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
The post Invasion Of The Coffee Snatchers appeared first on Sprudge.
from Sprudge https://ift.tt/2PnXG7m
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
moondoon
Choice Cut Ass
dudoanketquaxosomienbacblog-blog
Du doan ket qua xo so mien bac
pakapalooza
Pakapalooza
greyredandyellow-blog
Grey Is The New Black
allegrosoft
Без названия