Archive of Our Own ^beta

Bendy giggled as he ran past the kitchen, grinning at the look Henry gave him.

“I’m just playin’, Henry! I gotta get faster than Annie before we have another play date or she’ll win at tag again!”

Henry sighed, rinsing off the plate he had been washing and putting it in the dish drainer.

“You can do that outside, Bendy. Linda and I didn’t let Nicky and his friends run in the house, we don’t let our grandkids run in the house, and you’re not allowed to do it either. You could get hurt or break something! And you know how mad that would make Linda.”

This made Bendy stop for a moment and think. Linda was pretty scary when she was mad, but the worst thing about it was her way of guilt tripping whoever she was mad at for what they had done to upset her. She didn’t even say anything to cause the guilt, it was her eyes and the undertone that got you. The little demon still refused to believe that she didn’t take acting lessons to learn how to project so much hurt so subtly.

“Okay...Can I go outside, then? Just for a little while? Dinner ain’t for a few more hours!” he asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

“Alright, champ, but not for too long. We still have some chores to do before the Boss gets home!” “Right! Thanks Henry!”

With that, Bendy speed walked to the back door and happily bounded outside, running around and kicking a soccer ball around to chase after, which Henry watched from the window above the sink with a smile.

He was still upset with Joey for the terrible things he had done, but he had no regrets about going to the studio despite how close he came to dying and never seeing his family again. He was able to save his old coworkers (even though Sammy was still committed to a mental hospital while getting his brain reprogrammed back to normal), and his family had grown by three members.

Alice and Boris had decided to go back to the studio and fix it up after they had stayed with Henry and Linda for a few weeks to recover, but Bendy, understandably, had no desire to go back anytime soon, so he stayed and essentially became the Stein’s adopted son. Neither they nor the Toons would have it any other way.

About twenty minutes later, Henry finished with the dishes and cracked the window once he dried his hands.

“Bendy! Time to come back in! We’ve got to get the floors swept and tidy up the living room!” He called.

Bendy pouted slightly but nodded, bringing the soccer ball to the back porch on his way in and dropping it in the toy box out there. Once inside, he ran to the living room to find Henry.

“Bendy! I’m not going to tell you again not to run in the house! If I have to, you’ll be in trouble.” “Sorry...”

The man sighed and handed him a kid sized broom.

“It’s alright, just start on the sweeping, okay? Kitchen first, please.”

The little demon perked up a bit and gave him a salute, perching the broom on his shoulder like a rifle and marching to the kitchen, making Henry smile a bit. He did love the Little Devil Darlin’, even when he was letting his mischievous antics get a bit out of hand.

It didn’t take long for Bendy to finish sweeping up the kitchen, and he walked back into the living room when Henry was almost finished straightening it up.

“I’m done, Henry! Anything else you want me to do?”

Henry looked at him and smiled slightly.

“Yeah, could you grab my mallet from the garage, champ? One of the legs on the coffee table is a little loose.” “Sure thing!”

Bendy hurried to the garage, found the small rubber mallet, and ran back to the living room. His foot hit the edge of the rug and he tripped, the mallet bouncing a bit on the hardwood floor and landing on the rug as Henry just barely caught him from face planting right into the edge of the coffee table.

“Bendy! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

He shook his head and got back on his feet proper.

“No, I’m okay! Just a little startled!”

The man took a deep breath and gave him a stern look. Bendy swallowed nervously.

“Good. Because I told you not to run, and you have repeatedly disobeyed me, young man.”

Bendy looked down, unable to look his creator in the eye. He didn’t look up when Henry got up and grabbed the mallet, placed it on the table, and moved back to him.

SMACK!

The little ink demon yelped and jumped away, looking up at the man as he covered his backside with his hands.

“OW! Henry! What was that for?!”

Henry just quirked an eyebrow.

“I told you that you’d be in trouble if you ran again, Bendy.”

“But whaddidya hit me for?!”

His eyebrow raised further.

“I spanked you.”

Bendy just looked up at him, eyes wide and brimming with confusion.

“Do...Do you not know what a spanking is, Bendy?”

He shook his head, making Henry sigh and plop down on the couch, patting the space next to him. Bendy hesitantly hopped up there with him, though not very close to him.

“I honestly thought you would know since the cartoon timeline was in the thirties. Spankings were the most widely used punishments back then...And I could’ve sworn it was in one episode made after I left...”

He sighed again.

“Spankings are a punishment, Bendy. When a child misbehaves, their parent, or sometimes babysitter, pop them on their butts a few times. Linda and I have never liked doing it, so we only used it if Nick absolutely would not listen to us, and even then it was rarely more than one swat. I only had to give him a serious spanking once, but that was an extreme case.”

Bendy nodded and looked down.

“I do kinda remember it being mentioned in one episode, but I only heard the word that one time...”

Henry rubbed his head between his horns a bit.

“Well, now you know, and I trust you’ll behave.”

The ink demon looked at him.

“I don’t like spankings.”

This caused the man to laugh.

“You’re not supposed to, kiddo, that’s the point. If you like your punishments, you don’t learn anything from them. As long as you behave yourself and listen when we tell you not to do something, then you won’t get another one. Sound good?”

Bendy nodded quickly.

“Yes! I’ll be good!” “That’s my boy.”

Henry held his arm out as a silent invitation for a hug, which his creation took and hugged him tightly.

“So it doesn’t mean that you don’t like me?” “Absolutely not. I only punish because I care. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t correct bad behavior and provide consequences for it, which prepares one for the real world.”

Bendy nuzzled into him, smiling when he was shifted into Henry’s lap.

“So, uh, what is it that Nick did that got him in so much trouble? If it’s okay for me to ask...” “He got drunk at a party when he was seventeen and decided to drive home instead of calling for me or Linda to come pick him up. He was afraid he’d be in a lot of trouble for drinking underage, even though I had told him before that he would only get in trouble if he did something stupid while drunk or committed a crime to get ahold of the alcohol. Before you ask, driving when you’re not sober is really dangerous.”

Bendy just nodded and cuddled into Henry even more.

“Well...What would I need to not do if I don’t want one that bad?”

The man smiled and just lightly rubbed between his horns.

“Don’t do anything equally stupid or dangerous, and just follow the rules.” “Okay!”

With that, they resumed the housework and managed to finish about ten minutes before Linda came home, accepted hugs and kisses from her, and enjoyed the rest of the day as a happy little family.