Chapter Text
There were a few things that got Boris to smile.
Not his usual relaxed grin, or teasing smirk, or fake smile he’d do to show people ticking him off his fangs. A full, ear to ear SMILE.
The things that got him to smile that much, was most commonly food, having fun with his family and friends, and when he’d get REALLY excited over something he made.
If it was the latter, it usually meant trouble, which the royal family learned the hard way. Like when Boris got Oswald’s permission to fix up an old damaged catapult, and had a big smile on his face as he attempted to test it out on a rich upper class moron named Mark Beaks who thought it was a good idea to try bribing Boris and his siblings to work for him, and wouldn’t take no for an answer until the ink wolf threw him into the catapult and aimed it towards the castle moat.
He would have gone through with it if Mickey and Minnie didn’t come out running to stop him, and despite Felix grounding him for that stunt, Boris had no regrets. Especially when Oswald whispered to him to double check with him which assholes he could launch without getting into serious trouble.
So whenever Boris would smile over something he’s built, it usually kept Alice and Bendy on guard juuuuust to be on the safe side.
Standing outside the forge with their friend group, Cuphead was getting impatient as he and the others waited for Boris to open the door. “COME ON BORIS! I HOPE YOU DRAGGED US OUT HERE FOR A GOOD REASON!”
Gently shoving his brother, Mugman called out. “Take your time Boris! I’m sure whatever it is, it’s amazing!”
After the blue mug brother said that, the forge door flew open and Boris came out with his hands behind his back with a big smile on his face. “Ladies! Gentlemen!... and Cuphead.”
“Watch it wolf boy.”
Ignoring that, Boris continued. “As most of you may recall from our fight against the Devil, Bendy oh so wisely broke the Devil’s pitchfork, which pissed him off quite a bit.”
Jaw dropping, Ellroy turned to look at Bendy dumbfounded. “YOU DID THAT?!"
The ink demon grimaced as he rubbed his arms. “Yup, felt badass for less than a second before I got very humbled when the Devil threw me around and broke a LOT of bones.”
Keeping one of his hands behind his back, Boris reached out and grabbed his brother’s shoulder. “And that was WITHOUT his weapon, but thanks to you, we got to keep half of his pitchfork.”
Alice raised a suspicious eyebrow at her middle brother as she crossed her arms. “Oh God, does this have something to do with that pitchfork piece you kept?”
Nodding, Boris backed away from Bendy and held up what he was hiding behind his back. “Sure does! BEHOLD MY MASTERPEICE!!!”
… None of them were quite sure what kind of reaction Boris was hoping for when he held out what he made. From the silence that greeted him, it was clear his friends and siblings didn’t know how to respond.
Finally breaking the awkward silence, Ellroy asked. “You made a… hilt? Is that what it is?”
Amused, Boris showed off the item in his hand to everyone and made sure they all got a good look at it. “Hilt, handle, whatever you want to call it. This, is probably the most badass thing I’ve ever made.”
With how everyone still looked super confused over that, the ink wolf decided it would be best to show them instead of just explaining. Grabbing the top of the item, Boris carefully twisted it until a click could be heard, then before everyone’s eyes, the thing in Boris’ hand started bursting out a black substance, then it changed into a black sword.
Cuphead, Mugman, and Ellroy all together went “Whoooaaaa.” while Cala looked very impressed. Bendy and Alice though seemed very shocked as they stared at the sword before the ink demon put his attention back on Boris. “How did you do this???”
“Remember those weird devices GENT and Uncle Tom made that could make random objects and tools made of ink? Like a gear, mug, wrenches, and bones. When we were really little Uncle Tom had me help him fix them up sometimes. He used the excuse of testing my problem solving skills and IQ to keep GENT and Joey off his back, but really, he saw I actually enjoyed helping fix stuff. I used what I remembered from that, to make a tool that can turn into ANY weapon using dark magic ink.”
Twisting the item in his hand again until another click was heard, the blade of the sword melted away, then turned into a flail, another click and it turned into a shield, another click and it turned into a-
Bendy couldn’t help but huff out a laugh. “A Pitchfork? Seriously?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Boris helplessly shrugged. “I TRIED to make it make just a spear, but I think the magic of the metal insisted on a pitchfork. I dunno, magic's weird. I might have to talk to Mickey about it.”
Getting closer to check out the weapon Boris made, Ellroy let out a whistle from how amazed he was. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. Though what made you decide to use the metal from the Devil’s weapon to make it? Does it make it stronger? Sturdier?”
Softly going “Eeeeeh” as he did a 50/50 hand gesture, Boris then explained. “That was the initial thought process. See, my self-sacrificing idiot big brother tends to fight without a weapon because he’s the strongest out of all of us, but his powers currently aren’t super reliable. Which means if he pisses off the Devil again or does something super recklessly stupid, or both, he’s going to get crushed like a bug that won’t die no matter how many times it gets stomped on.”
With a scowl on his face, Bendy did his best to ignore Alice’s snorting as his tail twitched in irritation. “Okay, we get it, I didn't think things through and got my ass kicked in an attempt to save lives. Get to the point Boris.”
“My plan was to make Bendy a weapon that won’t break easily, because he WILL break any weapon he'll use thanks to his brute strength. When I remembered the devices I worked on with our Uncle, I figured an adaptable weapon that can change into anything would be handy. However, I wasn’t prepared for what would happen when I fused the pitchfork metal with ink.”
As everyone wondered what he meant by that, Boris surprised all of them when he pointed the weapon at Mugman, and to everyone’s amazement, his soul started to glow as Boris’ own soul glowed. “From what I'm assuming, the magic of the pitchfork is what helped the Devil channel his powers so he could use them better. This thing isn’t as strong as it was when it was in one piece, but it looks like its magic seems to have fused with the magic of the ink, which lets any ink creature channel our magic in different ways.”
Making his and Mugman’s souls stop glowing, Boris then held the weapon out to Bendy to take. “Here, try it out.”
Though slightly hesitant at first, Bendy reached out and took the pitchfork shaped weapon from his brother.
It felt, strangely, natural in his hands.
Now with Bendy holding the weapon, Boris reached into his apron and pulled out a small jar of ink. Unscrewing the top, he then put it down, and proceeded to make everyone back up as he gestured to Bendy. “Try doing that ink manipulation thing you’ve been working on while using the weapon.”
Oh boy.
Looking down at the weapon, then at the jar, then at the weapon again, Bendy then turned to stare at the others. Boris, Alice, and Cala were standing in front, making sure to keep the others safe just to be on the cautious side, while Cuphead, Mugman, and Ellroy peaked over their friend’s shoulders. The red cup brother then gave his partner an encouraging thumbs up with a big grin on his face.
… Well, here goes nothing.
Bracing his feet on the ground, Bendy aimed the pitchfork shaped weapon at the jar, and focused.
To everyone’s amazement, the ink slowly started to rise out of the jar as the ink demon slowly started to raise the weapon. Boris laughed as he threw his fists up in victory. “YES! IT WORKS! This could make the magic training stuff so much easier, maybe even help us understand how the ink works better! Oh I can’t wait until I tell Mickey-!”
The ink Bendy was manipulating started to bubble as Bendy struggled to focus on it as Boris talked. Getting ready to tell his brother to stop talking so he wasn’t distracted, the ink demon didn’t get a chance when the mass of ink suddenly exploded, and the force of the explosion sent Bendy tumbling backwards as the weapon flew out of his hand.
Seeing the blade coming right for his face, Ellroy squawked LOUDLY in terror. Though thankfully Alice’s reflexes were fast enough to grab the weapon before it could even make contact with the bird boy’s beak.
Letting out a relieved sigh, Alice then glanced down at her ink stained dress, then at her friends wiping ink off themselves from the small explosion, then turned her attention to Boris, who was now smiling sheepishly as Bendy rushed to Ellroy while apologizing repeatedly.
Turning the new weapon back into just a hilt, the ink angel handed it to her middle brother with a not-amused expression on her face. “We can also add weapon training to Bendy’s to-do list. I don’t know about you Boris, but I’d like to KEEP our new friends and family members.”
___________________________________
“Thanks for the save back there. You got impressive reflexes.”
In her new sewing room with her pet duck Quacker, Cala, Mugman, and Ellroy, Alice smiled over what the bird boy said as she worked on fixing up an old blue dress. “Thanks. I’m the fastest compared to my brothers, though Bendy might be faster than me now in his beast form thanks to his powers getting stronger.”
Lounging on the couch with Mugman leaning on her and reading, while her cat Tom slept on her lap, Cala gave a thoughtful hum as she looked up at the ceiling curiously. “I wonder what it looks like now. His demon form changed quite a bit after all.”
Somewhat wondering that herself, Alice noticed how Ellroy, sitting in a chair close by to her and petting Quacker sitting on his lap, looked completely lost. “Oh, right, I promised to explain things to you didn’t I?”
Not expecting to hear her bring that up, Ellroy shook his head gently. “Oh, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I can kinda tell this stuff might be heavy.”
Mugman scoffed as he marked his spot in his book and closed it. “”might be heavy” He says.”
Huffing a little over Mugman’s comment, Alice put aside her dress and adjusted herself in her seat so she could face Ellroy completely. “Yes, it is a heavy subject, but my therapist has been helping me work out how everything affected me. So helping you catch up on what’s going on won’t be too hard on me. It’s not like I’ll be going into deep details anyways.”
“... Are you sure you’re okay with talking about it?”
Appreciating Ellroy’s concern for her, Alice smiled and nodded. “I’m sure.”
Seeing how this was probably going to take a while, Mugman stretched his limbs, planted a quick kiss on Cala’s lips, then stood up from the couch. “I’ll go get some comfort snacks and drinks then, and don’t worry, I’ll actually ASK José for the food instead of trying to steal them.”
The rest of them softly chuckled at what Mugman said, and watched as he left the room before Alice leaned back in her seat, and took a deep breath. “Okay, so, this all started when a man named Joey Drew wanted to make a kids book.”
Though Alice did sum up most of the early story, and kept the more horrific unpleasant details to herself to avoid disturbing Ellroy badly, that still didn’t stop the bird boy from looking quite alarmed by everything Alice did tell him. By the time Mugman came back with the food, Alice was talking about how Joey, and also Susie but Alice didn’t want to bring her up, was planning on removing her halo that was fused to her head due to how it was broken and "unpleasant" to look at.
“...THE FUCK.”
Alice nodded. “Yup.”
Ellroy barely acknowledged Mugman walking around and passing drinks and fruit tarts to everyone, or noticed how Quacker got off of his lap to sit on Alice's. His mind was a bit too busy trying to take in everything Alice told him. “And you were five?!”
“Sure was… Do you need a break?”
With one hand running through his feathers, Ellroy’s attention was finally drawn to Mugman when he held out a plate and cup to him. Taking said items, the bird boy finally responded. “Me??? You’re the one talking about your life! Damn Alice, how are you talking about this so calmly???”
Setting her desert plate on her sowing table, Alice held her nice warm cup of tea, and gently shrugged. “My therapist Anya said it might be due to how I try to act as my brothers’ “rock” so to speak. I do let my emotions get the best of me sometimes, and I do have my own problems thanks to, you know, everything, but when it comes down to it, I try my best to keep calm and keep a level head as much as I can. If I don’t, then I feel like I let my brothers down because they needed me.”
After sitting back down with Cala, Mugman paused and looked at Alice with a concerned expression. “Hey, come on Alice, you never let them down.”
The sea beast nodded in agreement with Mugman. “He’s right. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You’re not the only one your brothers can depend on when struggling.”
When Alice didn’t respond to that, and chose to nibble on her tart instead, Ellroy frowned a little in concern. She clearly didn’t want to push the subject anymore.
“... That Joey guy was an idiot anyways, thinking of removing your halo. Who cares if it’s a bit damaged? It adds character.”
Not expecting to hear that, Alice glanced at Ellroy in surprise. “Character?”
Ellroy smiled softly. “Yeah, I mean, that’s what makes it fun when in the trading business. When trying to trade an old shield or armor to get something, I love to point out the cuts, dents, and marks it has, because each thing has a story to tell, and makes it all the more beautiful.”
Feeling her face heat up quite a bit over that “beautiful” bit, Alice timidly looked away and tried to keep herself from smiling too much. Thankfully for her, Cala spoke up and got Ellroy to look at the sea beast. “I didn’t know you were in the trading business.”
Shoving his tart in his beak, Ellroy nodded as he quickly chewed and swallowed. “A hobby of mine when I was a kid. I had a little stall and everything where kids in the neighborhood would trade toys they didn’t want anymore. I’ve gotten so skilled at it that Mickey actually talked to my Dad about finding me an internship if I want to make this a career.”
After Cala hummed thoughtfully over the information and Mugman commented how neat that was, Ellroy then focused back on Alice, whose face had stopped blushing and had now composed herself. “Anyways, sorry if that got a little off track. Do you want to continue?”
Alice softly cleared her throat. “Yes, um, where was I… Oh! Thankfully before Joey could even figure out a time to remove my halo, our Papa, Henry Stein, returned from the war he was summoned to fight in, and when he saw how horribly we were being treated, he, Mama Linda, and others that became our family took us and ran away where they thought Joey would never find us. They raised us with lots of love, and tried to help us heal from everything Joey put us through. My Aunty Allison even taught me how to use weapons and how to hunt, then I’d help Mama, Boris, and Aunt Irena cook the food I caught for dinner… We had some good years living together.”
Oh, Ellroy could see where this was going. “But Joey found you, didn’t he?”
As Cala got up from her seat and rested her hands on her friend’s shoulders from behind to offer comfort, the ink Angel smiled somewhat in appreciation for the kind gesture. “He did. Our family tried so hard to protect us, but we lost everything, plus 30 years of our lives, all because of Joey and such horrible, horrible people helping him hunt us down.”
“... I know what that’s like.”
Everyone’s heads quickly turned to Ellroy, surprised and concerned by his statement. Feeling his face warm up from the attention, the bird boy explained. “I, don’t know what losing 30 years is like, but… I was a war orphan. I, don’t really remember my old family very well, I was a toddler when everything happened, but I do remember being scared to death of the awful soldiers that used me as bait in the war before they left me for dead. So I get how messed up it is when an army of grown adults think it’s okay to ruin a kid’s life.”
Face warming up worse, so much so that he swore his beak was going to turn completely red, Ellroy rubbed at his arm nervously. “S-sorry, that was- I shouldn’t have-”
His blushing did indeed take over his entire beak when Alice reached out and held his hand while smiling at him sweetly. “Don’t apologize. We’re learning more about each other right now. Thank you for telling me this.”
Walking over to the rest of them, Mugman rested his hand on Ellroy’s shoulder. “It sucks that both of you guys went through your own hell, but in the end you both got some pretty loving families now.”
Letting out an awkward laugh, Ellroy patted Mugman’s hand on his shoulder. “Yeah…”
Though Alice felt a bit curious over how Ellroy responded to that, she didn’t get much of a chance to ask when the bird boy spoke first. “So, how’d you guys end up living in the Disney Kingdom anyways? I keep hearing different versions of the story. Might as well get the story straight.”
Amused over how Mugman and Cala both started giggling a little over that being brought up, Alice chuckled herself. “Oh, let me tell you ALL about the Ink Demon and the Traitorous Knight.”