Inky Conscience (BATIM Sammy x Reader)

Sammy. Safe. Norman. Good

Norman barely got any sleep that night after taking Sammy to the hospital. Thoughts and memories plagued him and the adrenaline that had been pushing him forward had finally worn off.
Although sleeping in the hospital didn't help matters either. Considering both of them were covered in dried ink, the nurses had to keep them in for fear they had ink poisoning.
He pushed himself to go to work after they found out he was safe. Sammy though had a concussion and some of the ink had gotten into the cut, so he would be indisposed for a few days until they were certain he was safe.
And if everything last night was real. He really hoped the ink creature wouldn't kill him.
On second thought, he hoped no one saw the damage that happened last night. And the bodies.

He had quickly gone to his house and changed his clothes, he was already late to get in on time, but he knew he needed to hurry and find that creature before anyone noticed.
He even risked speed walking his way to the studio. He ignored the stares some people gave him, he was used to that.
However, when he entered the building, he was surprised to see everyone was acting. Well, fine, there was no panic about anything.
Did they already know about Sammy? Did they see the mess inside the dance studio? Ugh, he needed to find Joey and fast. He quickly punched himself in and walked as calmly as he could towards Joey's Office.
"Morning Norman" Norman nearly jumped out of his skin when the voice came out of nowhere, turned out it was just Susie Campbell "are you all right? You look a little pale"
"I'm fine" he was pretty sure his brain stuttered like a projection for a moment "have you heard about Sammy?"
Clearly, she didn't as she looked worried "no I haven't, what's wrong?"
"There was an incident with the pipes last night, Sammy got caught in it and injured his head, he's in the hospital right now because they found ink inside his blood system" not a complete lie but not the truth either.
Susie looked a little pale as well "thank god you were here and found him than Norman, I dread to think what would have happened if you hadn't"
"What about Wally?"
"He called in sick, got a nasty case of the flu or something"
Norman couldn't stop his sigh of relief from escaping his mouth. At least Wally wasn't in any trouble. And his heart could now stop trying to jump out of his chest.
"Are you sure you're all right Norman? You look even paler than before"
"I'm fine, I just thought Wally might have been caught in the crossfire" different reason but it wasn't a lie.
"I guess that's true" Susie looked down for a moment before looking up with her bottom lip caught in her teeth "do you know when Sammy will be released?"
"Not for a few days at least, why?"
"No reason" she seemed to do a double-take "I mean, he is the music man, we need his songs otherwise we won't make progress, but I am glad he is as well as can be"
Norman frowned "right, well, I need to go see Mr. Drew, have you seen him come in?"
"He should still be in his office, I don't think he's doing any meetings today"
With a final thank you, Norman picked up his pace and rushed towards Joey's Office. After that. He needed to find you. To see if last night wasn't a dream.

You had been waiting in the projection booth in the secret ink you had gathered early this morning. After waking up in your music man's office, you had looked through all the doors until you found a bucket similar to one that the janitor always used, filled it up with ink, and then took it with you onto the top floor of the Music Room.
You heard people coming into the room, but you never saw Norman coming up into the area you were now. Maybe he was at the place that would make your music man better?
You briefly considered going into the pipes to see if he was hiding somewhere else. But you decided against it, you could hear more than a few footsteps both inside and outside the room, just a simple stretch from the booth to the pipe could risk you getting spotted.
So, you were stuck playing the waiting game.
For a whole hour.
"Have any of you seen Mr. Lawrence at all?" you perked up from the talking "I haven't seen him enter the building, or anywhere in the building today"
"You didn't hear? Apparently, there was an accident last night" someone replied "he got caught in a burst pipe and had to be rushed to the hospital for ink poisoning"
Ink poisoning? But you were made of ink. Wait. Could you have got ink on him when you...
You nearly burst into a crying fit. Oh Norman, you better be telling the truth that he would be fine. Because it was clear these humans didn't know.
And just when you thought your hopes were going to fall even lower, you heard more footsteps. Coming straight from the stairs. And there was only one person who dared set foot here. Or two.
Norman was here.
You waited for him to look in your direction before making yourself known. Raising your head out of the bucket slowly so as not to jump scare him.
The man did a double-take when he saw you. And he seemed a little pale. You think.
"Okay, so you were real last night" he whispered, low enough that only you could hear him "last night wasn't a dream and Sammy really is in the hospital" he slumped as he sat down.
You frowned mentally. Hospital? What was that? Was that where your music man was now? To get better?
"Sam-me. Safe?" despite your practicing, you still had a problem speaking. At least you weren't stuttering anymore.
It took Norman a few seconds for him to reply, it irritated you "oh, yes, Sammy is safe. He uh, he has to stay in bed for a few days, make sure he is okay for work"
"Was. Ink. P-poi-son?" that was a new word, you would need to test that later.
Norman frowned "I guess you heard then" he sighed as he shifted "yeah, he has ink poison along with a concussion, he'll be away for a few days" he repeated.
"Con-cus-son?"
Norman repeated the word "it means he hurt his head" he pointed to the side of his head for emphasis "it can be treated, but if I had left him here with no one with the knowledge to know what they were doing, he may not have woken up at all"
Know-ledge. Thinking. Learning. You had none of that, and from what Norman was and had tried to say, he didn't have it either to look after Sammy if he had stayed here. He really would have slept forever if he had stayed here.
Your trust in Norman went up.
"Good. Nor-man?" you forgot what humans say.
"If you're trying to say, thank you, then don't mention it, I never turn down a friend in need"
"Fur-end?" what was that?
"It means people you get along with, I think, someone you trust and are willing to help each other out no matter what the outcome"
You barely understood all of the words he just said, but what little you did, you liked it.
"Fur-end, No-man. Fur-end Sam-me" you felt pleased with your improvement of speech.
Norman made a weird smile "sure, we're your friends, just, be careful when you're around Sammy, he can be really grouchy and rude to new people"
Oh, you knew what your music man was like, it didn't put you off one bit. You just give him a nod though, no need to worry about that.
"Fur-end. Hel-p?"
"No offense, but I don't want your ink near the machines, that could damage them, and then Drew won't be a happy person" he tilted his head "but your welcome to stay here and watch, just, try to stay quiet okay?" he made a shushing gesture "we don't want you to get taken away now, you wouldn't get to see Sammy"
You looked at him wide-eyed. People would stop you from seeing Sammy? You couldn't have that. Maybe you could- NO! bad you. That would make Sammy and Norman sad, and you don't want to see your friends sad. You want them to be happy.
"Sh" you repeat the gesture of sound and sunk lower into the bucket until your head could see just over the bucket, watching him work.

Norman told truth. Norman good. Norman help Sammy get better. Norman friend. Now I wait for Sammy to come back. I can wait.
I have a new friend. A second friend.