Acting Out

A lone man bounced down the pavement, a smile tugging the corners of pale lips up as his unnatural emerald green eyes glittered. He wore a pair of black skinny jeans, a black blazer over a powder blue silk shirt. Black dress shoes adorned his feet and a worn but well-loved black leather messenger bag hung over one of his slender shoulders. Black, square-framed glasses perched on his nose, partially hiding within soft curls that barely brushed his shoulder blades, although they would go past them if straightened, which was pulled back into a high ponytail. The business attire was either ruined or enhanced by the gentle happiness the man exuded, his smile bright on his face.

This man was heading towards a tall building. A few weeks previous he had stood on a small stage in front of several people as he auditioned for the role of voice actor on the upcoming re-boot of Bendy the Dancing Demon, which had gone out of business back in the nineteen-forties, a good seventy years ago. So he had practically ascended to a higher realm when he got a letter asking him to come back to the studio for a meeting.

This man was Harry Potter.

After the war, Harry spent several years catching up on his normal education, desperately trying to forget the memories playing behind his eyelids every time he closed them. During this time, he took up acting, more specifically, voice acting. He had become intrigued when an old voice actor had come to the college he attended. Giving demonstrations of different cartoon voices he had used throughout the years and showing people how to shift their voices into different tones and pitches. Harry had been rather good at it when he’d tried so the man had given him a few more pointers before suggesting that Harry make a career out of it. So Harry finished his acting degree before returning for a voice acting one. It didn’t take long for him to graduate a second time, this time having made friends that he kept in touch with. Throughout the years, Harry had several jobs as he traveled place to place, dodging the wizarding world, looking for a job that would let him utilise his talents.

Eventually, one of his University friends sent him an advertisement for the reboot of Bendy. Harry had decided to try it out, especially since it had garnered very little attention. He had watched a few of the old episodes to familiarise himself with the show, finding the little demon charming. His favourite had to be Alice though. Her peacekeeping ways and her heavenly voice had been cute. Boris was pretty cute too, reminding him of Ron with how much the wolf loved food.

Harry snapped out of his musing as he stood outside the newly renovated studio, noticing some stairs leading to a lower entrance that looked like it came from the original studio. Ignoring them, Harry stepped up to the front door, pulling them open and entering. The reception area was welcoming and warm, decorated with reds and tans. The floor was some nice dark redwood that Harry had never seen before. Two large, red couches with tan cushions sat pressed against either wall adjacent to the reception desk. It was a smooth black with a motif of the new Bendy design on the front. A pretty brunette sat behind the desk, her hair pulled back into a messy bun. She had large glasses perched on her face, buried within a magazine as she chewed gum, a pen stuck behind her ear. Harry cleared his throat to catch her attention, noticing the white blouse and black pencil skirt she wore. She startled, glancing up and turning an interesting shade of deep red, obvious against her pale skin.

“I’m here for the Sound Department Meeting?” Harry explained, a teasing lilt to his voice as the girl squeaked in embarrassment, creating a smile on his face. She pulled a laptop closer to her, typing something in.

“N-name?” she asked after composing herself.

“Harry Potter,” he replied. She typed the name in before grabbing a blank pass from a drawer and scribbling something on the front before handing it to him. “H. Potter, Voice Actor, Employee”.

“If you’d take a seat I’ll call up someone to come take you to the meeting, although, you do know that it doesn’t start for another two hours, right?” she questioned after a moment of hesitation. Harry’s eyes widened, reaching into one of the pockets of his bag for the letter he received, reading it over. The letter told him to arrive at this time though. He voiced his thoughts to the receptionist, who checked her computer again.

“The meeting is definitely booked for 13:30, Sir. I’m sure Mr. Drew can explain,” she said, biting her lip as she stared at the computer screen. Harry frowned and sat down on one of the couches, pulling out his phone. He browsed his messages, noting one from his neighbour, Clarissa, detailing that his package had been dropped off at her house while he was out. He thanked her before checking his emails. Just some spam and an email from Hermione. Opening it, he read over the message detailing what she had been doing recently.

After the war, Hermione had stood by his side when Ron exploded on him, taking his anger from Fred’s loss out on Harry. He had apologised later but Harry had decided to take some time away from the magical world for a bit. He had stayed long enough to see Hogwarts rebuilt before saying his goodbyes to his friends and starting his catch up on muggle studies. Hermione had joined him after a few weeks, although she decided to study the sciences instead of drama, citing that she had enough of it to last a lifetime. The two had kept in contact after college and still met up often for coffee talks. Last he had heard, she was dating this nice girl in the same apartment block as herself. Harry was happy for her.

The click of footsteps brought him from his musings so he looked at the newcomer. It was a woman of African descent, dressed in a midnight blue suit and white shirt with the top few buttons undone. Her hair was cut short and brought emphasis onto her gold hoop earrings. Grey eyes met Harry’s as the woman strode over, holding a folder in her hands. He stood as she approached.

“Mr. Potter? I am Robin Stein, the Music Director and current Head of the Sound Department. If you would follow me?” She asked, turning and leading back the way she appeared with a nod to the receptionist. Harry played with the strap of his bag as he followed, bottom lips caught between two teeth as the two continued in silence.

“Mr. Drew would like to meet you before the meeting this afternoon. I offered to escort you as I do with all the employees that will be working within my department. Are there any questions that you want to ask before you meet the boss?” She asked as they entered an elevator, giving an encouraging smile.

“Um. The letter never specified that I got the job. Is there a trial period or is this a second interview?” Harry stammered, palms slick with sweat. The letter he had received asking him to come back had only mentioned the date and time he should be at the studio so he wasn’t sure that he actually had the job. Robin blinked, a thoughtful look on her face as a hum left her throat.

“You definitely have the job. Jonathan, Mr. Drew, was gushing your praises when we received the tapes for the voice actors. I think he ignored the rest after hearing your Bendy impersonation, which I think was a little rude of him, but you did impress kid. He probably wanted to inform you himself,” She answered, grinning as Harry’s felt his face heat up. The sound of the elevator opening distracted him from his embarrassment as another man entered, giving a smile as the two made way for his wheelchair.

The man looked slightly younger than Harry, with ginger hair, brown eyes, and a face full of freckles. He wore a white shirt and a crimson tie. His legs were covered with a red cotton blanket.

“Good Morning Robin, showing one of the new employees around?” the man rasped as if he hadn’t had a drop to drink in days. Robin chuckled warmly.

“Not yet, Warren. This here is Mr. Potter, one of the new voice actors. Mr. Potter, this is Warren Fubar, one of our animators for the show,” she introduced as the two shook hands. Harry offered the man a sympathetic smile.

“I don’t envy your job, sir,” he offered, earning a bright beam in return. Warren scratched the back of his neck, looking off to the side.

“Just wait until Robin has you doing your lines. You’re going to sound like me at the end of every shift, maybe worse. Not to mention, Jonathan is going to be watching you practice sessions like a hawk if the grapevine is true,” the ginger male replied, a soft grin replacing his wide smile. Harry’s breathe caught, choking him while Robin laughed once more.

“Told you, the boss was impressed with you!” She giggled, a hand on Harry’s back as he tried to catch his breath. The elevator stopped on the third floor, where Warren started rolling off before giving a last glance at Harry.

“Good Luck, Mr. Potter,” and with that he was gone behind the closing elevator doors.

“Warren’s a good man. If you ever get stuck alone at lunch, I’m sure he won’t mind some company. He’s a bit of a loner,” Robin offered as the elevator began to drop into an awkward silence that the cliché music couldn’t dispel. The smile on her face was of fond sadness. The wizard decided not to comment on it, Robin being a stranger and all.

The elevator doors opened onto the top floor, the duo stepping out into a hallway decorated much like the reception, except with fewer sofas and more doors, each with a name and position on it. Robin led the way to a door halfway down the hallway.

Jonathan Drew – Head of Public Relations

Public Relations? Harry thought that that department dealt with how the public saw the company and not the hiring process, which was more HR? Robin must have noticed his confusion.

“The voice actors are going to be the ones who bring life to the characters, so it’s important for the PR team to see what they’re getting into. Jonathan, being the head, had to see what he was working with before. Voice actors go to all the panels, feature in a lot of interviews, and make up a lot of our publicity,” she explained before raising a hand to knock. Faint voices could be heard from behind the door. The other voice actors?

The room went silent as the music director knocked, giving Harry a soft smile before she backed off, waving him in when called. The raven took a deep breath before doing so, opening the door and almost having a heart attack.

“Nice to meet ya, Buddy!” was the enthusiastic greeting he was given by the cartoon demon standing before him. Harry had heard many muggleborns, Hermione included, mention toons before but seeing one was another experience since he hadn’t been allowed to watch TV growing up with the Dursley’s.

Bendy, or what appeared to be Bendy, was taller and thinner than the original, although still smaller than Harry, his horns coming up to his chin. He was the same black as the original cartoon but had a red sheen to his eyes, almost like a metallic finish. He also had a tail, something the original Bendy didn’t have. Dressed in a red shirt and black dress pants, he had his signature white bowtie and black dress shoes.

“What’s the matter? You never saw a live toon before?” the Bendy snickered, a grin on his face as he gestured to himself.

“My apologies but no, I haven’t. Didn’t really get to watch cartoons as a kid and saw no reason to pick them up as an adult,” Harry replied, earning a flabbergasted look.

“Ah-hem. If you could take your seat, Damien, we can get started,” an unimpressed voiced drawled from behind the toon, Damien. Harry felt his cheeks heat up, embarrassed that he’d missed the man. What a first impression.

Behind a black desk, identical to the one in reception (Harry suspected all desks looked like this) sat a middle-aged man with thick brunette hair, slate grey eyes that held a warm excitement, despite the neutral expression on the man’s face. He wore a wine coloured vest over a black shirt. Harry couldn’t see anything else as the man gestured to one of the leather chairs opposite him. Damien took the other, winking at Harry as he did so.

“Mr. Potter! It’s nice to finally meet you! I’m Jonathan Drew, but I’m sure you already knew that,” he greeted, his voice booming, commanding attention while maintaining an air of friendliness. Harry unconsciously sat up even straighter, shaking the man’s outstretched hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Drew,” Harry replied before Jonathan chirped in.

“Call me Jonathan, Mr. Potter! After all, all of us here are one big family from now on!”

“Then call me Harry, please,” Harry smiled, facing Damien when the toon started to choke, worried. The demon beat on his chest, composing himself once more while Jonathan tried to withhold his chuckles.

“Well then, Harry. Did you bring the documents specified in your letter? Once those have been filed accordingly, we can officially welcome you to the team,” Jonathan asked, glancing expectantly at Harry, who nodded, pulling the documents from his bag. Jonathan took them, beginning to flick through them. Harry turned his attention to the toon.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why does the studio need voice actors when they’ve got you?” Harry asked, cocking his head to the side.

“That’s a good question, but with a simple answer! Whatever strange energy makes toons come to life also blows out any recordings we do, making voice actors a necessity for animation. Movies seem to be fine though, which is weird... but anywho! That’s why! So Buddy, think you can do my voice?” Damien answered, leaning forward with a smirk, a challenge in his voice. Harry blinked, going over the toon’s voice for a moment before slowly nodding, clearing his throat.

Damien’s voice was higher pitched than Harry’s but it wasn’t too far away from it overall. The trickiest part would be interjecting just enough snark into the tone. But he was confident he could do it. He took a deep breath and...

“I don’t know Buddy, can I?”Harry mimicked, giving a laugh as literal stars appeared in the toon’s eyes.

“Pretty close! With a little fine tunin’, you’ll be swinging with the stars! Or, singing with the stars. Not bad at all,” the demon remarked, a friendlier smile on his face now.

“You see why I insisted so much now, Damien?” Jonathan cut in, still going through the paperwork with a smile on his face.

“You bet! Come on Buddy, I’m going to introduce you to the rest of the gang!” Damien exclaimed, grabbing Harry’s arm and pulling him out of his seat easily, his grip careful, but tight. Harry shot Jonathan a pleading look for help, but the man just continued looking at the paperwork.

“Just be careful with him, Damien. You’re stronger than a human, remember,” was all the man muttered, not sparing a glance. Harry sighed, scooping up his bag and swinging it onto his shoulder. Jonathan wasn’t any help then.

Guess its introduction time.