Hey'a folks! First BATIM fanfiction I've written, so I hope I capture everyone well here!

And before we begin, I'd like to apologize for not having Bertrum Piedmont or Susie Campbell be regulars for this. Bertrum... I couldn't find a spot for him. Hey may pop up once or twice. And for this, Sammy and Susie are married, but Susie left the studio to pursue a bigger music career, and let Allison be Alice instead of...what probably happened. Plus, we know so little about Allison, but I'd like to use this as an opportunity to explore her character. :)

And don't worry! Susie and Bertrum both will appear! Y'all will like both, I promise... ;)

So I hope everyone enjoys this! Lets meet the folks over at Joey Drew Studios! :D (PS: expect jacksepticeye references galore)

AND DISCLAIMER: I do not own BATIM.

Chapter 1 - The Break Room

Henry sighed as he looked at his stopwatch again.

"11:57," he thought to himself. "Almost time for break..."

Joey Drew Studios was a very busy place. Now, there were downsides to working there, but to him, upsides outweighed them by a lot.

There were all types of people that could be found inside of the studios. Energetic, bubbly people, like singer/dancer Allison Pendle, toy man Shawn Flynn, and janitor Wally Franks. Serious people, like composer Sammy Lawrence, handyman Thomas Connor, projectionist Norman Polk, and finance manager Grant Cohen. Repair woman Lacie Benton, the newest member of the crew, was... a mix of both. She could be energetic and serious at the same time. And then, last but not least, there was the lyricist, Jack Fain.

It was a mixture of every emotion represented by one person.

And head of the studio, Joey Drew, was a man of ideas. And more ideas. And ideas more galore.

Henry Bayless, however, was probably a mixture of everyone in the studio. He was one who always prioritized work at the studio, and yet somehow managed to find time for fun. Everyone at the studio, regardless of their current status, could all agree on one thing, and that was that Henry was a very important part of the studio. Everyone seemed to like him, and his wife, Linda.

But actually, now that he was done thinking, he realized it was now 12:00.

"Finally!" he thought.

He then grabbed his lunch that was sitting next to a heating lamp, and began making his way down to the lower levels.

On his way down there, he ran into the janitor, Wally Franks. Wally was a tower to people like Shawn, Norman, and Allison, but everyone else saw him as just a bit taller. He wore a white button up with black pants and suspenders, and a brown cloth cap.

"Hey'a Henry!" Wally said, his cheerful demeanor ever present.

"How's it going Wally?" the artist asked nicely.

"Eh, its going a'ight," the janitor said, continuing down the stairs. "But hey, get this - I found those dumbass keys!"

"Woah, good job," Henry chuckled. Sarcasm could be detected, but not by much. After all, those keys did get lost pretty frequently.

"Thanks'a plenty pal!" Wally said.

Then, they finally reached the break room. Allison was looking down at a sketchbook, Sammy, Grant, and Norman were eating in the corner, Jack and Lacie were in a friendly game of darts with Shawn, and Thomas was turning on the gramophone. Joey, as per the norm, wasn't there, as he was having his break on the town.

"Hey folks," Lacie said, waving a small wave. Henry and Wally waved back, and made their way over to a separate table. "So like I said, no one can beat Shawn."

"Yeah! She's right you know," Shawn said proudly. He straightened his black tie and green vest with pride as Jack took a stand to face off against Shawn's dart skills.

"Please, take a minute to silence yourself," said Jack peacefully, aiming the dart mentally. He kept his bowler hat held high, and brown shoes adjusted to give him the right and precise angle to fire off the small projectiles.

He then rapidly shot three darts...

And landed nowhere near the bull's eye.

"I win!" Shawn said happily, throwing his hands up. Lacie smirked for the young toy man, then went out into the hall for her usual cigar. Jack smiled, and admitted defeat humbly. Shawn gave him a high-five before the two ended up heading off to grab a beer out of the cooler.

"Not a moment's peace around here," Sammy muttered.

Grant nodded in agreement, taking a drink of water. His tie and vest were shriveled for no more than a second (after he notices...). "I wish we had never bought that thing. It blew a hole in our finances, and not a small one."

"You're damn right son," Norman muttered, trying to eat his sandwich without hearing that stupid record scratching sound. He adjusted his glasses, before screaming out "THOMAS! Stop that!"

"Give me a second," Thomas said, turning to face the older man. His blue gray work pants, jacket, and black boots had dust covering them, and more than likely this would spread to the shiny gramophone.

"You better hope it takes no longer than that!" Norman yelled back, before returning to his "peaceful" meal with the other two at the current table.

Wally and Henry chuckled. The antics of their co-workers never once failed to put a smile on their face.

"Hey fellas!" Allison said, bopping over to their table. She wore a bright red dress, probably had the palest skin out of everyone in the room, and had black Mary Janes on her feet. "Do you have room for another?"

"Anytime," smiled Henry, pulling over a chair.

"What'cha sketching?" Wally asked the singer as she sat down.

"Oh, nothing much," Allison said. "Its just a little favor Joey asked..."

"He commissioned art? Never knew that..." Henry said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"No no no, he just asked me to get a dance routine ready for Alice in the animation department, and pick out a song for it," she explained. "Our choreographer, the one time we need him, is sick, and the guy who does the dubbing around here is on vacation, so... I have to fill in for both."

"Damn," Henry said.

"You's gonna do fine!" Wally said. "I've seen ya in action before; you can tear it up out on the floor! And ya singin' is pure enough to make demons dance with joy!"

"Aww... thank you Wally," Allison blushed. "Say, would you two mind helping me with something?"

"Not at all," the two said. Allison smiled widely, and motioned for them to follow her.

Thomas briefly looked away from the gramophone, before returning his full attention to the music-making machine.

Then, Shawn came up to him. "What's a-happenin' Tommy?"

"Its Thomas," the handyman corrected, "and not much. Just... listening to some smooth jazz."

"Ya like jazz?" asked Shawn. "I don't know's 'bout you, but I quite prefer swing."

"Swing is just a sub-genre of jazz," Thomas said.

"Really?" Shawn asked. "Well, uh... did ya hear about Mr. Drew planning Bendy Park?"

"Yeah, so what?" asked Thomas. "Just a theme park. Too damn many these days."

"Well, its known as a 'Colossal Wonder'!" Shawn said. He then smiled mischievously. "Like my peni-"

"You need to sit down son," Thomas muttered.

Shawn shrugged, and went over to where Jack was sitting.

Thomas then shrugged, and decided to see if he could find out where the three who had left earlier had gone off to.

Not like he had much else to do...

Allison was in the dubbing room, getting everything set up. She stood upon a wood board, microphones hooked up to hear her tapping sounds for matching up.

"We got the 'toons ready?" asked Wally.

"Yep, just give me a minute," Henry said. "Wait... didn't Joey ask Allison to choreograph this?"

"Oh...Guess he did," Wally muttered, looking from behind the microphone adjustment box. "Sorry Ally."

"No, its fine!" she said. "At least I can keep my sketchbook in here."

Suddenly, Thomas walked in. "What are you folks doing?"

"Dubbing," the three simultaneously answered.

"Hmm," Thomas said. "Mind if I stick around? I haven't got anything better to do."

"Pull up a chair in the opposite room," Henry said, smiling. Thomas nodded, and for a brief moment, looked like he had smiled.

"A'ight, we're ready!" Wally said, giving a thumbs up. "Don't sweat it, you's gonna do great Ally!"

"Thanks," Allison said. She always liked hanging out with Wally, whatever the circumstances be.

"Let's get started," Henry said, giving a supportive smile to Allison. He then walked in, and began searching for the most recent record. "Uh... which one was it?"

"Siren Serenade," Thomas answered casually. Wally looked at him with a shocked expression, while Henry's was more so impressed. "What? I know things."

Henry smirked. "Alright, let's get started..."

He then gestured for Allison to start dancing, to which she immediately began to do so. She looked so calm, so free... it was as if Allison had taken a back seat and a professional dancer had taken the wheel. Henry and Thomas were impressed, but Wally...

Poor fella had been swooned.

Wally had already shown signs of liking Allison (Henry, Thomas, and everyone else in the damn workplace knew), and Allison had shown signs of liking Wally.

It was just their obliviousness that kept them from acting upon their feelings.

"She's gorgeous ain't she?" asked Wally aloud. He then realized his mistake when Henry and Thomas started chuckling. "Fellas please don't go spreading this."

"Your secrets safe with us kid," smiled Henry. Thomas gave him an affirmative wink, and Wally sighed... he had quite literally dodged a bullet.

Finally, after the record had come to an end, Allison struck a grand pose. "Are we good?"

"We're great!" Henry said. "That was perfect!"

"You's did great!" Wally said, running out to congratulate her. "I told ya you could do it!"

"Thanks Wally!" she smiled.

Suddenly, Sammy came walking in. "Well I'll be... you two weren't making out in the closet..."

The two blushed immediately. "Wh-what?!"

"Damn...I owe five to Lacie now," Sammy muttered. He then walked out like nothing had happened.

The four then looked at each other. Then, Wally spoke up, "Y'all's wanna go play those games? Factory guys should be in the town still."

Henry checked his watch. "We still have a half hour left."

"Let's kill some time," Thomas said.

"I call target practice!" Allison said cheerfully.

The dancer and janitor then proceeded to rush down to the warehouse, with Henry and Thomas following behind at a slower pace.

Meanwhile, back in the break room, everyone else was awaiting Sammy's return.

When he finally walked in, Shawn immediately raced up to him. "Did they make out?!"

"Not yet," Sammy muttered. The room groaned loudly.

"How long's it gonna take them two?!" said Norman. "Makin' me sick watching them dance around their feelings, it really is."

"We must have patience," Jack said, facing the remaining crew. "It will all happen in due time."

"He's right y'know," Lacie said.

Grant sighed. "If only they would fess up... it would save us a whole lotta stress."

"I just want them to save themselves from stress," Shawn said. "But maybe that's why Allison became a dancer...to dance around her feelings!"

Grant jumped out of his chair and slapped him. "Boy, it was a career choice! Not done for feelings!"

"You don't know!" Shawn said. "I'll prove this to y'all!"

Shawn then sprinted out of the break room. Grant opted to chase him down, but Lacie stopped him. "Let the kid do his thing..."

Jack smiled. He liked seeing the family at Joey Drew Studios at peace with one another... because this was as close as it got.

Joey Drew, meanwhile, was down at the local cafe. He was coming up with several ideas for his latest cartoon, when he checked his watch.

"Hot damn, its 12:35!" he yelled. "I better get back! These ideas ain't gonna write themselves down!"

He then sprinted out of the cafe, making his way to his car.

He didn't forget to leave the tip, thank God... the waiter wouldn't be out for his head now!

Which meant all of his ideas were safe and sound.

And that made Joey very happy.

I hope y'all enjoyed my first crack at a BATIM fic! :D

Next chapter will be called "Hittin' The Town"! You all won't wanna miss it! :D

Thanks for reading! Drop a review if you wish too. They make my day. :D That's all for now! See ya soon!