△͏ʜ͢ᴊ̴ᴅᴠᴠʜᴘ ̸ᴠ̶ɢᴜᴅᴢ͢ɴғᴅᴇ̶△

"Why don’t you go bother Gideon or something? I don’t have time for this."

                    It's evident that Bill isn't at all unperturbed by the direction the                         conversation has steered towards, Dipper's impatience and ob-                         vious annoyance with him showing as clear as day. He knows                         damn well it's going to take a whole lot more to even get Bill to                         budge from this self-imposed goal of bothering the kid to hell                         and back, but without any other objective in mind at the moment,                         Bill really is just doing this to get on the Pines boy's nerves.

                    For a moment, Bill does hold his tongue, at least long enough                         to observe their immediate surroundings more closely. The s-                         ights don't take too long to register, either, and Bill relishes the                         familiarity of having been down this area before. Upon inspec-                         ting the glyphs further and glancing down towards Dipper's notes,                         a disembodied chuckle emanates around the two.

No. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Not here. Everything was going so well; he’d been content in the relative normalcy of the city, and he had been so sure for so long that he had been safe. For months now the occasional nightmare was nothing to fear. But now as he meets eyes-to-eye with the thing that had been so intent on ruining him, Dipper can’t push down the thought that he’s never going to be safe, asleep or not. 

"Bill! How did you– where–"

He can’t even make a coherent sentence, let alone stop wheezing from the aftereffects of that initial shock. Balling his hands into fists, he takes one deep breath and steels himself, determined to keep up a brave face, at least until Bill would leave with what he wanted.

     ❝ Relax, kid! No need for a game           of 20 questions right now. ❞

                    Why Bill is acting so unnervingly nonchalant despite both of                         their situations being undesirable is beyond the scope of any-                         one's reasoning, but he prides himself on being far from the                         predictable type. Although, Dipper should see this next bit                         coming, the way the demon circles around in attempts to take                         his appearance in. It has been quite some time since they've                         seen each other; he wants to savor the moment. 

Well, this was new. A hologram, maybe? The scientists couldn’t possibly be trying to mess with him, could they? Then again…

☰ ►◄ ☰ ❝ Finally decided to look up, huh!                         You're a lot slower than most p-                         eople I've met thus far, haha! ❞

                       Bill blinks once, twice, and then a third time as he hovers before                            the teen, tipping off the top hat from his person in greeting. Never                            once does he move to touch Mike, maybe a little too taken by the                            misunderstanding.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. My parents are fine at their home, and despite my popularity, the author never made me a protagonist."

Unfortunate, indeed, especially considering where this late-night trip had brought him. It had been months ever since he had traveled down into the underbelly of sector four, with good reason. It was no wonder he looked over his shoulder so often. He had nearly died down here– actually, he had died down here once, when he hadn’t been careful enough. The blood stains on the wall proved as much. This time, however, he wouldn’t be caught off-guard. He was determined not to be. 

☰ ►◄ ☰    Much to Dipper's chagrin, this particular demon practically fed                        off of any and all paranoia exuded by the pathetic mortal, and is                        eager to amplify it further, be it by simply continuing to watch him                        from the shadows or by revealing himself on the physical plane.                        He gives it some thought, passing the time until then by slipping                        to and fro from Dipper's direct gaze, content to hang in his peri-                        pherals. Bill does not do much to deter the bout of eerie chuckles                        he is so fond of, allowing the sound to echo through the glyphed                        tunnel.

                  This would have continued on further if it weren't for Bill's increasing                       boredom of toying with the Pines boy. He squints to himself moments                       later before his voice reverberates through the tunnel once more, ut-                       tering one short phrase.

     ❝ Well well w̨e͏l̨l... ❞

                  Dipper would surely whip around with that, but Bill wouldn't dare                      blow his cover so recklessly. Only when the preteen looks around                      to his front once more will Bill finally reveal himself, floating up in his                      face with that piercing gaze boring right through Dipper's being ( m-                      etaphorically, of course ).

"Definitely not my ride of choice, but it gets me by. I do miss Mutt, though."

☰ ►◄ ☰ ❝ Is that like a dog or...? I                        didn't know there were even                        dogs big enough to be used                        for transportation! Boy, you                        humans have got it good right                        now. ❞