𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤

Dipper felt a shiver travel down his spine, trying to keep a strait face. Taking a deep breath, he stared Bill in the eyes- eye. “No, Bill, we aren’t friends. I don’t know what you consider a friend, but threatening and trying to kill my family and friends doesn’t put someone in the friendship category.” 

He turned so his back was facing Bill, staying stiff while he was panicking on the inside. Perhaps pushing a demon’s buttons wasn’t the smart move, but Dipper couldn’t show he was…terrified.

The steadily rising temperature dropped all at once. If he had teeth, Bill would be grinning, even to Dipper’s turned back. He did not have teeth, but settled for returning to his usual hue and adjusting his hat.

Dipper backed away slightly, his skin crawling at the tingling sensation that engulfed that air. He panicked at the temperature seemed to rise. “I-I…w-well I mean…. Y-You’ve tried to get rid of me in the past, that’s not really what friends do.” 

Bill drifted closer, almost giddy at how uncomfortable Dipper was. “Sure, sure, of course I have. You were getting awfully close to things that you shouldn’t be getting close to. Not that it stopped you much, did it, Pine Tree?” His tone didn’t quite drip malice, but it was certainly laced with it.

“What kind of ‘something big’?”

Not that he expected a straight answer to that question, or any answer at all. Demons rarely gave one. Perhaps he could ask Watari later about their database, see if Bill Cipher was listed in it.

Noting their surroundings again, it didn’t seem like anyone else was in any immediate danger. Frozen, mostly; out of focus like an old film. It felt somewhat like walking on Earth in his spirit form, a part of the world and yet not, but this wasn’t his own doing. It made him think about the slips of fuda paper in his inside pocket, little portable spells should he need them. At least Bill appeared to be harmless for the time being.

“I’ve run into a lot of things, but never anything like you. Is this the only way we can speak? Through… this? What is this?”

     “Ah-ah-ah,” Bill said, wagging a finger. “You can’t      just expect me to tell you all my secrets, can you?      I mean, I could, but that would cost ya’. Secrets      aren’t cheap, you know.”

Not that he couldn’t tell Tsuzuki things. Lots of things. It isn’t like telling him meant that he could do anything about it. Still, Bill would prefer to keep some things under wraps.

     “Aw, thank you, Beansprout. I am pretty great.” Pretty      powerful. “Gotta admit, I’ve never run into anything like      me, either. Wouldn’t want to.” 

"I saw a shooting star and thought of you."

"You were lying next to me, I looked across and fell in love."

"If you wanna put this on me, that’s fine, I never blamed you for anything at all."

"The world looks better through your eyes."

"It's only been one night of love and maybe that is not enough."

"If I fall for you, would you fall too?"

"It's not a homeless life for me, it's just I'm home less than I'd like to be."

"I haven't slept for the past week, two hours ain't enough for me."

"I'm drunk off last nights whisky and coke."

"You can stay with me forever or you could stay with me for now."

"Outside the day is up and calling, but I don't have to be so, please go back to sleep."

"Never been better since all the therapy."

"And you know, if I let you go, I'll still keep you safe."

"You are the one I fall asleep with but never wake up to."

"The worst things in life come free to us."

"I wanna be drunk when I wake up on the right side of the wrong bed."

"What didn't kill me, it never made me stronger at all."

"I know I'll never hold you like I used to."

"I'll be drunk again to feel a little love."

"I know you'll never love me like you used to."

"I found your hair band on my bedroom floor, the only evidence that you've been here before."

"I don't drink like everybody else, I do it to forget things about myself."

"There's no chance that we'll work it out."

"I said that's fine, but you're the only one that knows I lied."

"Everybody said we'd be together forever."

"Everything's great and everything's sure, but you live in your halls and I live in a tour bus."

"Pain is only relevant if it still hurts."

"If I was gonna go somewhere, I'd be there by now."

"I should ink my skin with your name."

"I should run you a hot bath and fill it up with bubbles."

"You should never cut your hair 'cause I love the way you flick it off your shoulder."

"You will never know just how beautiful you are to me."

"Maybe you're hoping for a fairy tale, too."

"This is the start of something beautiful."

"And it's dark in a cold December, but I've got you to keep me warm."

"I'm out of touch, I'm out of love."

"I think I love you better now."

"Playing a different show every night in front of a new crowd."

"Let me sing and do my thing and move to greener pastures."

"You need me, man, I don’t need you."

"Never be anything but a singer-songwriter, yeah."

"People think that I’m bound to blow up."

"I haven’t got a house, plus I live on a couch."

"They say I’m up and coming like I'm fucking in an elevator."

"Settle down with me, and I'll be your safety, you'll be my lady."

"I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet."

"Give me love like her, 'cause lately I've been waking up alone."

"All I want is the taste that your lips allow."

"Give me love like never before, 'cause lately I've been craving more."

"It's been a while but I still feel the same... maybe I should let you go."

"Another love that's gone to waste."

"If I kissed you, will your mouth read this truth?"

"Darling, how I miss you."

"You made me scream, but then I made you cry."

"Maybe you should learn to love her like the way you wanna be loved."

"I never told her that I liked the way she dances slightly out of time and pretends she knows the words to a song she's never heard."

"You’re not her, though I try to see you differently."

"I will try to find another one who suited me as well as her."

"We never even tried, we never even talked, we never even thought in the long run."

"Whenever it was painful, whenever I was away, I’d miss you."

"I didn't mean to break your heart."

"Everybody falls apart sometimes."

"I know you've found another one, but won't you just hold me tonight."

"They don't know we don't speak anymore."

"I will stop trying to fall in love again... it never works out anyway."

"But I am not anything like I was."

"I don't wanna lose a lover and friend in one night if that's alright."

"I shouldn't have fucked with your mind and your life too many times."

"I never meant to sleep around, I was just lonely."

"When I see my future, it is with you."

"We're not friends, nor have we ever been."

"If they find out, will it all go wrong?"

"We're not friends, we could be anything."

"Friends don't treat me like you do."

"Tell me that you turned down the man who asked for your hand 'cause you're waiting for me."

"I know, you're gonna be away a while, but I've got no plans at all to leave."

"Just promise me, you'll never leave again."

"Just promise me, you'll always be a friend."

"Everything changes, but we'll be strangers if we see this through."

"I've been sat with you for most of the night, ignoring everybody here."

"Don't you worry if I disappear."

"I'm not really looking for another mistake."

"I was never looking for a friend."

"Maybe you could swing by my room around ten, baby, bring a lemon and a bottle of gin."

"Baby, if you wanted me then you should've just said."

"Maybe we'll go together and just figure it out."

"Trust and respect is what we do this for."

"You didn't need to take him to bed that's all."

"I never saw him as a threat until you disappeared with him to have sex of course."

"It's not like we were both on tour, we were staying on the same fucking hotel floor."

"I wasn't looking for a promise or commitment, but it was never just fun and I thought you were different."

"This is not the way you realize what you wanted."

"It's a bit too much, too late if I'm honest."

"Getting high as two kites when we needed to breathe."

"I'd disappear, you'd call me selfish, I understand but I can't help it."

"So we can either deal with the pain and wait to get on a plane."

"You should go, 'cause I ain't ever coming home."

"I've been livin' on the road, but then again you should know."

"You won't ever be alone... wait for me to come home."

"Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul."

"When I'm away, I will remember how you kissed me."

"How'd I get so faded?"

"I feel the chemicals burn in my bloodstream."

"I've been looking for a lover, thought I'd find her in a bottle."

"I'll be feeling this tomorrow."

"You look so wonderful in your dress, I love your hair like that."

"We are surrounded by all of these lies and people who talk too much."

"You got the kind of look in your eyes as if no one knows anything but us."

"All that you are is all that I'll ever need."

"Just don’t expect me back this evening."

"I love him from my skin to my bones but I don’t wanna live in his home."

"I was raised to keep quiet."

"I don't wanna hate you."

"I kind of knew you liked the dude from private school."

"I knew he had his eyes on you."

"He's not the right guy for you."

"Don't hate me 'cause I write the truth."

"I would never lie to you but it was never fine to lose you."

"I'm just disgusted with the skeletons you sleep with in your closet."

"Fact is you're mad at me because I backtrack so casually."

"You're practically my family, if we married then I'll guess you'd have to be."

"Tragically our love just lost the will to live, but would I kill to give it one more shot? I think not."

"I don't love you, baby, I don't need you... I don't want you anymore."

"I'm not cut out for life on the road 'cause I didn't know I'd miss you this much."

"I guess I'm not the man that you need."

"Ever since you went to uni, I've been sofa surfing with a rucksack full of less cash and I guess that could get bad."

"When I broke the industry, that's when I broke your heart."

"I was supposed to chart and celebrate, but good things are over fast."

"I tend to turn you off and switch on my professional features, then I turn the music off and all I'm left with is to pick up my personal pieces."

"Success is nothing if you have no one left to share it with."

"I know you have a day job, but mine is 24/7."

"I still love you and I need you by my side if I could."

"The irony is if my career and music didn't exist, in 6 years, you'd probably be my wife with a kid."

"I'll die from a thrill, go down in history as just a wasted talent."

"Eventually I'll be fine, I know that it was never meant to be."

"These things happen for a reason and you can't change shit."

"Take my apology, I'm sorry for the honesty, but I had to get this off my chest."

"I will be loving you 'til we're 70."

"People fall in love in mysterious ways."

"I fall in love with you every single day."

"For four years I never had a place to stay."

"At 16 years old, I moved out of my home."

"I tattooed the lyrics onto my arm."

"I'll hold ya and you'll think of him."

"I'll never trust you again, you can just be a friend."

Dipper bit the inside of his cheek, his mind racing to find away to pull Bill away from Mable. “What do you want Bill. You obviously decided to bother me for a reason. Just tell me so I can say no to your deal.”

No one’s called him kid in a very long time; not since his first partner, he thinks, way back in the 1920s. It’s weird. And so is whatever’s happening – it’s weird and highly uncomfortable, which he supposes is the point. The demons he encounters don’t usually have the ability to alter reality or… any of this, actually. He recalls Sagatanas and the blood and the wings and the violin; this is much different from that.

If Bill Cipher is even a demon at all. He’s never seen anything like him before.

“–What are you here for, then?”

     “Vacation! Even I need a break every once and a      while,” he lied. “Truth is, I’m waiting for something      big to happen. Everything’s already in place, now      it’s just a game of waiting. Figured, hey, why not      take a look around."

It had been a long time since he’d been able to move around freely. He wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. Even if it was just a matter of waiting around,now.

     Carlos was too tired for this nonsense. Seriously. He needed more sleep (if he      wasn’t already) before talking with a floating, talking Illuminati symbol in a bow tie.

“Believe me when I say I know that,” Carlos said, deciding to humor the strange  little creature. This was probably a dream anyway, he couldn’t see the harm in  talking to it. He also had a bit of a skewed idea of what was dangerous of not,  especially since there was a good chance this wasn’t a dream.

    “I don’t know Dorito,” Carlos grumbled, giving the being an unimpressed look. Labcoat?      Nerd? Far from original. “You seem to know a thing or two about Night Vale. Why don’t      you share your ideas with the lab?”

     “Dorito, eh?” It took him a moment to recall what      that was. Some disgusting human food. “Because      I’m a triangle. Haha! Funny! You’re a funny guy.      The name’s Bill. Bill Cipher.”

He composes himself, not about to let some silly com- ment upset him. “I know a lot of things about everything,” he said, his form flashing quickly through various events in the earth’s history. “Sure I could share my ideas with you.” But what would he get out of that?

“You try needing to eat to live and not being able to find any food. People were dying all around, to them, that was nothing but free meat.”

                                     [ trxangleguy followed ]

“ ah! oow… “                 Chenaberry whimpered as she examined her scraped knee. It wasn’t a                 severe injury, but it still hurt. Glancing up for a moment, something caught                 her eye. The brunette raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“ am i hallucinating…? “

     “That depends what you mean by ‘hallucinating.’”

He existed, though maybe not in a strictly literal sense. Who did, though? Existence was just a small aspect of being. A small, boring aspect.