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"Dude, sit down. You're gonna go flying when the bus stops," Despite his condescending tone, there's a smile on his face as he watched his friend ignore his warning.
"Relax! You'll catch me, won't you?" Norman said, looking over at him with a blinding grin.
"No way. I'd just walk out and leave you by yourself," Dipper replied, his expression becoming deadpan.
Norman responded to his joke by punching him in the arm. Coincidentally, the bus came to a jerky halt at the exact same time causing Norman to only brush Dipper's sleeve before he fell backwards. Dipper reacted immediately, moving forward and catching his friend before he hit his head on the ground.
Norman held his head down, hiding his face from Dipper long enough to make it seem like something was wrong. That is until he looked up at Dipper with the exact same grin he showed him earlier.
“Told you.”
That’s how Norman found himself sitting on the floor of the bus while Dipper walked out with their luggage.
-
“So this is Gravity Falls,” Norman commented as he followed Dipper to the Mystery Shack. Sure, it wasn’t anything special – sort of reminded him of Blithe Hollow except more secluded – but the amount of people in the town was pretty overwhelming. “I thought you said it was a sleepy town.”
“It is. Most of the supernatural stuff tends to stay in the forest,” Dipper explained, looking over his shoulder when he heard Norman muttering, “How many people are you seeing?” He didn’t need to elaborate; they both knew exactly what he was asking.
“We just passed by ten.” To Dipper, there was no one around them as they got closer to the Mystery Shack, but to Norman there were now ten different, transparent people behind them. Back in town, he’d seen more than fifteen – not including the actual living residents of Gravity Falls.
Dipper didn’t say anything and for a moment, Norman worried that the large amount of spirits wandering around shocked him.
“Here we are. The one and only Mystery Shack,” Dipper presented the place with a flourish. And by flourish, all he did was wave his hand around before walking up to the gift shop door and opening it up.
Norman was glad to see that the revelation didn’t affect his friend as much as he thought he was and cast his previous worries aside. The shack looked… just like a shack. If it weren’t for the huge sign, he would’ve thought it was a regular shack in the woods, not a tourist trap. While taking in the rest of the scenery, his attention was drawn to the forest nearby. Something tugged at him, a strong urge to go in there and explore filling his body.
He nearly gave into that sudden urge if it weren’t for Dipper’s voice calling his name. His eyes lingering a second longer on the forest, he finally tore his gaze away from it and walked into the shack.
The forest was going to have to wait.
Norman walked in just in time to see Dipper caught in a loose headlock by a red headed girl in plaid. It made him pause because Dipper was at least a few inches taller than this girl, so the sight was quite amusing to him.
“Oh, hey there,” the girl said when she noticed him. She let go of Dipper and stepped up to him with her hand held out. “You must be Dipper’s friend. I’m Wendy. I work here.”
“Norman Babcock,” he told her, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake, “It’s nice to meet you.” He waited for a joke about his name – the look on her face similar to the ones he used to see during freshman year – but it never came. It made him feel a bit bad for assuming; she was Dipper’s friend after all and he wouldn’t be friends with someone who made fun of other people.
“C’mon, I’ll show you the room,” Dipper said after promising Wendy that they’d catch up later. Norman nodded, waving shyly at Wendy who patted his shoulder in return as the two walked passed her and up the stairs.
There weren’t many steps to climb and in no time, Norman found himself standing in the middle of a small and obviously well-loved attic bedroom. One side was an organized mess, papers and little trinkets spread all around. His eyes fell onto the number of broken pens with chewed caps sitting at the top of a pile of crumpled up papers in the trash and he immediately knew that was Dipper’s side.
He assumed the other bed in the room, the one he was supposed to sleep in, belonged to Mabel. It looked like it had been stripped of anything reminiscent of the bubbly half of the Pines twins, except for random marks in the wooden wall and a bit of glue residue where he guessed posters were hung up.
Norman, exhausted thanks to the fairly long trip from their university in Southern California, left his suitcase by the bed before falling back onto it. He heard the springs in the other mattress groan under the weight of Dipper presumably sitting on it. Silence blanketed them for a moment, Norman shifting around to get in a more comfortable position.
Soon, the sound of a pen being clicked in a familiar rhythm hit his ears and he turned his head to see Dipper with the leather-bound journal Norman had given him for his birthday and a smile on his face that looked as if he were having some kind of secret conversation with someone.
“Hey Dipper…” His voice echoed throughout the room, waiting until his friend hummed in response, “Can we check out the forest?”
The clicking stopped and Dipper’s smile dropped only by a fraction; he looked up at Norman, an almost serious look in his eyes. “Not today. The monsters are being a bit… hostile.”
“But–“
“Besides, we’ve got the whole summer to ourselves and a lot of time to go out there,” Dipper interrupted, all seriousness gone from his face and replaced with his usual, friendly expression.
Norman stared at him even after he’d gone back to scribbling in his journal. There had to be something Dipper wasn’t telling him – which was weird since they became best friends after dealing with some pretty wild creatures back in SoCal.
Sighing in defeat, he rolled onto his side so that he was facing the wall. He reached out to run a finger over what looked like a knife mark. His thoughts soon became preoccupied with an imaginary story of how the mark came to be, but the image of the forest stayed stubbornly in his mind like a backdrop to everything else going on in his head.
He hadn’t noticed how much time had passed until he was being shaken back into reality. Rolling over onto his back, he looked up at Dipper and then looked at the offered hand. Norman grabbed onto it, letting Dipper pull him up from the bed, and then let go to stretch out the kinks in his shoulder.
“Dinner’s ready,” Dipper told him, waiting for Norman to be ready before walking towards the door. They made it halfway down the stairs before Dipper said, “Mabel showed up an hour ago by the way, so you might have to share my bed.”
Norman raised his eyebrow, more skeptical about how they were going to fit in his tiny bed than really minding the fact that they’d be sharing. It was something they’ve done on school trips before. “You sure? I brought a sleeping bag just in case.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know two people can fit in that bed,” Dipper answered immediately. Norman watched as the words he’d just said processed through his mind, cheeks flushing pink as he added, “I mean, Pacifica and Mabel have shared her bed since they started dating.” It made him curious as to why his friend felt the need to add an explanation – it wasn’t like he was really going to question it any further. Deciding not to probe the topic anymore since it looked like it made Dipper uncomfortable, Norman stayed fairly quiet until they walked into the kitchen.
He followed Dipper to the table filled with people and quickly took the last open seat, right between Mabel and Dipper. Being next to people he knew well relieved some of the awkwardness he felt, shoulders visibly relaxing.
Dinner went smoothly. With the encouragement of both Pines twins, he got roped into many of the conversation topics. He even shared some of his experiences that came with his ability to see ghosts; of course, he only told the funny ones. It would’ve ruined the good mood if he had told them about the more horrible stuff he’s encountered before. He found Wendy to be a great new friend and he loved listening to Stan’s stories. The old man had certainly lived quite a life.
When it came to figuring out the whole sleeping situation, Norman once again brought up his sleeping bag, but after Mabel joined in on insisting he sleep in a bed, he gave in and slipped under the blanket after Dipper. The three exchanged good nights and then darkness washed over them, the only light being the moon shining in from the one window.
Norman lay wide awake. He tried to use the soft snoring and even breathing of Dipper as a sort of lullaby. It didn’t work and the forest began to creep back into his mind, the urge to explore it stronger than the first time he felt it. He let it tug at him, moving like a mouse through the shack until he made it outside.
Clad in pajama pants and a faded t-shirt, he walked barefoot down the back porch steps and into the forest. Thankfully, the moon was serving as his flashlight, though he couldn’t avoid the occasional root or log; he tripped over those, but caught himself in time.
He could make out a clearing up ahead, a perfect place to bask in the peaceful silence of the forest. Taking a seat, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, lips pulled up in a tiny smile. When he opened his eyes again, a blond haired guy filled his vision.
The sudden appearance of the stranger elicited a surprised yelp from Norman; the boy scrambling backwards to get away from him. For a minute, he thought he was seeing another ghost, but the other didn’t have the same translucent, green color that all the ghosts he’s seen so far have. He did notice the faint, golden glow that surrounded the blond. He rubbed his eyes to make sure it was really there and that it wasn’t a trick of the moonlight.
“Hey there, kid!” The stranger’s words echoed in a strange, inhumane way. It sent chills down Norman’s spine and he slowly stood up, suspicious gaze glued on the blond. “Aw c’mon, don’t look so apprehensive. Here, have this!”
A screaming head appeared in a cloud of smoke in front of him causing him to jump back. A high pitched laugh rang in his ears and the little gift was gone just as quickly as it had come. His mind was whirling at what exactly was going on. This had to be a dream… he must’ve fallen asleep and was now dreaming about… some glowing guy with an eyepatch?
“Who are you?” Norman asked, still keeping a large distance between them. After that trick, he really didn’t want to get any closer.
“Name’s Bill Cipher and I’m your worst nightmare,” he was in front of Norman in seconds, hand holding tightly onto the collar of his shirt as he lifted him up into the air. Fear graced his features and kicked his legs, hitting Bill over and over again. The other didn’t seem to mind at all which only made Norman struggle more. The golden glow changed into red hot flames as Bill growled, “Stay away from my Pine Tree, kid.”
Norman didn’t know how to respond. Pine tree? Was he talking about the forest? Maybe this was the hostile monster Dipper had warned him about. He had so many things he wanted to say, so many questions to ask, but he couldn’t as his collar was beginning to choke him.
“Bill! Let him go!” He knew that voice. Glancing down to the source, he saw a pissed off Dipper glaring at them – more specifically at the guy choking him. Bill hesitated for a moment, but when he looked over at Dipper again, an annoyed sigh fell from his lips and Norman found himself back on the ground.
He coughed and gasped, regaining all the oxygen he’d lost earlier. Once that problem was fixed, he started to reassure Dipper that he was fine, that there weren’t any injuries – besides the strangulation he’d witnessed – on him, and then asked in disbelief, “You know this guy?”
“Oh, he knows me really well,” Bill said with a suggestive wink – at least Norman interpreted it as a wink, kind of hard to tell with the eyepatch – as he stood in front of them, arms crossed over his chest.
Dipper sighed and helped Norman get up before properly introducing them to each other, “Bill, this is my best friend, Norman Babcock. Norman, this is Bill Cipher, a dream demon and my... partner.”
“Partner as in…?” His voice was a bit raspy, but the unspoken word was easy to catch and it hung heavily in the air.
“I’m his lover,” Bill cut in, glaring at Norman, “So back off.”
“Alright, you know what? It’s way too late at night for me to deal with this. Let’s go, Norman,” Dipper said, still supporting him as they began to walk out of the forest. They stopped so that Dipper could look back at his partner, “And you. Play nice or I’m shutting you out of my head for the rest of the month.”
Norman could faintly hear Bill swearing and grumbling as they exited the forest and entered the Mystery Shack. The image of Bill flashed in the forefront of his mind before he passed out.
Two weeks passed before Norman crossed paths with Bill Cipher again. Well, except for the times the demon would have dinner with them or to pick Dipper up for their date night. The bouquet of a hundred roses that sat in a large vase on Dipper’s desk served as proof of that time.
He was lounging on the back porch’s couch with Dipper, his back propped up against the armrest and his legs haphazardly tangled up with the other’s. It was something they unconsciously did back in their dorm room, especially on days where they had a deadline to meet.
Pen moving fluidly over the paper inside his life journal with the bird’s song as background music and the sunshine beaming down on them, it was like any other peaceful summer day. Definitely a nice change from last summer, the two students had gotten buried in a huge project that prevented them from going up to Oregon sooner. He hadn’t felt this relaxed since… well, he’s always been a stressed out kid thanks to how taxing his classes were and then there was the whole ‘being able to see ghosts’. Of course, he should’ve known it wouldn’t last.
At first, something small hit his head. He paid it no mind, thinking it was just a bug, and continued to scribble his thoughts. And then a rock hit his hand, causing his grip on his pen to slacken and a slight throbbing sensation to bloom across the backside of his hand. Norman looked up and over at where he thought the rock could’ve come from, but saw nothing aside from nature.
Gaze lingering for a few seconds longer, he brushed off the inside and picked his pen back up. He got one word written on the page before he was assaulted with rocks once again, these ones sharper than the previous one that had hit his hand.
His journal and pen slid off his lap and onto the couch cushion as he got up, stumbling thanks to another pair of legs blocking his way. He held his arm in front of his face, shallow cuts littering his exposed skin, and then ducked down next to the couch. One last rock hit him on the head before he was certain the attack was over.
“Hey, you okay?” Dipper asked, kneeling down in front of Norman now that he was finally aware of what was going on. He stared at the small droplets of blood that escaped the cuts and were dripping onto the wooden porch with concern and confusion. Norman didn’t blame him; he was just as confused about what happened.
“I– Yeah, I’m fine. They’re just little cuts,” Norman reassured him, grabbing onto Dipper’s offered hand and letting his friend help him up. He looked passed Dipper’s shoulder and into the forest, trying to find out where the rocks had come from. For a second, he thought he saw a flash of gold.
But before he could move forward to investigate, Dipper’s hands were on his shoulders and he felt himself being spun around and pushed towards the door. He opened his mouth to protest and Dipper interrupted, “It’s either I patch you up now or wait ‘til Mabel’s home to patch you up with her sticker band-aids.”
Norman didn’t bother to complain after that.
-
July rolled around in a blink of an eye and the rock incident was completely forgotten. Even the cuts he’d gotten were nothing but barely noticeable, white lines across his skin. As for Bill… the demon always glared at him when Dipper wasn’t looking – there was even a time when he’d flipped the bird and Mabel had caught him doing so. Norman had witnessed his best friend’s lover’s spat for the first time that day.
He awoke one bright, July day to a pair of actual deer eyes staring right at him. Thinking he was still dreaming, Norman’s eyes fluttered shut for a brief moment before they flew open once more. The deer was still there, blinking every few seconds to let him know that this was real. With wide eyes, he scrambled to get out from the covers while simultaneously trying not to disturb Dipper’s sleep – they had stayed up the night before chatting and share a six-pack case of beer; his friend needed it.
Getting his foot untangled from the blanket, he took one step forward and immediately pulled away. He’d just stepped on something soft and squishy, a completely different feeling from the wooden floorboards.
“Don’t tell me…” He said to himself, slowly looking back up at the deer that had greeted him when he first opened his eyes. Just as he suspected, the young deer was the same translucent green as all the other ghosts he’s met before.
With that suspicion confirmed, he screamed. Loud enough to echo throughout the room and wake up Dipper – Mabel was staying at Pacifica’s for the rest of the month so that the couple could have their quality time before Pacifica had to go back to school. Even though Mabel’s bed was now free, he still slept in Dipper’s bed.
“Wha–“ Dipper shot up from under the covers, bumping his head onto the low ceiling. He was too sleepy to process the pain from hitting his head and instead focused on Norman who sat next to him, curled up in a ball and staring straight ahead at something. “Nor, what’s the matter?”
“I’m pretty sure there’s a dead baby deer next to the bed,” Norman whispered his response, a horrified expression on his face and shoulders tense. Thankfully, the flesh of the animal was still fresh otherwise he’d be extremely sickened by the pungent smell of rotting flesh.
“Not again,” he heard Dipper mutter under his breath followed by a sigh. He turned around to stare at his friend, eyes still wide in shock.
“Does this happen to you a lot?”
Dipper sighed again. He got out from under the blankets and draped them around Norman before wrapping his arms around the other boy, pulling him back and as far away from the carcass as possible.
“Animal parts are like gifts in the demon world. Bill just so happens to have a sick interest in mutilating animals and sending them to me every other year,” Dipper told him, letting go as he slid off the bed. There was a squishing sound that was drowned out by a louder sound of disgust made by Dipper.
“What are you going to do with it?” Norman asked, still whispering. He couldn’t bring himself to speak any higher. This was the first time he’s had to be in such close proximity with a dead animal before. The thought he was probably sleeping next to it the entire night sent chills down his spine.
“Burn it,” Dipper replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Norman watched as his friend disappeared from his line of sight and then reappeared with the small dead deer in his arms. “And then I’m gonna have a few words with my partner. Don’t wait up.” After that, he left the room.
Norman lay back in the bed, the blanket rolled tightly around him, listening to the soft grunts that left Dipper’s lips as he carried the fairly heavy corpse down the stairs. It worked like a lullaby and soon, he felt his eyelids drooping before he succumbed to a dreamless sleep.
Norman found himself welcoming August with a long overdue talk with a certain dream demon.
The two stood a reasonable distance away from each other in the clearing where they first met, the sun shining down on them like a spotlight. Neither of them said a word, just stared – Norman only slightly intimidated by the way it looked like Bill was assessing him.
“Why do you hate me so much?” Norman blurted out, breaking the silence. He hadn’t meant to ask that question so bluntly, but it had been nagging him since he realized the rocks and the dead deer had all been Bill’s doing.
“And here I thought you were as bright as Pine Tree,” Bill said with a roll of his eyes, obviously annoyed by Norman’s mere presence. “Isn’t it obvious, smart guy?”
“Um, not really… I mean as far as I know, I haven’t done anything to you,” Norman told him, breaking the eye contact they had since the beginning of the conversation. The almost murderous look in Bill’s visible eye was making him uncomfortable.
“You’re way too close to what’s mine,” Bill growled at him, flashing red before he took a deep breath, “You’re just all over my boyfriend, of course I’m going to hate your guts.”
“It’s not like that…” He wanted to clean up this entire misunderstanding, but Bill kept talking with quite a flourish, flipping his blond hair, narrowing his eyes at Norman, and completely ignoring his words.
“You’re lucky Pine Tree sees you as such an important friend, otherwise your innards would be hanging out by now.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that. We’re just best friends,” Norman tried again, thankful that it seemed like Bill was actually going to listen to him this time. “He really loves you. Always talked about this guy he’s been seeing since he was in high school. Especially when he’s drunk, he’s like a waterfall, gushing about you and all that,” His cheeks flushed pink when the last part left his lips, “Don’t tell him I said that.”
Bill looked caught off-guard, mouth agape and anger simmering down. Norman felt a bit of pride at how he handled the situation. He just hoped Dipper never found out that he’d shared the little tidbit about how he was when he was drunk.
“You really shouldn’t be worried about anything.”
Norman’s voice seemed to have snapped Bill out of his reverie and the demon coughed, regaining the cold aura that Norman had picked up from him at the beginning.
“I’m not worried. Anyways, make sure he gets back safely or I’m coming after you,” Bill warned him, flicking a blue fireball his way. Aside from singeing the tips of his hair, it missed him and hit the tree behind him. Before the demon disappeared in a puff of smoke, he heard the blond mutter, “Sorry about the deer and rocks.”
Satisfied with how the conversation went, Norman walked back to the shack with a hop in his step and a smile on his face.
-
It was time to head back to SoCal for school and Norman was reluctant to go. Now that he’s had a taste of how much fun Gravity Falls could be, he understood why Dipper was always going back whenever he could.
He stood at the bus stop, suitcase and duffel bag in hand, next to Dipper and waited for his friend to finish exchanging goodbyes with his family. When he got to Bill, Norman averted his gaze, letting the couple have at least some privacy.
By the time the bus came, Bill and Dipper were still wrapped up around each other. Norman didn’t know where his friend ended and the demon began – figuratively of course, it was pretty easy to see which limbs belonged to which body.
Norman waited at the top of the bus steps, his bags already settled in the overhead compartment above their seats. The couple shared one last kiss and he waited for them to break apart. When it was starting to get a bit long – and he knew it was thanks to the bus driver’s eyes burning holes into the back of his head – he cleared his throat, effectively getting their attention.
“See you… break… love you,” Norman heard snippets of the parting words Dipper told his lover and immediately cleared them from his memory. Those were for Bill only and if somehow the demon found out, he really didn’t want to deal with the whole violently possessive thing again.
Norman walked back into the bus once he knew Dipper was following him and took his seat by the open window.
“Hey, smart guy!” He turned his head to look out the window when Bill shouted. “You better take care of him for me!”
He glanced over at Dipper who was humming under his breath and looking through his journal, completely oblivious to their conversation. A smile graced his features and he shouted back, “Of course! Don’t be such a worry wart!”
The bus began to move and Bill’s retort was drowned out by the engine. Norman laughed to himself, settling back into the seat.
“Hey, Dip… let’s spend next spring and summer break in Gravity Falls.”
Dipper grinned at him, throwing an arm over his shoulder and holding him close, “You know what, Nor? I was thinking the exact same thing.”