Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"you seem tense"

Bill shivered as the axolotl just randomly decided to sit on the roof with him

"I thought you let me out...are you lying to me now?" He hissed as he took some distance from the salamander

"Ford has been worried too"

"Well he better show it"

"I'm glad you let me know how you feel about this, but that isn't going to cut it"

Bill's eyes widened as he looked back slowly making sure he heard it all right

"Dont please do-"

He was cut off as the axolotl rested his head closer to his body

"Bill, I saw a burst of progress the second you met Ford I wouldn't take you away from him, ever."

"So..?"

"That doesn't mean I wouldn't speak about my distress, or.... your distress when I have the chance"

"Is this one of those weird psychological riddles... Just tell the guy what he needs to do to

make him feel better

he quoted the last part in an annoyed tone as he rolled his eye

"Vulnerability, you lack vulnerability, Bill."

"Oh, not this again..."

The axolotl head nuzzled as Bill rested his hand on top of its head

"I've wanted to meet you but to my surprise, I only found Ford in the same place as you last night, he told me about your nightmares and how you couldn't sleep for the past 3 days because of this,"

There was a loud silence between them. Bill knew where this was going

"Is that maybe because of your pare-" Before he could finish he saw the triangle glow the color red, looking at him like he was ready to attack before sighing and going back to normal

"The smallest things you do, I still see them as progress bills. But we can't take baby steps all the time. This is helpful for you and especially for your relationship with him."

Bill's eye closed as he tried to form a proper response, the fact that the axolotl was right pissed him off the most

"Where do I even start, I don't know;"

"That's why I'll use my powers for this one, you'll have to live in your child form for the rest of the week"

Bill didn't even have time to respond or even gasp before he was cut off again

"But it can only switch between my natural form and that fleshbag how would you even-"

"Tomorrow... You'll have enough time to inform Stanford. I'm sorry, Bill, but this is your last chance."

"Oh you little...-" Before Bill could scream at him it was like the axolotl was never there, just leaving Bill speechless

In the first hour, he decided he didn't know what to do; it was truly a weird discussion, and Ford wasn't the... "Yes, I'll take care of you" type, Or maybe he was? He never thought about how the man would handle children, especially Bill as a little kid. Bill didn't even think about it he was too freaked out, he was practically pacing around the room frantically; that was before the man he was thinking about finally came, looking at him slightly confused

Bill would rather spend another two years in therapism than have this happening

"So is explaining like a foreign word to you or...?" Bill would rolled his eyes if it wasn't for the fact that he, the god that had been cherished for thousands of years felt utterly shy at that exact moment

"The axolotl came" Ford stopped dead in his tracks to hear what the other man had to say

"No, I'm not- going back to the therapist, it's... More complicated, something we have to do together to earn that salamander trust or...I don't know" Bill mumbled as Ford got closer kneeling to the man who was sitting in bed, hands on his thighs, looking up with a puzzled expression

"You need to work on your vocabulary bill. Salamander, earning trust?"

Bill sighed as he rested his hand on top of fords "he told me I'm having problems, and he would rather turn me into a child because it's the only chance I got..."

"So the axolots would turn you into a kid because?"

"They liked to call it "vulnerability problems," but that's just a lame excuse to keep me having this little psychological exercise he so loves torturing me with...."

Ford looked at him, eyebrows lowered almost as if he was displaying pity, making Bill look down in embarrassment.

"It's alright, we do need to talk about this, however.. what do you even feed baby triangles?"

Bill was taken aback by the fact that he didn't ask any more questions, but he erased that thought away fast. He hated a lot of questions anyway.

"Anything human infants eat, I think?"

"Do I need to grab diapers?"

"What are those?"

"Ill take that as a no."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Maybe...that was the time my nightmares occurred the most...".

Ford stood up as he ruffled Bill's hair; he didn't want to cry, but not now. Maybe tomorrow because he'll have an excuse but not now;

"Oh darling..."

Bills looked confused as a hand trailed along his cheek carrying it slowly and wiping the tears that were just forming away

Tears?

Bill shifted as he started wiping them down as well as fast as he could

"There there.. it going to be okay my muse, I'll take good care of you" Ford whispered as he grabbed bills waist pulling him farther into the bed and covering them up with a warm blanket, and closing the lights

"It's gonna be okay.." he whispered again pulling Bill's head into his chest and letting the other man nuzzle into him, for once feeling the comfort of fords embrace after a long time

"Ford, I'm so scared of what's gonna happen tomorrow. You don't even know-" "Shhh you need rest, Bill, I'll take care of you. Just rest for now"

And that was enough to make Bill quiet down and fall asleep peacefully as the other man played with his hair

Chapter Text

The next morning was not really... Interesting

That was what Ford would've said if he didn't wake up next to no one and his back being on a rather ...squishy surface

His face went pale as he got up and was a little deflated form of Bill sitting there like nothing happened in the first place as he began to reform to his normal size

"Did I hurt yo-are you okay?!" Ford almost screamed as he looked at the triangle who just looked at him weird

The man almost tripped getting out of the bed and grabbing whatever he could find that he could write on but he was so nervous all he could write was

"Squishy, no talk"

Before realizing he should just calm down,

Now that he was paying attention to the little guy he did realize how....big? Those shoes he was wearing were but before the man could take them down so he could feel more comfortable the triangle was already red

"Okay okay !" He said as he kneeled to look at him better

He almost looked like he was melting...maybe he was sick? One hand was placed around where the human forehead would be but no sign of a fever

His little hand quickly wrapped around Ford's fingers, his eyes being filled with fascination

"Oh yeah ,six fingers, you call me Sixer, remember that?" He said as he wiggled his fingers. Surprisingly Bil nodded at his question but that only made him want more answers

Not now, maybe later.

"Soo hungry right?" Ford mumbled as he gently raised Bill up on his hand, surprisingly he was really tiny and almost weightless

The triangle happily nodded as they made their way to the kitchen

"Oh Stanford you would believe how much this idiot tourist paid for this trash-"

Oh yeah.

Ford was so stressed about how he would take care of baby bill that he totally forgot his whole family was there

"Okay ,this defines all levels of weird...even for you two...."

"Okay , I can explain!"

"Oh id love to hear that," stan said as he took one big can of beer which he would probably gulp down the second his brother started talking

"So the axolotl came, made Bill a baby, and just left. That's short." Stan raised an eyebrow as he stood up, he always knew when Ford was hiding something but he decided to brush it off as he began to look better at Bill

"He could be an attraction for the mys-"
"NO"
"Okay, just wanted to make sure..."

The man sighed and grabbed the remote to watch TV while glancing once in a while at Bill who was just waving at him cheerfully

"What's the deal with the shoes, though?"

Ford opened some smoothie made of carrots and other fruits as he looked at Bill better

"I have no idea. He just likes them a lot. I-I don't have any idea about anything when he's like this..." Ford admitted his hands rubbing his temples as he struggled to think straight stan started to cackle at his words

"Oh, what's so funny now?" He said in a pissed tone as he handed Bill the baby food

"Nothing, just you not knowing one single thing, and freaking out is hilarious. Babies are simple, Ya just feed them and make sure they don't die".

"Maybe Mabel and Dipper not living here is a blessing after all..."

Stan rolled his eyes as he started to be more focused on the TV show rather than whatever was happening between those two

"The kids will wake up eventually, let me know when you're gonna tell them I wanna watch their faces" the man cackled as he slapped his knee at the thought of Dipper being absolutely freaked out about Bill's new form

"Yeah yeah..." Ford mumbled as he felt his sixth finger being squeezed again by Bill,

"Hm? Yeah, Bill, six fingers ...did you forget already?" He asked as he held up his hand for a better view

The triangle wiggled his finger as a "no" and then pointed at his only eye

"Your eye? yeah that's what you see me with Bill" he smiled as he patted his head, the triangle became more and more uneasy as he started whining and showing fords sixth finger and his eye again

"I'm sorry, Bill, I, don't understand you...are you sure you can't talk?"

Bill's face looked away, slightly sadder as he decided to brush it off; it was hopeless after all.

"Hey hey well get through this dont worry, only one week okay?" Ford looked at him as he tried to reassure him

All that he could do was just nod and eat his food as Ford looked at him and rubbed small circles across his back

Bill would've never said this but the way Ford has become really touchy in just some hours made him feel slightly better

"Stan, I need to get my notebook from downstairs. Look at the Bill for just some minutes, please?" Ford said as stan turned to look at the triangle better making his brother sigh in relief

As his steps started to not be heard anymore stan squinted his eyes at the sight of Bill who was just sitting there facing him, still a little dirty from spilling some of the fruit juice on his face

"I know what you're doing, but ill let it pass since hearing your annoying voice is worse than whatever this is," stan said as he took another big sip from his beer

Bill looked at him angry as his body went slightly red

"I know damn well you still are conscious, so what's the thing with the whole baby propaganda?"

Bill rolled his eyes as he decided to sit down, his sneakers thumping against the table loudly

"The real question is why don't you let fordsy know you aren't fully a baby,"

At that, Bill became fully red fuming but not being able to talk before hearing a little laugh from stan

"I'm just kiddingg, won't let Ford know anythin' but if I think bout' it you sure are more childish with those tantrums," stan said as he smiled at Bill

"You better not pull anything weird in off while he takes care of you though, or I'll forget youre tiny and take that as an advantage while I bea- Oh Ford, did you find your nerdy book already?"

Bill frowned at the change of tone immediately

The triangle rolled his eye as he whined for Ford's attention feeling his hand rub against his back again

"Yeah yeah, I'll take him down there for more tests he seems sleepy anyway"

As Bill was carried downstairs, he couldn't help but smile at him, I'm making the triangle frown. Before he knew it he was placed on fords desk slowly, the thought of him being extra careful with Bill did spark a few feelings or rather nostalgic feelings about their past

"I wonder how your species reproduce.." Bill frowned as his thought of how he was ford's only muse evaporated from his stupid question. he mumbled softly looking into his book, he didn't mean for Bill to hear it because he didn't even know how he would respond to that but his attention was drawn to Bill yanking a piece of paper scattered around as he began to draw two triangles intersecting, another little triangle forming from the bodies being close

"That is so interesting! Does that affect the color? Like for example does a red triangle and a blue triangle make a purple one?" Ford said fascinated by the concept as he saw bills expression changing, his grip on the colors softening

"Oh, I'm sorry. you're probably tired from all my talking, You're still getting used to this little form, arent you?" He said as he booped the triangle cheek,

He was placed on the bed as he couldn't help but look up at the ceiling as if he was skydiving; the man was sound asleep after a few hours of bill just looking up so he decided to do what he wanted. He took the papers and drawing of the other triangles as he made his way upstairs climbing each step hardly before arriving in the living room to see Stan still watching tv

"Bored yet?" He said as he got up to see what Bill wanted to do.

The triangle just sat down on the center of the living room as he laid the papers on the floor before realizing one of his awful mistakes

No pens, no crayons...

All he could do was whine making Stan raise an eyebrow as he slowly realized he was missing the key element of drawing

As he was ready to get up and make his way inside of Fords room again almost feeling the pain of falling over the stairs the sixth time he saw a bunch of colored pencils fall on his lap

"There ya go; you needed these, right, Billy?" Bill could almost gag at the nickname as he saw stans face giggling at the scene he made

He frowned as he began to color the triangles; the sheet began to be full of little scribbles of stars, and the moon in the corner of the sheet like little children used ro draw it.

Stan almost forgot he was there from how quiet the place was but his attention was slowly brought to his drawing

Besides all the stars and scribbles the paper was full of little triangles all having a different color and a different style, their eyes always on their sides and not the center of them, but there in the center stood two big triangles, one that was blue and that had a bow and another red one that had a hat similar to his

Stan didn't realize he was sitting next to Bill, almost in his personal space before the triangle stopped drawing and acknowledged his presence, startled by the closeness.

The man mumbled something that almost sounded like a sorry before he took another look at the drawing, his finger pointing in the middle of the blue and red triangle on a little sketch that looked like Bill. So small from his parents that he almost didn't see it, only thanks to the vibrant yellow of the coloring did he know it was him

"ya, mom and dad isn't it?" The man said as Bill flinched from the sudden question

He didn't know what to do, cursing and yelling were off the table because he could barely speak and from the last time he cried, he felt too nervous to even blink, feeling scared of tears forming in his eyes without even realizing, all he could do was push the blue colored pencil deeper and rougher into the cheap paper, almost ripping it apart from all the force

"Didn't mean it in that way.." the man sighed as he sat next to him closer.

That was the last thing Bill wanted, at that point, he could not concentrate on the drawing or anything he just sat there lifelessly trying to space out like how the rest of those pathetic flesh bags handled their "traumatic experiences"

Why would they use such stupid words, pitying themselves? Truly humiliating.

"They are your parents ... right?"

Oh.

Bill forgot he was the stupid brother

The triangle just turned his head at him, looking with a "Are you fucking serious..." Expression at the man, hoping that yes, they are his parents and for him to leave it before he turns his insides in outsides by the time the whole "vulnerability" operation was done.

"Do u still talk to them? I'm sure Ford would love to experiment on other...shapes like you. He can't shut his mouth off around me when the subject is Bill."

He was supposed to enjoy that compliment, especially because it was right. Ford couldn't shut up about him, and who could blame him for that? He is the definition of perfection.... before the last night incident, but it doesn't matter!

His hand took the red colored pencil drawing an "X" over the two figures and their eyes before looking up at the man with a blank stare

Well, if the fact that he was talking to Bill didn't ruin the mood, that truly just made the tension between them even worse. Stan's hand scratched the back of his neck while he was struggling to look Bill in the eye

"I'm sorry,"

Bill did not know if he wanted to cut him off or cut him off entirely

"Ya know, we are kinda like a second family if you like the sound of that," he said before finally having the courage to look Bill in the eye

He hummed as he turned the drawing upside down, such a weird remark for Stan to make but he was entirely sure he didn't want the drawings to think the Pines family would take their place, even the thought of that made him resist a cackle

The man couldn't help but finally giggle as Bill realized he was starting to look into nothingness again,

"If we're the parents then Ford would be the mom... ill pay if you even think about the opposite"

Bill could help but smile at the gesture, if stan decided to give him money it was truly a desperate measure

"Seccond family...."

It shouldn't have made him feel that way; it shouldn't make him feel like anything, but Bill couldn't help but feel a sense of relief when those words came out, as if he was waiting to hear something like that.

as he began to make his way and put the drawing somewhere else the door opened revealing the twins sitting there looking as confused as they could be and ford woke up as slamming the door frantically looking everywhere

"Kids, did u see Bill?!- he isn't all that grown. He looks melted and blue shoes AND!-" "Oh yeah were staring right at him grunkle stan" Dipper whispered, his voice cracking at the last part

Ford almost sighed as he saw Bill sitting there as the man scooped him up and pressed him to his chest, his breathing hitching. He looked like he spent a good time trying to find him down there

"OH MY GOD HE LOOKS SO CUTE!" Mable almost screamed as he got closer to bill

"Yeah, he is gonna be like this for a week..."

Mabel tuned Ford out as she began to yank Bill from him and spin him around

"Woah woah! Not like this! I don't know if he is that strong in this form..." Ford said frantically as she stopped the younger girl making stan laugh at the scene

"Oh no!! Bill are you okay?" Mable said in an apologetic tone as she saw that Bill was still spinning his head a little from all the moving around before nodding

"I need to get back and make him a sweater! Do you want a yellow one? I'll add a lot of glitter don't worry!" She said as she ran away giggling

"How did this even happen i mean that's another level of weird" Dipper exhaled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose

"Said the same too," stan said as he leaned over the kitchen counter

"I'm too tired to explain. Can we just... Well, rest? I want to relax for a moment I need to sit down" Ford said as he placed Bill down close to his drawings again before the triangle folded it and hid it under the rug fast enough

Stan nodded as he began to take out a bag of popcorn and shoved it in the microwave before asking Mabel if she could knit the sweater in the living room too

Dipper laid down on the floor as he began writing in his journal while glancing at Bill once in a while making the triangle sure the entry was all about him, but he couldn't care less he almost appreciated it if it was for the fact that the boy was on the best terms with him staying over ever since him and ford became something

"Hey bro, stop frowning so much; look at him. How could that little face do something bad!" She said as he pinched Bill's cheeks, giggling at how soft he was. "Grunkle Ford was right! You do look like ur melting!!"

Ford smiled at that comment as he brought in the popcorn feeling at ease when he saw the whole family in a room enjoying the cheesy romcom that stan totally didn't like

A few grunts were heard as he looked down to see Bill close to the sofa with his arms up and jumping as he struggled to get on the sofa

At that moment Ford couldn't help but "aww" at him smiling at how cute he was looking

"Does someone want uppies" he cooed as he saw Bill glow a pinkish-red

"Now now, don't get shy. Here; uuuup we go!" He said as he laid Bill on his lap covering him up with a warm blanket as he watched him fall asleep shortly enough

Everything finally seemed fine for a moment in the Pines family

Chapter Text

The first day would always be the hardest, or at least that's what Ford thought. He needed an excuse after everything today to make himself feel better.

He had at least one hour of Mabel knitting Bill a sweater and, weirdly enough, bonding over whatever kids liked these days. Ford's palm was holding his head hoping he won't just fall over after closing his eyes for one second.

He had no utter idea of why he was tired and sickly worried about the triangle, Bill was doing fine. He was doing fine too... For his standards at the very least.

He couldn't help but remember the way Bill and his brother bonded too; it took him by such surprise that Stan, of all people, took a liking to Bill. "Liking" as in he wasn't picking fights with him, but it was to be expected; after all, he was the better one with kids. As much as Ford didn't want to admit that his brother was better at something than him, it was right, and it was making him even more stressed.

He wanted to help Bill. This whole idea was to help him and Bill build a stronger relationship, to let Bill be more comfortable around him, and yet it felt that every step forward he made was slowly followed by four steps backward.

And the worst thing is he didn't know what to do, luckily enough he was good at reading faces, but if he didn't know the reason behind them, it was hopeless.

The way his grip on the colored pencil softened when Ford decided to ask him more about his past, he knew it hurt him but he didn't know why.

The man closed his eyes as he exhaled quickly turning around to be met with a figure he was familiar with.

"How are you two doing?" The Axolols asked as they sat closer, smiling at the man who was finding the right words.

"Could be better if I'm being honest.." Ford said as he laid down trying to avoid eye contact.

"Is there anything you want to ask me, Ford?"

"Yes is this like a daily thing now? ..you coming here after every day I spend with Bill?"

"Well, I want to check up on you. Bill can be ...rather difficult, and I never spent time with him in this form after all."

"Ah well, yes, do you think there's something I should know? He told me such few things"

The axolotl hummed as they tried to think of something that could help Ford

"Take your time with him; he is a hard one to crack if you try to speed things up, which I know you always do. You're risking losing him"

There was a sudden pause before they decided to speak up again.

"When I made the spell, I did take into consideration that if something urgent happened, then Bill would be brought to his normal form, of course only in special cases so I don't think you will bother with this"

Ford smiled at the information, relieved at least by the fact that he would know if Bill was experiencing something that would actually affect him.

The man nodded as he looked up at the stars

"He loves them, I have no idea why," The axolotl said as they sighed

"The stars?" Ford asked raising an eyebrow at the sudden change of subjects

"Yes, in therapy, the only way we calmed him down after an episode was stargazing. I would've loved to hear why but every time I tried to ask him he started to get more and more violent"

Ford nodded as he took a better look at them; the axolotl was right; he was trying to get over this as fast as he could before even realizing how he must've felt.

"I dragged him in the lab to study him, and I did not even realize how he must have felt," Ford said, disappointed in himself as he closed his eyes and face-palmed himself, realizing how dumb that idea was in the first place.

"Well you do now, you just need to be more careful with him"

Ford stood up as he looked the other way, the Axolotl almost hearing a "yes" come out of his mouth.

Their eyebrows lowered as they got closer to the man, putting a hand on his shoulder and tilting their head a little bit

"Ford, you're doing great," the axolotl said smiling a little as Ford looked at the stars one more before muttering a thank you

The axolotl was gone as soon as he turned his head to face them.

-________________-

As he made his way downstairs he was surprised to see Bill cuddled up against a warm blanket wearing one of Mabel's old white shirts that was cut up from the bottom to fit him.

Ford giggled at the sight as he gently placed Bill farther from where he was sleeping, being careful to not hurt him while he tossed around before closing the light and kissing him goodnight, drifting to sleep as well.

They had a busy day ahead of them.

-________________-