Chapter Text
Bill sat on the wooden planks of the porches floor, leaned back on the arm rest of the purple worn down couch that stood there, on the porch.
Blinking heavy he took in the stale morning air, the birds that whipped by and nestled into trees, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them close, newly bandaged wrap arm aching when he pressed it against the side of his knee, enjoying his break while it lasted. Letting his eyes fall shut, his head fell flat on the arm rest, enjoying the quiet of the morning, enjoying the peace of his break. He'd only been here a week and last night he'd almost bled out his new bag of flesh he didnt even like.
Everything was nice, all of a sudden, the beat of his heart had slowed to a comfortable pace, it wasnt as thudding as it had been the past week, and sitting still was nice, it left him feeling like the brick triangle he once was. The axolotl said he'd slowly gain his power back, the levitating, the mindscape, the multiple hands, he'd gain them the closer he came to redemption. Can he fake redemption? He doesnt want to be here. He hates everyone here.
A squeaked lisp voice came out the door that led to porch abruptly, mimicking the sound of a trumpet and Bill jolted, heartbeat beginning to race and he considered clawing the dumb red clot out his chest.
Whipping his head to the side he grumbled to himself. A girl in a way too big pink sweater and a cyan skirt wearing knee high socks stood by the other armrest, hands up to the sky.
"Bill!" She shouted, a grin forming on her. Bills eye twitched with irritation.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Bill spluttered, struggling to speak with the tiny human tongue, he was used to the big blue one, well, his was still blue, for some reason. He'd seen Fords tongue, arent humans meant to have reddish pink tongues? He failed human study class.
Mabel fake coughed into her first and rolled up a paper infront of her face.
"Here ye! Here ye!, you are hereby invited to join the pines'seses.." she trailed off, struggling to read her own handwriting.
"For dinner this fine night!" Bill stared at her.
"Its like 7.AM"
Mabel frowned at his deadpan expression. "Duh! I mean later tonight dummy, Grunkle Ford asked me if I could Mabelify the dinner table, and that means i get to decide who eats with us!" Dipper walked out the mystery shack, standing beside Mabel in the doorway and crossed his arms
"Mabel i think he just asked if you could set the table tonight.." Dipper stared at her, eyes narrowing when he caught sight of Bill, glaring at him.
"Shush!, Dipper," she looked at Dipper then back to Bill, who silently peered at the twins.
"There'll be a lot of glitter! And stickers!" She pulled a smaller piece of paper off the paper she read off, the smaller piece had been sticked there with a regular yellow triangle sticker that looked home made and diy-ed. "Heres your invitation!!" She giggled and handed it to Bill, who accepted it without question.
"..Did grunkle Ford say he could eat with us?" Dipper asked Mabel, though still displeased and glaring at Cipher.
"No! But I make the rules for the table tonight!" She stuck her tongue out at him and ran off back into the shack, Dipper gawking then running after her, shouting something about not helping her with Mabel juice, whatever that is.
Bill flipped the invitation open, a letter read "YOURE INVITED!" in bright red letters, there was a smiley face and a doodle of him as a triangle, how he used to look, sitting with the pines at the dinner table. A small note at the bottom of it read "dk how to draw u as a human:("
Bill folded the letter and put it in his pocket for safekeeping, leaning his head back down trying to get his thudding heart to dampen again.
Soos' grating voice called out to him for help at the counter and he groaned, dragging his nails across his eyelids, he wished he was allowed near sharp things again.
Hours passed and when the moon began to rise, Mabel burst into the bathroom Bill was in, the door was open and he was just staring at his own reflection anyway.
"Sir!, its time for dinner!" Mabel announced proudly, getting no response she properly looked up at Bill, straining her neck to see his face due to his tall figure.
Bill was stiff and silent, just staring at his own eye through his reflection, sclera a slightly darker white and the iris an inky black.
"Bill?" Bill blinked then suddenly jolted and whipped his whole body to face her, grabbing on to the bathroom counter.
"Mabel?" He almost shrieked, " -Time for dinner!" She grinned and jumped up to grab onto his arm, and he hissed, she caught on to the arm Ford had bandaged. But he didnt swat her away he let her drag him to the kitchen, Bill hunched down as she had to have pulled him downwards to clasp her small hand around Bills wrist, her hand was nowhere near fitting around Bills whole wrist.
Mabel kicked open the door as if she didnt have a free hand, and suddenly glitter assaulted Bill completely, glitter was already flowing in the air, like she'd put it through the air vents (she did)
Immediatly everyone stared at him, well, except for Dipper, he already knew Bill was coming. Stan and Ford stared at him, Ford stared at him as he expressionlessley untied a pink apron off himself and Stan glared all the way from his seat at the dining table.
"Were here everybody!" Mabel yelled, a toothy grin spreading on her face, braces completely visible.
"Why did you bring the demon?" Stan glared at Bill, talking to Mabel as he unknowingly mirrored Dipper from this morning.
"Caus Ford asked me to Mabelify the dinner table for tonight!" Ford folded the pink ruffled apron on the counter, turned around, clasped his hands together and as kindly as he could he expressed to Mabel ;
"Sweetheart, I meant, if you wanted to set the table,, decorate it, Mabel juice, even,"
-"I did make Mabel juice!" She chirped and Dipper looked scared,
"Mabel we had a deal! You wouldnt make Mabel juice!" Dipper whisper yelled at her from his seat beside Stan and she just grinned and swung on her heels, Bill pulled his arm away from her grasp and rubbed at the bandages,
"OKAY! Now that everyones here we can move on,, Dipper," Mabel adressed and he slowly nodded.
"Switch seats with Grunkle Stan! And Grunkle Ford you sit next to Dipper!"
She smiled
"Bill! Sit down next to Ford!!"
Bills eye goes itchy, he stands still for a moment, before hesitantly moving his feet to sit down, Mabel scrambles to sit down next to Stanley as soon as he sits down
The food was already in everyones plate, Ford realizes now why there was an extra plate, he just thought Mabel was having Waddles eat at the dinner table with them like she sometimes does.
Everyone begins eating, chattering, they share stories from the day. Bill looks around half confused, he looks at Ford, hes still way taller then him even whens hes seated, hes lanky and skinny, Fords shorter and relatively chubbier. He looks at Ford dumbly until Ford swallowed what he was chewing, taps him on the shoulder, and tired eyes scan over Bill, an eyebrow clocking up at him, their exchange goes unnoticed by the other three as they laugh and talk to eachother, it feels just like thirty years ago, just Ford has grayed hair now, and technically in Bill dimension it was around a thousand years.
"How -" Bill began whsipering, "How do you..?" He trailed off and picked the fork up, and gestured towards the plate of foot.
Ford flashes concerned and rights himself. "What do you mean?"
"How do you,, yaknow, eat?:
Ford places his utensils back on the table, beside his own plate, looks mildly concerned, hurting himself was one thing and not knowing how to eat when hes a human with human organs was really concerning, when the big pink axolotl dropped him off he'd been decently chubby, now his ribcage was basically showing, Ford hadnt noticed because he was too busy avoiding the shit out of him, Ford innerly cursed at himself, turning more towards Bill he clicked his tongue.
"Pick up both utensils," Bill does
"Cut a piece off the steak," Bill does
"Pop it in your mouth," Bill does
"And chew until its mush, then swallow,"
Bill chews for a short amount of time, looks hesitant but swallows, Bill does not like it. When he chewed it, it was fine, it tasted good, but when he swallowed it, it was horrible, a heavy weight pressing in his throat as it passed down, and it felt utterly horrible as it weighed in his stomach.
Ford nodded slowly, "Good?" Ford asked, Bill nodded, unsure, Ford nodded normally, "Good, eat more, you need it." Then Dipper caught Fords attention.
Bill looked back at his plate, swallowing the food just made him feel hollow and his stomach ached, he didnt know how to solve that.
Mabel screammed for five seconds, catching everyones attention, when she was done she fake coughed into her fist again, "I have forgotten the juice, ill be RIGHT back!" And Dipper groaned, Ford looked nervous and Stan seemed horrified.
"Whats Mabel juice?" He asked, Mabel winked at him "You'll see," then she ran out the kitchen.
A few awkward seconds awaiting passed before Mabel came carefully walking into the kitchen again, holding up a cyan plastic tray of five grand glasses of some purpley liquid, each glass looked to contain atleast one puzzle piece, a domino piece, one had a mickey mouse straw and the others had plained coloured straw, there was whipped cream atop the glass and a thin slice of lime over the rim, sprinkles decorated the whipped cream, Mabel passed a glass to each pine and one cipher. Bill got the glass with a mickey mouse straw, when she gave the last glass to herself, she smiled; delighted, "Enjoy!" She chirped and sat back down drinking her own juice,
Dipper, Ford, and Stan stared at the glass with disdain, like it was Bill cipher himself. Ford swirled the drink and random game pieces together with his straw, asking her what her ingredients were this time and Stan discreetly poured his drink into the potted plant on the window sill, making sipping noises as if he was drinking it like fine wine. Dipper just stared.
Bill basically salivated at it, it was purple and reminded him of his bullshit martini he constantly drank before, he disregarded the straw and chugged the entire drink in one go, Mabel looked like she'd just uncovered the eigth wonder of the world and the others pines stared, jaws agape at his bravery, or rather his weirdness,
He set the glass back down, disregarding the puzzle and domino pieces.
"What a delicacy!" He grinned at Mabel.
Gross,
Tasted like the papery debris of euclidiya.
Mabel grinned toothily, squealing,
"You think so?"
"I know so," he winked, making finger guns at her, she giggled and Stan silently appreicated Bills weirdness, for Mabels sake.
Hours passed since dinner and Bill laid heavy on his side of Fords couch, Ford had let Bill sleep in his room, as there wasnt any spare bedrooms in the shack, and Bill made too much of a fuss at Stan mentioning he could sleep outside when he first came there, staring up at the ceiling having thrown his blanket off himself he blinked heavy,
Sleep was never a thing he regularly did, he knew humans needed sleep, he knew that from the era Fordsy called him his muse, he'd stay up for whole nights working on the portal and be completely brain dead by the morning, but Bill wasnt really brain dead, since he became human and fleshy and meaty he hasnt slept a drop, he'd felt an ache in his bones, his eyes heavying but he felt fine, he powered through the day despite wanting to slap everyone in the shack,
He'd ended up eating half his steak, and it still hung heavy in his stomach, he didnt like it, swallowing it left a bitter taste in his throat and he desperately wanted to claw the taste out, fill his throat with his own blood, instead.
Sitting up, looking over Fords sleeping figure, light snore emenating from his mouth. He carefully stood up, creaking open the door, leaving and shutting. Eternity, they could of had eternity.
Few floorboards creaked beneath his feet as he crept towards the bathroom, he stood still for a second, turning to the mirror over the sink. His own flesh bag looked weird, his face was sunken and dark rings digged into the thin skin under his short, lower lashes. The tops of his hair was black, where it went beneath his ears was a hue of yellow, the same yellow he was when he was a triangle, he wore one of Fords shirts, it was a snug fit as Ford was chubbier then him but Bill was still very much taller then him. His hair was stringy and split at the ends and it reaches down past his shoulder blades, it was well brushed, atleast.
He blinked the gathering dust off his sclera and iris, turned on the faucet and splashed his face with water, curving his hands as a bowl to pour the water in from the whirring faucet and drink it, unsure; he held it in his mouth as he shut the faucet off, the mechanical whirring coming to a close. When he swallowed the liquid he immediatly began to splutter and cough, had he consumed the water wrong?
He whipped his body around and fell to his knees infront of the toilet, with wet hands he clutched the seats as a gross taste filled his oral cavity,
An ugly taste and a pungent stench wracked through his mouth and nose as he spluttered a yellowey orange substance, it was horrible and gross, the taste was horrible, it was bitter and a mix of the steak and vegetables hes digested, everything else was a blur, footsteps came ringing through the bathroom and two hands came pulling his hair out his face, gross chunks of vomit had caught on it and the hands who belonged to Ford pushed the hair out of the way, holding it behind Bills head, tenderly, Ford placed the hand that wasnt holding his hair on his shoulder, a light weight that didnt bother Bill, if it was anyone else, he would've blown up at them.
The spilling substance came to a close and he would've collapsed forward of it werent for Ford who'd caught him by the shoulders.
His mouth still tasted horrible.
Carefully, Ford guided Bill by his shoulders to stand again, when they both stood up, Bill grabbed onto Fords waist, digging his talon like nails into his sides, Ford hissed at the sharp pain and Bill was near hyperventilating. Ford rubbed a soft, triangular motion into Bills shoulders with the pads of his thumb, slowly letting Bill off the freak out.
With a sigh, he looked up at Cipher, guiding him to sit down on the edge of the bath tub.
"You need a shower, wait here ill grab you spare clothes." Bill nodded
When Ford left Bill stared at the clock that was visible to him in the hallway, it was almost 3.AM, currently 2.34AM.
Two minutes later Ford came back, a pair of baggy pants that probably wont be as baggy on Bill, a shirt thats bigger then Ford that'll probably fit Bill well, and a warm towel, he left the fabrics on the counter next to the sink,
"Ill wait outside," he said, before walking out the door and shutting it,
Bill stripped his clothes and stood under the whirring water that cascaded over him, wetting his hair. He stood under the blazing warmth until it burned his olive skin, and he decided to try to use the products, he used shampoo, a lil bit of conditioner, letting it sit for a while like Mabel told him when she used dry conditioner on his hair after his first two days here. A random shower gel he picked off the small shelf that hung over the shower door.
Wringing his hair out on cold bathroom tiles and drying himself he slipped on the clothes Ford gave him. His heart squeezed as he looked himself in the mirror, he should ask if they could get him clothes of his own.
He left the bathroom dizzily, the weight of vomiting setting in and his stomach began to ache. Ford threw his arm under his shoulder and helped him back towards the room, settling Bill down on the side cipher usually slept on, Ford knew Bill didnt actually sleep, he'd never did and he often had the strange sense he didnt even sleep through his week as a human. He should get him some melatonin gummies, but, when Ford settled him down he seemed to doze of immediatly, throwing the blanket over him he turned to lay himself down.
"eternity" Bill mumbled to himself in his sleep, Ford turned back 'round
"eternitys what I wanted,,ss" Bill slurred tossing himself from laying on his back to his side, perpetually closed eye facing the ceiling.