Chapter Text
___
Camping.
With Bill Cipher .
No fewer words had ever struck such immeasurable fear into Dipper’s heart perhaps since he was a child.
It had been years since Weirdmageddeon, and while things had changed between Bill and the sadistic triangle they once knew, Dipper still hadn't come to terms with the times.
A month ago something extraordinary (Well, Dipper had a very different word for it...), had happened.
He had been wandering through the woods and stumbled upon a stone statue of the demon. It’s granite arm outstretched and coated in thick layers of moss and underbrush was merely an unassuming and barely noticeable lump. So unnoticeable in fact, he would have walked past it like he had many times before, but instead he tripped past it and fell face first onto the forest floor. Curiosity overcame him and the moment he reached out to touch its hand, he blacked out and was woken up by a man in his early 20’s with golden hair, somewhat tanned skin and a button-up shirt and pants poking him in the face with a sick.
After a few minutes of agitation and then acceptance of the situation, Dipper tried his best to fend him off but to no avail. Bill Cipher was back. He was back and alive but no longer as an all powerful dream demon, no… He was back and alive in his very own “flesh prison”. Cursed to spend the rest of his waking days as a mortal human.
All of this wasn't apparent at first - oh definitely not.
Dipper and Mabel had spent the past month grilling, researching and interrogating Bill to come to this conclusion and even so, Dipper wasn't fully trusting of the guy. It probably didn't help that apart from his new body and lack of powers, Bill was mostly the same conniving, trouble making, excitable personality as he remembered. Only this time with the extra bonus of new and unexplored human emotions.
This caused many a sleepless night, multiple bandages (including one very memorable day with an arm cast), many cups of Mabel juice and a high-strung and stressed out Dipper Pines.
Mabel had been trying to get her brother to kick back and relax, but while she had become good friends with Bill, Dipper refused to open himself up and let the past go between them. She had tried to get them to go on little bonding trips into town or to the movies, but Bill still hadn't mastered the art of public image or proper manners and interaction with society seemed to only make everything worse.
That was why, the minute she had formulated this new brilliant plan of hers, nothing and no one was going to get in her way.
~*~*~
“... CAMPING!?”
“Wooahh, Dip-Dop easy now, don't break something -”
“- MABEL WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK CAMPING, OF ALL THINGS , IS A GOOD IDEA??”
“Just hear me out -”
“- SOMETHING THAT HAS OPEN FLAMES, NO PHONE SIGNAL, SHARP POINTY THINGS EVERYWHERE AND A DISTINCT AMOUNT OF PROBABLE DANGER INVOLVED IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.”
“Dipper, you're being -”
“- I AM NOT BEING UNREASONABLE!”
“He says while shouting and not listening to me -”
“- I, I...”
“ Dipper .”
“...”
Mabel sighed and carefully placed her hands onto her brother's shoulders to steady him.
“You know, way (way) deep down, as much as I do, that the two of you need to talk some things through. And if you're not going to do it willingly you're going to have to deal with my wrath as well and it ain't gonna be pretty.” She smiled softly and pulled him into a reassuring hug to calm him down.
“It’s been what - seven years?”
“Eight.”
“Eight, yeah…” She pulled away from him. “Eight years since Bill was annihilated and he's not the same person he once was. Well, literally speaking as well because he actually is a person now, but that doesn't matter because you're not giving him an extra chance to redeem himself regardless.”
Dipper’s face was glowing alongside the flickering lights of their living room fireplace. It was late. Bill was sleeping in Stan’s old room, and the thought alone caused his eyebrows to furrow.
“You’re doing it again Dipper.”
“Doing what?”
“Thinking too hard.”
He slid onto the floor and curled his legs up against his chest with a sigh. Mabel was right. Whenever it came to Bill, Dipper’s mind was always a storm of thoughts and questions… Many of them completely unnecessary and contrived. There was still so much unsolved about Bill and what had happened it caused a constant distraction against his writing and overall well-being.
Instead of answering, he pulled one of the blankets lying limp on the floor up and around his shoulders. It hugged him softly; like one of Mabel’s sweaters. If only he could hide away from everything under a blanket. There was no harm in pretending, at least for a little while, that the small fibers were an indestructible shield keeping him safe from the outside world.
He felt a soft nudge against his force field and looked up to see that Mabel had joined him on the ground. She stared thoughtfully into the flames and didn’t turn to make eye contact with Dipper as much as she must have wanted to. She looked tired. More tired than he’d seen her in a good long while.
The logs in the fireplace crackled loudly in the warm silence.
Maybe… Maybe Mabel had a point. However small, the thought remained that maybe Dipper had been unfair to Bill.
It was true that since his reappearance the ex-demon had tried his best to be helpful around the Shack, and as much as he’d joked about doing a whole lot of awful things since returning, he never actually did them... Perhaps it was time he took a deep breath and tried to listen to his twin.
Dipper glanced back into the flames and playfully nudged his sister hard enough to make her hold out a hand to stop herself from tipping sideways.
“Hey! What was that for?” She squawked at him.
“That. Was a taste of what’s to come if your idea goes to shit and I barely make it back home alive to say, ‘I told you so’ ”.
Mabel’s face took a few moments to morph into a triumphant grin, but once she put two and two together she reached around Dipper and held him close in a tight hug.
“I knew you’d come around Dipper!”
“Hng, M-mabpgble yourb sswitshing mhee.”
“Whoops!” The girl giggled and relaxed her death grip. “I’m just so happy you've finally agreed to something. I know you won't believe me just yet, but I honestly think you two would get along really well if you gave each other the chance.”
Dipper made an indistinguishable grunting noise and broke away from his sister.
“Well… I’ll try my best. But if he does something messed up and/or dangerous, I will not be held responsible.”
“Fair enough, I guess.”
Mabel brought herself up to her feet and stuck a hand out to help Dipper up off the ground. He sighed one last time and accepted it somewhat reluctantly.
“Now you better get off to bed so you have energy to pack in the morning.”
“Wait, tomorrow ??” he managed to splutter back. “Don't you think that's a little too soon to spring this on me?... What about Bill??”
Mabel’s cheeks reddened a little bit and she let trill an awkward laugh, “I, er, miiiight have already told Bill earlier and he's already packed and excited to go.”
“... Mabel.”
“Yes?”
“I hate you.”
“I hate you too Dippin' dots~”
Before Dipper was able to respond, she had already started to bolt away upstairs. A speedy and slurred, “ Haveagoodnight !” was the last thing he heard before the distant slam of a bedroom door carried through the house and snapped him out of his thoughts.
Tomorrow was going to be a hell of a long day.
___
Dawn. The ass-crack of dawn was shining through the attic window right onto his face.
Dipper yawned and turned over to curl up in the shadows of his room - not wanting to get up and close the curtain.
Why had he woken up so damn early? He was sure he had set his alarm for 9:00am, so why was he awake? Normally he was a fairly heavy sleeper ever since experiencing the joys of dorm life and sunlight wouldn't have any affect on him, but here he was - staring at his bedroom wall.
He watched a spider slowly make its way across the wooden panels for a few minutes before a muffled bang echoed up through the floorboards and made him jump; scaring both him and the spider (which scuttled as fast as it could to its home against one of the rafters on the ceiling). A look at his phone told him it was 6:42am, and now that he was completely awake he decided to tear himself out of his covers and confront whatever had woken him up.
Dressed only in his boxers, Dipper traipsed down a flight of stairs and found himself in the hallway leading to his sisters room (and also Bills.) Now the real question here, was who was the culprit? He knew sometimes Mabel could go off on little creative bursts and work on things well throughout the night, but if she did she was always really careful to not make any noise. While unlikely, he supposed it could have been her… but his gut was telling him this was no sweater emergency.
He positioned himself outside the door of Bill’s room and yawned once before raising his hand to knock a request for entry. The brunet perked his ears after the noise had stopped echoing through the hall and heard nothing but silence in reply. He was just about to knock again, when a muffled clattering and some muted footsteps broke the quiet. This time, he heard someone walk up to the door frame, unlock the door and twist the handle. Dipper fully expected the door to swing wide open, but it only moved an inch out of the frame.
A bright blue eye was the only thing that he could see through the crack, and it was studying his lack of attire with what appeared to be a mix of confusion and discomfort.
“... Yes?”
“... Bill. Do you know what time it is?”
(The eye’s stare didn't waiver nor change.)
“Bill, its 6:42. AM.”
(The eye hadn't blinked the entire conversation.)
“Bill, are you even listening to me.”
“Actually, it's 6:50am”
“Bill I swear to god-” He paused, hoping for a quick explanation.
(The eye squinted slightly.)
“I… I’m sorry if I woke you up. I really didn't mean to. I promise I’ll keep it down, okay?”
Dipper huffed and prepared himself for one of their usual bickering sessions. “Bill, I don't want any excuses, I ju- wait, what?”
Dipper, for once stunned into silence, left his mouth hung slightly open in astonishment. Had Bill just apologized immediately? Genuinely apologized? He wasn't really sure what to say anymore. Bill on the other hand, took matters into his own hands.
“Pine Tree, you better close that handsome mouth of yours or else a bug or spider is going to nose dive itself right into that gaping maw and I don't want to wake up Shooting Star as well, she needs her sleep. I said I was sorry. Can I get back to my room now? I have to pack a few more things before we leave.”
Dipper instantly shut his mouth and the tip of his ears warmed into a slightly darker shade of red from embarrassment. He closed his eyes, breathed in and out slowly a couple of times, then sighed, admitting defeat.
“Yeah, sure… Just make sure it doesn't happen again, okay?” He replied lamely.
“Aye aye Cap’n.”
The door shut and Dipper was left standing alone in the dimly lit hall. So much for taking control of that situation. He hadn't even found out what Bill was doing.
Oh well, no matter. Now that he was awake, he decided he should properly start the day and go and make himself a very strong pot of coffee.