Chapter Text
one: the beginning.
the darkness overwhelmed the sleeping blond, eye moving rapidly under his eyelid. distant shapes and familiar figures swirled in his dreams. stars all around him, filling the inky void with soft light but nowhere to shine.
the blond was pulled out of his unconscious state when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. he groaned and picked his phone up from the nightstand, unplugging the charger. the time read; 9:45 AM. he rolled his eye and shouted to the interruption behind the door.
“what do you want?”
the door creaked open and the small silhouette stood in the door way, smiling widely. the kid walked over to the side of his bed and spoke;
“there’s a fair. can we go?” the young boy asked quietly.
bill rolled his eye, scoffing in the process. he lifted the covers off of himself and gestured for the boy to move. after doing so, bill got out of his bed and started to stretch. his joints making uncanny sounds as each one was tugged out of their place. he glanced down at the giddy kid standing beside him, clearly waiting for an answer. and that answer came in the form of a swift, firm ‘no.’
the smile that the boy wore only seconds ago was gone and replaced with a disappointed pout. the kid followed bill as he went downstairs and into their kitchen, grabbing the coffee machine once he arrived.
“bill, come on! only for a few hours!” the kid whined. bill gritted his teeth as he grabbed a mug from the cabinet. he pulled out a mug that said in big, bold font; ‘i’m a-cutey!’ . one of steve’s horrendous presents. speaking of the kid, bill turned and looked down at the boy. steve had his arms at his side, balled into fists. he looked up at bill with a pout that couldn’t be scary even if he tried.
bill let out a chuckle at the display and turned to the machine, putting his mug under and turning it on. he turned back around and leaned on the counter before speaking.
“no. there’s too many people. what’ll happen if we run into the-?” bill was abruptly cut off by the boy.
“-the pines family? you say that every time i ask to go outside! they won’t even recognize you!” the boy shouted, exasperated.
bill squinted at the blond before sighing and pointing at steve.
“only a few hours. that’s it.” he said sternly.
steve lit up and jumped up and down. the boy rushed over and hugged the taller man’s waist. he looked up at the former demon with a wide smile. bill groaned and reached behind him for the coffee that had just finished.
“go get ready.” was all he said before the boy was rushing off upstairs.
~X☆X~
the pines brothers were peacefully having breakfast with their great nephew, dipper. they had been told by him that mabel was ‘too busy’ researching some sort of knitting wool. they shrugged it off and continued without the girl. now, they sit at the breakfast table, plates of eggs and buttered toast in front of the three.
dipper chatted with ford about his recent research and some of dippers own findings as-well. stan occasionally chipped in with a well placed quip, but was otherwise silent while reading the newspaper. until the three had heard a set of footsteps running down the stairs, and mabel had rushed into the kitchen with an excited smile.
“grunkle stan! can we go to the fair!?” she asked vigorously, rushing towards the aforementioned man. he glanced up from his paper and looked at her with a confused face. before shrugging and nodding.
“sure, if ya wanna get scammed outta your money.” the man said.
mabel grinned and hugged him while thanking him. ford had raised his eyebrow at stan’s words, was stan not a scammer as-well? he was about to point out the irony of his twins warning but was stopped by mabel rushing next to him. her brown eyes shimmered with enthusiasm.
“grunkle ford, can you come with us!? it’ll be SO fun!” she said while smiling profusely.
ford groaned internally, he hated fairs. they were too loud, had WAY too many people and they sell you overpriced junk and toys that’ll fall apart in a couple days. but alas, he still smiled at the girl infront of him.
“of course, dearest.”
mabel grinned and tugged on her brothers arm while dragging him to their room. ford presumed that they were going to change. he looked back at stan who had his nose in the paper. he picked his and dippers plate up and washed them off. he gestured to the door way and spoke to his twin.
“i’m going to get ready.”
all he got in response was a grunt and thumbs up. he rolled his eyes before heading down to his lab.
~X☆X~
bill cipher had never been a good man, well..triangle. at least that’s what he thought. i mean, can you blame him? he had been a god of chaos, an all powerful dream demon who had massacred many. he wasn’t a good being, he was an absolute monster.
but these idiotic doctors thought otherwise. they thought they could change him, fix him. they tried everything to get him to change; art therapy, one-on-ones, psychological evaluations just to see what was wrong. but they could never find it. they were disappointed each time he lashed out. every time they were proven wrong, he got thrown into his room. only accompanied by the deafening silence and harsh white walls of his room.
where he was now. he had been staring at his ceiling for what felt like a millennia. only looking away when he heard a noise outside of his room. he adjusted his body, and pushed himself up. he looked at the door and heard the sound of his lock being clicked. he glared at the therapist who entered the room, clipboard in hand and a warm smile on her face.
“the axolotl would like to see you, mr. cipher.”
bill scoffed before hopping out of his bed, utterly humiliated at how small his triangle form was compared to the doctor. had he always been this small? as she lead him out of the room, he could only think about inferior he must of seemed. the great bill cipher, reduced to nothing but a failed therapy case. bills powers had once made him a force to be reckoned with, but now he couldn’t even levitate. he had to look up at most people due to how jarringly short he was without his levitation.
the doctor stopped right infront of a door and bill had done the same thing. she opened the door for him and smiled when he stepped inside. bill hesitantly stepped in the room, only to be met with the large form of the axolotl. they were floating behind a large, also floating, desk. bill looked up at them, nervously. he looked back the doctor who just smiled and nodded to the amphibian before shutting the door.
bill glanced back at the axolotl. he sighed before speaking.
“hey, doc! what’s so important that you gotta talk to me? i’m a very busy triangle, you know!” bill said with faux confidence while looking up at them.
the axolotl hummed and waved their hand. bill was confused before he was suddenly floating, and directly infront of the large creature. he looked in their eyes before it spoke.
“hello, william. i’ve called you here to discuss a solution to your problem.” their voice echoed in the small office. if bill had eyebrows, one of them would’ve been raised.
“a solution? to what? my ‘bad attitude’? doc, i don’t think that’s gonna go away anytime soon! aren’t my meds working?” bill inquired incredulously.
the large being sighed before shaking its head.
“your meds work fine, william. but there are some things medicine cannot heal. the problem is your empathy and sympathy.”
bill squinted his eye at the words falling out of the axolotls mouth. he crossed his arms and retaliated;
“what about them? i think i’m pretty sympathetic! remember when we had that group session and kenndie said they were sad their parents died? i comforted them!”
the axolotl slightly moved their head to the side and shook its head once more.
“william, you told them to ‘get over it’ and that they cried like a baby.” bill rolled his eye and looked away. was that not comforting? he’d say that’s pretty damn nice! plus, they stopped crying. wasn’t that good?
“but, that is not the focus of this conversation. i have decided to release you from this place.” bills eye lit up before the axolotl spoke again “-and send you to gravity falls.” bills eye widened as he looked up at the creature. they weren’t serious, right?
bill started to laugh as he floated aimlessly infront of the creature. he wiped a single tear from his eye as he spoke.
“haha! you got me for a second there, axie! good one!” bill laughed while talking but slowly stopped when he saw that the axolotl didn’t reciprocate. that’s when he really started to panic, but before he could talk that damn creature cut him off.
“it is not a joke, william. this is non-negotiable.” the being stated with too much calmness in its tone. bill stuttered a bit before actually talking.
“there no way in HELL i will EVER go back to that godforsaken town! you can’t make me!” bill screamed up at the axolotl.
“we can, bill. and we are.”
bill looked up at the axolotl with nothing short of horror reflected in his eye. the axolotl began to talk again.
“you’ll be given a human form, a job and a house. do not worry about legal documents, we have already figured that out.”
bill couldn’t even form a single word. these freaks brought him in, basically tested on him and when he didn’t them the results they wanted, they kicked him right back out. it was almost laughable how god damn stupid this all was. bill glanced up when he heard the creatures voice.
“one last thing, you won’t be alone. ”
~X☆X~
bill finally came downstairs after 15 long minutes. bill had decided to keep it casual. he had decided on a pale yellow crop top with a black, sleeveless turtleneck under it. black cargo pants had covered his legs and were held up with a belt that had a triangle buckle on it, the one that steve had gotten him. on his feet were black boots that reached to his ankle. five minutes of fixing his hair had tamed it to its natural curly, jellyfish cut. (something that steve had told him about.)
steve’s face lit up when he saw the older man. the young boy sported a much lighter outfit. he had on a light purple graphic tee with a pale blue sweater under it. he also wore denim shorts with blue sneakers and white ankle socks. bill looked at the young boys face, which was framed with loose strands of light blonde hair, much lighter than his own hair. he made a mental note to give the kid a haircut when he patted steve’s head.
“okay, let’s go to this wreck.” bill said tiredly while grabbing his keys. he turned around and glanced at something on steve’s shoulder, something he hadn’t seen before. it was their rat. the rat that steve had shown him a couple months ago and begged him to keep. he so graciously did and she’s been with them ever since. her light gray fur was soft and she had a white marking that was shaped like a triangle on her left eye. her tail had been ripped off partially, only leaving about a half of it remaining.
bill looked at their pet and then back at steve.
“we are not bringing xiggy with us.” bill sighed out as he held his hand out infront of steve’s shoulder. steve made a noise of disappointment as xiggy climbed into bills hand. bill set her down on the floor gently. he looked down at the boy who now looked a little sad.
“we’ll win her a prize at the fair.” he sighed out as steve smiled up at him. bill made his way to the front door with steve on his tail. he opened the door and shut it when steve came out after him. he started the car and began to drive to the fair grounds with steve blabbering the whole way there.
~X☆X~
stan had abruptly stopped the car when the family had made it to the carnival. mabel and dipper jolted forward in the back seat, the only thing restraining them from hitting the seats infront of them were their seatbelts. ford, who had never let go of his grab handle the entire ride, glared at stan and unbuckled himself. he opened the car door as his brother and the twins stepped out. he looked around the parking lot for a moment before his eyes rested on a large ferris wheel. he squinted, discomfort present on his face.
mabel ran up beside him and grinned up at him. she had grown taller over the years, so there wasn’t as drastic as a height difference but ford still had a couple inches on her. she had decided to both color AND dye her hair a couple days into her stay at the mystery shack. her once long brown curls were now chin length and faded into a bright pink. she had one of her handmade pink sweaters on with overalls covering it, one strap loosely hanging off. the girl sported brightly colored purple and pink leggings with cats and stars on it. she wore some, highly decorated, converse.
the young girl linked arms with ford and pulled him along to the entrance of the fair. he bit his tongue when they finally got there, the overwhelming smell of sweets and butter made him sick. ford sighed and looked towards the wristband booth, walking towards it with mabel. they stopped in-front of the booth and mabel began conversing with the operator.
“four wristbands, please!” the teen said and grabbed her wallet out of her back pocket. she handed the operator the money and in turn, got their wristbands. mabel immediately put hers on and gestured for ford to give her his wrist. he obliged and the teen put the bracelet on him. she turned around, presumably to look for stan and dipper. she found them and walked towards them, waving their wristbands in the air. ford smiled and followed the girl.
‘this will be a long day.’
~X☆X~
the yellow car stopped in the parking lot. bill put the car in park before reaching into the back seat for his bag. steve looked at the tall ferris wheel in awe, his eyes looked like they held stars. bill got his bag and plopped it in his lap, rummaging around for a bit. he found what he was looking for and pulled out his sunglasses. he turned to steve and spoke.
“you want some? think i’ve got another pair in here somewhere..” bill trailed off as he began rummaging again.
steve shook his head and smiled, pointing to the dark purple glasses on his face. bill mentally face-palmed himself, how the hell did he forget the kid wore glasses? he shook his head and secured his bag closed before opening his door. he stepped out and put his triangular sunglasses over his eyes. (yet another present from the kid.)
bill heard the passenger door slam shut and flinched. he glared at steve who looked at him with an apologetic smile. he sighed and shut his door and locked the car. he began to get pulled along by the young boy who couldn’t contain his excitement. bill smiled for a single second before realizing said smile and frowning again. him and steve got to the booth and paid for their wristbands, bill continued to be dragged into the hellhole. he mentally sighed.
‘this is gonna be a long day.’
~X☆X~
bill had soon found out what the axolotl meant when it said ‘not alone.’ and he was NOT happy. it was explained to him that he had to look after some cheap version of him to learn how to be empathetic. how the hell did they expect him to babysit a worse version of himself? he could barely take CARE of himself!
he met his counterpart and was gritting his (non existent) teeth. the kid introduced himself as ‘pyramid steve’. he looked relatively alike to bill, they both were yellow, floating triangles with one eye but that’s where the similarities ended. ‘pyramid steve’ had a bright blue iris and wore a purple bowler hat. while he didn’t have any visible arms, he had legs that were the same color as his eye.
bill hated him. this stupid optimistic, little jerk. he hadn’t even been born all that long ago! the story bill was told is that steve had been ‘misguided’ by someone he trusted and tried to take over the world (copycat) but two kids had stopped him. they took pity on the triangle and sent him to reform himself. that all happened a few days ago, apparently. bill glared at the not even century old triangle and scoffed.
the solution theraprism forced him into involved him to bond with the pyramid before being sent to earth to live out the rest of their lives. bill wanted to scream, and he did a couple times. but he eventually got through the bonding activities after a couple months. he had grown to tolerate the pyramid, he even found him funny sometimes. it wasn’t long after their last bonding session that they were called to meet the axolotl.
the two triangles stepped into the room which looked relatively different since last time. it had been turned white and two figures stood in the middle of the room. the axolotl floated next to them. when it saw bill and steve come in, they smiled and gestured for the two to walk over. bill sighed before walking along with steve clinging to his side. they stopped in front of the two figures and looked at the axolotl.
“hello, william and stephen. i’ve called you two to show you your human forms.” the voice echoed.
bill squinted at the figure in front of him. it had dark, warm skin and dark blonde hair. some parts of its hair seemed to be dyed black; a couple stray curls and the tips of the long hair strands that flowed down its chest. it’s hair was..weird. most of it was cut into a curly bob but out from the bottom of the hair came two thick, long strands on either side of it’s head. it reminded him of a sea creature, though he couldn’t say which one. it also had darker blonde eyebrows and lighter blonde eyelashes.
bill took a look at the figures face and grimaced, not because it was ugly. quite the opposite. but because of the long scar that ran across it’s right eye, the scar came all the way from it’s forehead and split off into three parts that went down his neck; the right side of the face, the middle and the left. there was also a thick part of the scar running across it’s nose. bill could see the same scar running down the figures hands and legs. the eye that wasn’t closed and scarred was a dark, grayish-blue. two black dots were found in its sclera. the persons dark skin was littered with random freckles and moles.
bill rolled his eye at the figure and looked over to the second one. this one was steve’s.
the figure was much shorter than the previous one, the body looked to be around ten years old. it had loose curly blonde hair that reached its chin, brown streaks appeared randomly in the otherwise blonde hair. the dark yellow hair from bills human body had been replaced with a light, pale blonde. it’s skin was also noticeably lighter and more cool toned, but still tan. it’s face was chubby and wore glasses. the figures eyes were two different colors, a dark brown right eye and a light blue left eye. its right eyebrow was light blonde while the other was brown—the eyelashes on their left side were also blonde. on the figures face were light freckles, more concentrated than bills form. the figures arms seemed to be made out of metal prosthetics, bill could see the electronics inside of the gray casing.
bill returned his gaze to the axolotl, and questioned it.
“when will we be dropped off?”
“tomorrow.” the reply came.
bill looked at the figures one more time before him and steve left. he still wasn’t ready.
he didn’t think he ever would be.
~X☆X~
steve shot up, breathing heavily. he looked around, he adjusted his glasses. trees surrounded him, the dirt and rocks below him dirtying his clothes. steve hesitantly stood up and looked towards something in the distance; a house. he blinked before being startled by the sound of a branch snapping. he whipped his head in the direction of the sound and was met with the sight of none other than bill cipher.
steve sighed and looked up at the man. bill ignored him and continued to walk towards the boy. steve looked at bills back, he was carrying a backpack on it. when bill got close enough, steve pointed to the bag.
“what’s that?”
bill looked over his shoulder at the accessory and scoffed before looking back at boy.
“it’s the important stuff. legal documents, directions to my, ugh, job and the key to our house.” bill stated while walking forward.
steve walked beside him as they made their way to the house near the edge of the woods. when they got there, they were met with a backyard, a fence surrounding it steve glanced at the house and raced towards the front of it, hopping over the fence with ease. he heard bill yell something to him before the older man also began to run. they got to the front door in seconds and steve panted. it looked like a nice house, it seemed pretty far out from the town, only a couple houses were close. and by close, he meant about a ten minute walk.
he heard bill rummaging around in his bag as he walked towards the front door. bill followed suite and produced a key from the backpack. he slid it into the lock and opened the door. steve spared no time and ran inside, almost knocking bill over. he spun around in place, admiring the house. steve ran into different rooms while bill unpacked their important things. this specific house had two bedrooms diagonally across from each other and bathroom near the end of the hallway. downstairs was even cooler, they had their own living room, with a tv! walking across the living room floor led steve to the kitchen. it had a small dining table and two counters across from each other with a fridge tucked into the corner and a microwave right next to it.
steve sighed after his exploration and went back into the living room where he saw bill sitting on the floor, reading over their documents. steve plopped down next to him and grabbed his faux birth certificate.
‘name: stephen laevus pyramid cipher.
born: march 19th, 2004 at 8:49 AM.
sex: m.’
steve read over the certificate and blinked, how fun! he looked at bill who seemed to be looking at some sort of diploma, a hand on his chin. steve browsed through the documents until he found bills birth certificate and decided to read it.
‘name: william euclid cipher.
born: october 31st, 1984 at 3:00 AM.
sex: f.’
steve read the birth certificate and raised an eyebrow. he turned towards bill who had moved onto looking at his faux bachelors degree. steve questiond the man.
“why does your birth certificate say your sex is female?” the young boy inquired.
bill looked up from the paper and towards steve. he stayed silent for a couple moments, before speaking up.
“they said if i’m in a body with female parts, it’ll make me more ‘maternal’. i guess they want me to keep you safe.” bill answered and shrugged before moving onto another document. steve blinked up at the man and nodded. he looked back down at the birth certificates and organized them before putting them next to bill. the boy got up and made his way upstairs, he wanted to see his room. he got to the closer bedroom near the beginning of the hall and opened the door.
he blinked at the sight. the walls were painted a light blue and bed sat near the back of the room. steve walked farther in and noticed the closet on the right side of him. he made his way towards it and opened it, it wasn’t full with clothes but there were still a couple shirts, pants and jackets. on the floor of the closet were two pairs of shoes. steve shut the door and walked towards his bed. he plopped onto it and looked up at the ceiling, light green stars adorned it. he smiled and closed his eyes.
‘this feels like home.’
~X☆X~
stanford pines was not having a good time. they were only about an hour into their fair visit and dipper had thrown up a total of four times. mabel apologized profusely after each time, dragging her twin on all those rides had not been a good idea! stan had talked to a couple game operators about their con tricks. the operators had brushed the old man off gently. ford rolled his eyes when his brother had come back from, yet another, operators booth.
the pines family walked towards their destination, the ferris wheel. mabel had squealed when she saw it and insisted that the family ride together. not wanting to disappoint the girl, the other three agreed. ford looked up at the tall structure and squinted. it didn’t seem all that safe, did it even get checked? he huffed out a breath and got into the back of the line with his family.
the younger pines twins killed time by chatting with each other about different subjects. mabel was the one mostly doing the talking but dipper seemed happy the entire time. the older twins didn’t talk as much. ford was too busy writing in the journal that he brought, against stan’s wishes, and stan was eyeing the other operations. ford was almost finished with his writing when he felt a light smack to his shoulder. he turned his head towards his twin and raised an eyebrow.
stan pointed at a ride in the distance, ford could vaguely make out the outline of a ship. he looked at stan, a slight smile on his face. he nodded at his brother and that caused stan to smile back. ford quickly went back to journaling after the incident, moving slowly with the line. his writing was, yet again, interrupted when he felt something collide with his legs. ford stumbled to the side a little and glanced down.
he saw a young boy with blonde hair holding a pair of glasses. the boy slipped them on and looked up at ford. he widened his eyes and spoke.
“sorry, sir! i was cleaning my glasses.” the boys voice spoke. ford noted the heavy british accent and smiled at the kid.
“it’s quite alright.” ford spoke. just as the boy turned to leave, his niece spoke up.
“hey! my uncle listens to that band!” the teenager said to the blonde. the boy flinched before he turned his head and pointed at his shirt. it was a purple tee that said ‘depeche mode’ on it. mabel nodded her head and the boy turned his body completely. he blinked up at the teen and they began conversing about the band. ford smiled at the display and continued to write in his book while thinking to himself.
‘this doesn’t feel so bad.’
~X☆X~
bill looked around the crowded fair, holding two corn dogs. he huffed as he walked on. steve had decided to run off while he was getting food, bill was none the wiser until he turned to give the kid his corn dog. he had been walking for at least ten minutes, and he had started to panic. anxiety clouded his mind as he sped up his walking and looking everywhere. his single eye couldn’t find what he was looking for.
bills calls went unanswered, only gaining glances in his direction from passerby’s. the corn dogs had gone cold by the time he noticed a blond head of hair in the crowd. bill huffed a sigh of relief and began walking forward, only noticing when he got closer that steve wasn’t alone. bills eye went wide as he noticed the familiar face of mabel pines, conversing with steve. the corn dogs in his hand had been dropped and now rested on the floor. bills breathing became labored as he took in the fact that it wasn’t only mabel. it was the whole family; dipper, stanley, sixer.
bills legs moved faster than he could react. they went straight for steve. the boy was still laughing when bill grabbed his arm. bill saw the momentary panic on the boys face before he realized it was him. steve smiled and his mouth moved like he was about to speak but bill tugged his arm before he could. steve’s body was tugged towards bills form and he looked up at the man. bill looked down at him, his eye seemed like it had gotten darker. he wore a frown on his face that steve could see was slightly twitching. steve furrowed his eyebrows, what happened?
steve felt bills grip get tighter and his arm started to creak under the pressure. he tried to pull away but bill held his arm tight. he looked up at the man worriedly, wondering what he had done wrong. then suddenly, bill let his arm go and he recoiled back, like he had been burned. steve rubbed his dented arm and glanced up at bill. his eye was wide, fixated on steve. bill looked at the boys arm and hesitantly held his hand out, steve took it.
he turned around to say goodbye to his new friend, he saw her nervous smile and he shot a thumbs up. she returned the gesture and smiled. steve turned back to bill, eyes curious. bill was looking down at the ground, steve’s eyes slowly moved to where he was looking. on the grass laid two corn dogs. steve frowned as bill led him away from the ferris wheel and towards the exit.
~X☆X~
ford could only watch as the two blonds walked away. the display was certainly strange. ford had wondered if the boy knew the man, he had half a mind to step in between the two. but then he saw the way the man recoiled his body, not just his arm but his entire body away from the boy. ford saw just a hint of fear, or maybe guilt in the man’s eye for a split second. then he blinked and it went away.
the author watched the pair walk away, soon becoming nothing but a blur in the crowd. ford tried to shake the memory from his mind, just another strange occurrence in this town but something tugged at his mind. the older blonde looked so..familiar? but familiar didn’t seem like the right word, he was sure he had never seen the man before yet he recognized something about him. was it his eye, his hair, his clothes? ford couldn’t tell and bit his cheek as he waited in the line, contemplating in silence.
mabel snapped him out of his swirling thoughts when she tugged on his coat sleeve. ford glanced down at the girl and looked forward, they had reached the front of the line. mabel looked up at him with a worried gaze as she held his sleeve.
“are you okay, grunkle ford?” she asked in a soft voice.
ford smiled at the teen, she was always thinking of others and their feelings. ford patted her on the head and nodded. he cleared his throat, the dryness of his mouth had gone unnoticed whilst he was thinking. ford assured the girl that he was fine and she gave a small smile to him, pulling him and stan along as they entered their cart.
dipper looked out from the cart as they made their way higher and higher. his breath quickly became fast and uneven. mabel had patted him on the back and comforted him.
“chill, bro-bro! just think of puppies and sprinkles the entire ride, that’ll ease your mind!” the girl shouted at her twin. dipper glanced back at the girl and sighed before responding.
“mabel, i don’t think your ‘puppies and sprinkles’ will help right now. is this ride even safe? it looks like this has a hundred loose bolts!” the boy stated worriedly. mabel rolled her eyes and put a hand on her brothers shoulder.
“dip-dop, who cares? we’ll, probably, live! if puppies don’t work than think of your nerd research!” the teen said, flashing a toothy, braceless smile.
before dipper could respond, his grunkle cut in with a remark.
“or that blonde gal you like to talk about.” stan said while pointing at the boy. dippers stance went rigid and his face red at the mention of pacifica. he stuttered out a quick ‘i don’t like her!’ and his grave was already dug.
stan and mabel looked at the teen before smirking at each other and chuckling. ford turned his head toward the teen who was visibly sweating and spoke.
“you know, i could give you, ahem, dating advice.” the older man spoke. the other three whipped their heads around to face ford. it had only been a few seconds before stan burst out laughing. the older man keeled over in the small cart, rocking it. dipper shouted multiple warnings before stan settled his laughter. he wiped a couple tears from his eyes and casually looked over to the man.
“sixer, you couldn’t get a girl even if you tried. remember prom in junior year?” stan mentions the memory. ford cleared his throat, throughly embarrassed. he adjusted his glasses and shot his brother a look.
“if you must know, stanley, i once dated a siren.” ford stated. it wasn’t a complete lie, it just wasn’t the full truth. his siren didn’t live in the water or had a fish-like tail but it still gave him false promises and almost led him to his doom. ford shook his head gently and looked at his brother, about to say something about ‘not asking’ before mabel and dipper cut him off.
“YOU DATED A SIREN?!” they both asked in unison. their expressions were drastic juxtaposition of the reactions to the information. dippers eyes were wide and his mouth open, a mix of terror and confusion present on his face. on the other hand, mabel looked ecstatic. her pupils were blown wide and they sparkled with glee as her smile stretched wide. she vibrated in her seat at the information and began to relentlessly question ford.
“what was its name?”
“how long did you date?”
“was the breakup messy?”
“why’d you break up?”
“how did you meet?”
ford was bombarded with questions about his former relationship and he stuttered out a couple noises as he looked at the young girl. she looked up, expecting an answer. ford groaned internally, he did not want to go down this road but he figure it was his own fault. he sighed before he spoke.
“i will answer one of your questions. one. ” he stated firmly. mabel shrieked in excitement and put a finger to her chin, supposedly thinking. a lightbulb went off in the teens head and she looked up at her great uncle.
“why’d you break up?” she asked. ford looked at her and then dipper, then back at mabel. he sighed and adjusted his, already adjusted, glasses.
“i couldn’t do what he asked of me.”
mabel raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth before promptly shutting it. she remembered fords rule. the girl sat back in her seat and looked out from the top of the ferris wheel, her curls blowing in her face. she looked across from her, to ford. mabel smiled at the man.
“then i don’t think he was right for you.”
ford smiled and looked out aswell. the sun clear as day shining in the sky. he rested his chin on his propped up hand and admired the scene.
‘this wasn’t so bad.’
~X☆X~
in stark contrast to the ride there, steve was silent the whole way back from the fair. so many thoughts raced in his head, why had bill acted like that? why did he look so worried? so..scared? steve had glanced over bill, the older blondes eye was on the road and his knuckles had turned white from how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. steve had noticed when they got in the car that he didn’t hear a ‘click’ from bills seatbelt, he was going to make a mention of it but when he saw bills face he let it go.
the car stopped in their driveway. bill immediately took his keys and got out of the vehicle. steve clumsily followed after the man and stepped into the house with him. bill had already made his way up the stairs and to his bedroom by the time steve closed the door. the boy looked up at the stairs and frowned. he sighed as he walked up the stairs and to his room. right as he was about to open it, he felt something crawling up in body. steve flinched and looked around his body, only to be met with the sight of a rat climbing up his right arm.
steve huffed a sigh of relief and pet the rat when she settled onto his shoulder. the blond turned the doorknob and entered his room. the once empty blue walls now had posters and drawings steve had done. along with the posters were random dvds of obscure movies that steve liked, taped to the walls. empty space in the room was filled with a drawer, a desk and steve’s own personal painting space. steve made his way towards the bed and sunk down into the mattress. he stared up at the stars on his ceiling, now accompanied by small fairy lights that glowed a light yellow.
the boy turned his head to look at the mirror near his closet. while his face wasn’t visible, he could still see his legs dangling off of the bed. apparently the mirror had always been there, steve hadn’t even noticed when he first walked in. bill had one too but it was smashed not long after they arrived. steve recalled the memory of the event.
~X☆X~
it had been a few days since they moved into town and steve had no complaints. the scenery was nice, the house was spacious and the neighbors even brought them cookies! steve laid on his bed and read a human anatomy book bill had gotten him yesterday. he was on the section about the eye and it’s purpose when he heard a loud crash. steve flinched and looked at his bedroom door. he slowly put down his book and listened. only a few moments passed before he heard the sound of something falling. steve hurriedly ripped the blanket off of himself and opened his door. he peered his head into the hallway and his eyes landed on bills door.
steve nervously made his way towards the door and knocked on it. his response came in the form of complete silence. the boy looked around him in the hallway before huffing and slowly opening the door. he glanced around room before he saw a shadowy figure in the moonlight, he glanced at his watch. it was around 9:00 PM. steve walked hesitantly into the room and looked at the figure again, in front of them stood a tall mirror. the reflective surface was now cracked and warped as little shards of it laid on the floor.
“b-bill? are you..okay?” the young blonde had questioned, stepping closer to the figure.
bill shot his head in steve’s direction and glared up at the boy. his eye was wide and his eye-bags prominent. his skinny form was hunched in front of the mirror, tiny shards visible in his hands. steve noticed this and stepped closer. bill stood up at the action and looked down at steve. steve could see the blood dripping down bills hand, under his nails were caked with a glittering crimson red. steve shuddered and looked up at bill with a worried look.
“bill, what..happened?” his voice came out in a wavering, uneven tone. bill glared at the boy and scoffed. he then turned his head towards the mirror, then the floor, to the shards and finally back to steve. bill stepped closer to the boy and steve reflexively took a step back. bill stopped his movements before speaking.
“get out. now.” was all the man said. steve didn’t have to be told twice as he walked towards the door and slammed it closed. when he was finally out of the room, he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. the boy made his way to his room and shut the door. in the other room, bill looked at his hands, slowly trembling. he felt his eye get damp but couldn’t say why. the blonde looked at the shattered mirror and huffed out a breath. he made his way to his bed and plopped down, making a noise of pain when his hands made contact with the bed. as he closed his eye, he only thought one thing.
‘this body isn’t mine.’
~X☆X~
the pines family had gotten back a couple hours ago. ford had made his way to the lab as soon as they entered the door. he had left a specimen of a rare moth species alone for the first time and had to make sure it didn’t escape, fortunately the critter was still flying about in its jar. ford huffed out a sigh of relief and continued to his desk to work on his research. it had been around 6:45 PM when he had heard the elevator ding. when he turned his head, out came mabel. she skipped into his lab before he could protest and laid her chin down atop his head. she stretched her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders, giving him a semi-hug.
“grunkle fooord! can we go get candy?” mabel asked, more like whined her question. ford raised an eyebrow and jotted down a one last note before closing his journal, he removed the girls arms and spun his chair around. he squinted his eyes at the teen as he spoke.
“why can’t stanley bring you? also, should you really be having sugar this late?” he gestured to the clock on the wall across the room. mabel turned her head and squinted at the clock before shrugging her shoulders. she turned back to ford and grinned at him.
“i can’t read that type of clock! and grunkle stan said to ask you!” ford sputtered at her words a little, how could she not read an analog clock? she wasn’t 12 anymore, she was 14! didn’t they teach this in kindergarten? ford adjusted his glasses as he peered at the girl. despite not having an answer, her smile was wide…and glitter filled? ford let out a sigh and waved his hand as he turned back to his journal.
“we can leave in fifteen minutes.” ford heard the girl squeal behind him and was subjected to a hug, a quick ‘bye!’ and the sound of feet pattering across the room. ford smiled to himself as he heard the elevator ding open and closed, writing in his journal about his new findings.
~X☆X~
steve had slept for, what he thought, was about an hour. he was rudely awakened from a dream when he heard a loud set of knocks on his door. the blonde propped himself up and rubbed his eyes, looking at the door. or what looked like a door, he couldn’t tell without his glasses. as steve reached toward his nightstand, he heard the door open. the figure stepped in just as he slipped on his glasses. the familiar head of yellow hair came into his vision first. bill stood in the doorway with his keys in one hand, other on his hip. he flexed his thumb to behind him and spoke.
“hey, we ran outta hair dye. i’m gonna head to the store. wanna…come?” bill offered. steve smiled from his bed and yawned. bill wasn’t good at expressing his emotions, this was the closest to a ‘sorry’ steve was gonna get and he was fine with that. the boy lifted the covers off of himself and trudged towards bill who ruffled his already messy hair when he reached him. as they walked out, steve had half the mind to check his watch. the display read ‘ 6:45 PM’. he glanced away from the small device and back at bill.
he saw as bill shrugged on a yellow cardigan, buttoning it up before he slipped on some boots. steve took a random jacket off the coat rack and put it over his clothes, the light purple fabric giving him some warmth. he slipped on some blue sneakers with small baseballs on the sides, a gift bill had insisted on getting him for some reason. bill and steve walked out together and got into the car. as bill started the engine, steve rested his head against the window and closed his eyes.
‘he’s not such a bad dad.’
~X☆X~
ford chased after mabel as she ran out of the car and into the store. the elder man panted as he finally caught up to the teen, her candy senses weren’t wrong and she had wandered to the candy aisle. ford glanced around the aisle, cringing internally as he saw the sugary confections around him. the bright packaging taunted him as he stood beside his great niece. she had a finger on her chin, cheeks puffed out. she was so in focus that she didn’t even respond to ford when he said that he was going to get a basket, she just waved him off.
with ford’s ego slightly smaller, he walked to get a basket by the front of the store. after he had grabbed his item, he glanced around the place and made his way toward the book section. the man browsed a couple of science books before he heard a loud laugh from another aisle. normally, ford would have brushed this off. just another teen causing havoc onto innocent people. but his head looked up from the book he was holding and looked around. that laugh. that damn laugh. that damn laugh haunted his dreams. that laugh played on loop when he was in one of his depressive episodes. ford put down the book and hesitantly walked out of the aisle.
the loudmouth was found a couple aisles away in the hair section. ford held his breath as he was that met with the sight of the familiar blonde from the fair, the same kid next to him. the breath he held was quickly taken away from him when he heard the man speak.
“-and let me tell you, kid, it was not easy getting those rats.” the voice spoke, eliciting a small giggle from the child that hung off the cart. the older blonde was faced towards a shelf filled with dyes, eyeing them quizzically. the young boy had two feet on the bottom end of the cart and would have fallen off if the older man hadn’t gripped the carts handle. the blonde boy rested his head in his palms and spoke.
“don’t you think he was creeped out?” he inquired. the older man shrugged his shoulders and threw his dye selection into the cart and rolled it away, chatting with the young boy on the other end of it. fords mouth hung open as they exited the hair aisle, his eyes were blown wide.
no.
no.
no.
no.
no. it can’t be him. it can’t be. they defeated him. but that laugh, that voice, that..story. fords mind began to anxiously swirl. his breathing became heavy and he felt like he was going to throw up. the only reason he didn’t is because he was snapped out of his panic by a hand on his arm. he glanced down at the person. mabel looked up at him, worried. in her hands she held probably ten different candies. mabel had swiftly deposited them into the green basket and looked back up at her uncle.
“grunkle ford, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. what’s wrong?” it seemed like ford had been asked that question by the girl a lot lately. but it did feel like he saw a ghost, a ghost that should have been dead and buried years ago. his wide eyes softened a little at the teen beside him. he ruffled her hair and reassured her.
“nothing, dearest.” he said. mabel puffed her cheeks out, one eyebrow raised but a word never left her mouth as she grabbed the basket from her grunkle and head towards the checkout counter. ford looked at her walk and glanced back at the, now empty, hair aisle. he sighed and followed the girl.
‘nothing at all.’