Weightlessness. An absence of gravity. Levitation.

Dipper poured his energy into those concepts, eyes screwed shut as he concentrated on moving away from the ground. He had done it before, but only just; it was always mere inches at a time, if even that. He had to do better. He had to float like a balloon, a feather on the breeze, like… well, like Bill could -

"Pine Tree."

Of course... Bill was a horrible mentor sometimes, always interrupting when Dipper needed to focus. Well, not this time! Dipper closed his eyes tighter and doubled down on his thoughts.

"Pine Tree."

Bill was never easily dissuaded, but couldn't he understand that this was important? He was the one insisting upon it! If he would just -

"PINE TREE!"

"What, Bill?!" Dipper snapped, finally opening his eyes to see… the top of Bill's head?

Tall, lanky Bill, who'd chosen his form's height specifically to be taller than Dipper?

"You're floating," Bill said with a smile.

As soon as Dipper's wits were about him, he immediately fell back to the ground, knees giving out and sending him down on his back in the grass. He stared up at the sky for a moment, then pushed himself into a sitting position, hesitantly re-adjusting his hat as he looked up at Bill with wide eyes.

"I… I was floating?" he asked, dumbstruck.

"Sure were!" Bill said with a grin. "It was pretty impressive! Really stiff posture, gotta work on that, but you were a whole head above me! That's like a good foot or so, don't you think?"

Dipper put a hand to his face, then the top of his hat, and let out a nervous laugh. "Seriously? I… Oh my god, I'm getting the hang of it!" He smiled up at Bill, who was still grinning, looking quite proud.

"My little Pine Tree is growing up," he said fondly, holding out a hand to help Dipper off of the ground. "Don't start speculating on your next power just yet, though. You've still got some levitation practice to get in."

Dipper looked at the proffered hand with some trepidation, then took a deep breath and grabbed it. Bill lifted him to his feet with ease.

"Levitation isn't gonna help me close the barrier," he said as he pulled his hand back and absently rubbed it on his jeans. "It is really cool, though."

Bill gave Dipper a hearty slap on the back, surprising him and making him step forward. "Kid, every power is important! The more you get the hang of each individual thing you can do, the more powerful you become."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to touch me?" Dipper asked, exasperated, as he rolled his shoulders. "It's been at least once a day."

Bill shrugged. "I'm handsy," he said. "Maybe it'd be better for us if you got used to it."

"No!" Dipper exclaimed, easily riled by Bill's flippant disregard for his comfort. "No, that isn't how this works, Bill!" He jabbed a finger inches from the demon's face. Bill looked down at it, mildly surprised. "I have personal space issues, and, and you need to respect them!"

Bill looked up from Dipper's finger with a raised eyebrow. "Kinda ballsy of you," he said, "considering I almost broke your finger last time you did that."

Dipper yanked his hand back. "Yeah, well…" He held his hands together and looked away. "I beat you up as soon as you arrived in the real world. You know I could do it again."

With a chuckle, Bill walked around Dipper and cocked his head until their eyes met. "Or you trust me not to hurt you anymore."

Before Dipper could retort in any meaningful way beyond backing away from Bill, a voice from the back door called out to them: "Yoo-hoo! Boys!"

They both turned to watch as Mabel strode towards them, holding a conspicuous baby-blue bundle.

"Heya, Shooting Star!" Bill greeted enthusiastically. "Whatcha got here? Is it for me?"

"You bet!" Mabel flipped her ponytail and held the bundle close to her chest. "After two-and-a-half days of tireless work, your new sweater is done."

"Well, show us," Dipper said as he put his hands on his waist.

Mabel stuck her tongue out at him. "Let me introduce it first!" she insisted.

Bill clapped his hands together as Dipper rolled his eyes.

With a loud and deliberate throat-clear, Mabel repositioned the bundle before unrolling it with a flourish, announcing, "It's a boy!"

The main color was, indeed, baby blue; the cuffs, hem, and collar were more of a periwinkle. Embroidered across the chest were several puffy white clouds, a crescent moon, and dark blue cursive script reading "Dream Boy".

Bill clapped his hands to his mouth as Dipper shook his head.

"I love it," Bill whispered.

"I knew you would," Mabel said as she peered around the sweater. "Isn't it adorable? And it hints to your true, horrible nature without directly referencing anything anyone would recognize!"

"Let me try it on!" Bill said excitedly. "Pine Tree, if you would?" Before Dipper could object, Bill was handing over his hat and beginning to take off his gloves.

"Woah, woah, not here!" Dipper said. "Dude, we're -"

"In a private backyard, with trees surrounding us for miles," Bill finished as he piled his gloves on top of his hat in Dipper's hands. "Relax, kid. It's not like I'm gonna take off my pants!"

Dipper grumbled uncomfortably as Bill's bow tie was added to the pile.

"I half expected you to just throw his stuff on the ground," said Mabel as she stood next to her brother. "You two getting along better?"

"I guess," Dipper sighed as Bill went about struggling out of his tight vest. "I mean, what am I supposed to do? When Pacifica and I had to work together, we… y'know, made it work. We were civil."

"And then you became friends," Mabel pointed out.

Dipper scowled. "That's not about to happen," he said as Bill dumped the vest into his arms. "As much as he might want it to… for some reason. He won't stop bringing it up."

"Well, he acted like he and Grunkle Ford were literal best friends forever, didn't he?" Mabel asked. "It's easier to take advantage of your friends than your enemies."

"You know I'm standing right here, right?" Bill asked as he went about unbuttoning his dress shirt. "Ignoring me won't just magically make me unable to hear your very hurtful words."

"Like you actually care," Dipper scoffed. "You know I don't trust you."

"I do care!" Bill insisted as he opened the shirt and began sliding it off of his shoulders. "My intentions with you are nothing like my intentions were with Sixer. Have you considered that I just enjoy having friends?"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "You don't," he said. "You're an egomaniacal narcissist who doesn't care about anyone but himself."

"I take offense to that." Bill dropped his shirt onto the pile in Dipper's arms. "Pine Tree, after everything I've told you, everything I've shared -"

"Most of it because of the honesty deal."

"Not all of it!" Bill put his hands on his narrow hips and frowned. "And here I thought you were starting to understand me, kid. Clearly you don't - What, Shooting Star?!"

Dipper jumped a little at Bill's sudden outburst, then turned to look at his sister, who was… staring. At Bill.

"Uh, Mabel?"

"Sorry," Mabel said, holding her hands up. "I just… You, uh, made an interesting body for yourself."

Bill stared at her for a second, then grinned wide and puffed out his chest. "Oh? Impressed, are we?"

Dipper made a face as Mabel laughed and said, "Uh, no, more like… horrified."

Bill frowned again, then looked down at himself. "Okay, so I'm a bit on the thin side, but I'm not emaciated. This form isn't bad!"

"No, it's not," said Mabel, earning a hard stare from her brother. "That's the horrifying thing. You don't look like a monster. I mean, you do, with the weird eyes and the shark teeth and whatever, but…"

"He doesn't look good," Dipper said flatly.

The scary thing, however, was that Mabel was actually right.

Bill's torso was, predictably, sort of triangle-shaped, with broad shoulders and the narrow waist Dipper had noticed before. Then there was a slight amount of tone to his muscles, just enough to define where they were. Coupled with long, slender legs and a very interesting face, Bill was…

Dipper's brain screeched to a halt, face going blank.

Oh god.

Not this again.

"Well, he's not a dream-boat or anything, but he's got like… I dunno, a swimmer's body," Mabel was saying as she stepped away from Dipper and walked around Bill. As she reached his back, her face lit up. "Ooh - what's this?"

Bill turned back to look at her, allowing Dipper a moment to look utterly horrified while nobody was watching. It was hard enough dealing with this the past few years, on and off as he grew and met new people, but now… Why Bill? Dipper wanted to bury his face in his hands, but they were full of clothes - Bill's clothes. Maybe he would just drop them on the ground…

"Ya like it?" Bill asked with a grin. "My own personal touch to all humanoid forms I can take, and some non-humanoid ones!"

"You sure you want to carry around the code to defeating you on your back?" Mabel asked, reaching out as if to touch and then pulling away at the last moment.

Bill shrugged. "It's an important part of my identity. And it's not like you guys existed until this lifetime. Or, well… Hm. Not entirely true. Anyway, it's not like it was even used, in the end." He laughed. "You just locked me away in someone's brain instead!"

Mabel hummed thoughtfully.

"Hey Pine Tree, wanna see?" Bill asked, and before Dipper could respond, Bill turned around to show off his back and the black tattoo inscribed upon it - the Cipher Wheel.

Dipper cringed and looked away. "Dude, just… put your sweater on," he said, voice wavering.

Mabel gave him an odd look as Bill frowned and turned back to face him. "Jeez, kid, don't gotta be so rude," he said as he took the sweater from Mabel. "You traumatized over that, too?"

Dipper kept his eyes off of Bill, but in his periphery he could tell Mabel was giving him a hard stare. Oh god, he thought, please tell me she can't see the crisis I'm having right now. Am I blushing? Oh fuck, what if I'm blushing.

Bill pulled the sweater over his head and stuck his arms into the sleeves, then pulled the hem down to look at his new apparel. "Wow, fits like a dream!" he said. "Great job, Shooting Star!"

"Thanks," Mabel said, absently. "It's my specialty."

Dipper finally looked back, pointedly avoiding his sister's gaze to instead look at Bill. He looked absolutely thrilled. His teeth, large and sharp, glinted in the sunlight. Had Dipper ever actually paid any real attention to those teeth? They were… fascinating. Boldly monstrous, and a bit of a curiosity as well. If he could just get closer and wrench Bill's jaw open, examine them up close… Examine all of him up close...

Dipper gave his head a hard shake.

Why this? Why now? Why Bill?

"What's up, Dipper?" Mabel asked, her expression scrutinizing.

"Nothing," Dipper said. "It's… it's nothing. I'm just dealing with a lot." If that wasn't an understatement. It was one thing to randomly find himself flustered and bothered over other boys who weren't his greatest enemies. Suddenly seeing Bill in an attractive light, though...

"Isn't he always?" Bill asked with a shrug. "Alright, kid, let's go throw my clothes somewhere and head out on the town!"

Mabel approached Dipper and, without even a moment of hesitation, took the bundle of Bill's clothes out of his arms. "I'll take care of that," she said. "You two go have fun."

Dipper gave her a surprised look as Bill said, "No throwing them in the trash! I can't just conjure up a new shirt. Not anymore, anyway."

Mabel nudged Dipper with her elbow, whispered "We'll talk later," and turned away, headed back for the Shack. Dipper watched her go, helpless and confused.

Bill walked up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. With no gloves, his hand was noticeably warm.

"So where to first, partner?"

Still looking in the direction his sister had gone, Dipper shrugged Bill's hand off and took a step away. "Nowhere," he said, a little more defensive than he'd meant to be. "We still have practicing to do. I mean, I just had a breakthrough, didn't I? We should focus on that."

"Kid," said Bill, exasperated, "you're gonna keep having breakthroughs. You're a magical powerhouse just waiting to be tapped into. We can probably slack off a bit and go out on the town for just a while. Besides - weren't you the one feeling trapped?" He scoffed. "Need I remind you that I'm doing this entirely for your sake in the first place?"

Dipper chewed on his bottom lip and folded his arms over his chest. In his periphery he could see the pastel blue of Bill's new sweater, and it made him feel nervous. God, did he really need another reason to feel upset around Bill?

"Pine Tree?"

Dipper sighed, then turned to face his enemy once more. It was still Bill, at least. He didn't suddenly feel head-over-heels just looking at the guy. Sure, the sweater had a nice shape over his frame, but so had his old clothes… Dipper had just never paid attention to that before. He'd never had a moment where he really could.

Of all times to have some deviant epiphany, it had to be while Bill was undressing.

"...Maybe I do need a break," Dipper muttered, hands dropping to his sides. "My brain feels all kinds of fucked up." He rubbed his forehead, then gave Bill a hard look. "We're not going out on the town, though. Not… not yet. I'm not ready to even try to deal with exposing you to more people."

Bill shrugged. "Then let's go somewhere else," he said. "Anywhere you want. The world is your oyster, and all that."

Dipper glanced back at the Shack. Why did Mabel have to up and leave like that? Things would have been so much easier if she'd just stuck around… Being alone with Bill all the time was obviously taking its toll. Seeing him as more human wasn't that bad, but seeing good things in him… especially after a good year or two of managing to stomp down feelings about normal boys…

No one knew about that. Not even Mabel. Dipper was too afraid to say anything, to reveal that something could be even more wrong with him. He still liked girls. He preferred them, even. And it wasn't like there was anything wrong with being gay, he just… wasn't. Or he thought he wasn't. He didn't think he wanted to actually be with a boy. Just, sometimes they were… attractive.

Bill wasn't supposed to be, though.

"Where do you keep going, kid?"

Dipper snapped back to Bill, who was giving him a hard stare. "Oh, uh…" He cleared his throat and took a few steps forward, towards the woods and away from Bill's critical gaze. "Just… I have a lot on my mind." And I'm so glad you can't see it anymore. "Let's go. I know a nice place out by the road."

He took a step, then jerked to a halt.

"You know all the nice places," said Bill as he came up next to Dipper. "I take it this is your home-away-from-home spot? The one no one can suddenly show up to bother you at?"

Dipper looked at Bill, and the shock and horror on his face must have been apparent, because the demon looked rather taken aback when he noticed.

"Damn, kid, did you just see a ghost or something?"

"You were in my head," Dipper squeaked.

Bill blinked slowly, scrunched up his nose, and glanced off to the side. "Er… yeah. I was. Did you, uh, forget?"

"How much did you see?" Dipper asked, his voice high-pitched and near-panicked. He clenched his fists as he turned to fully face Bill. "You - you dug around a lot. You said so. How much did you see?"

"Better question is what I didn't see," Bill replied with a scoff. "What, is it just suddenly occurring to you how much I know about you? Relax, kid. I don't really care about most of it. I skimmed the pages, let's say."

Even so, Dipper could not relax. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. Of course Bill had seen. Even if he'd managed to squash those feelings, Bill was in the forest of his memories. He'd have seen every nerve-wracking moment. And in the midst of all the chaos, that fact had entirely slipped Dipper's mind.

He pulled his hat off with one hand, raking his fingers through his hair with the other.

Bill's eyes followed the hat, then returned to Dipper. "Looks like it's really bothering you," he said with a raised eyebrow. "Geez, Pine Tree. You didn't have anything that incriminating up there. What's got you in such a tizzy?"

"You really don't know?" Dipper asked in a quiet voice. "I mean, it's practically the worst thing that's ever happened to me…" He paused, then shook his head. "Okay, that's an exaggeration. You're the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

And now the two are getting all tangled up… Augh! No! Bill is not attractive, or interesting, or any of those things!

"Ouch," Bill deadpanned. "Watch it with the insults, kid." He watched Dipper a moment longer, then moved in some way Dipper couldn't quite see from the way he was looking down at the ground.

Of all the things…

"I think you need to get your mind off of all this," said Bill, his voice suspiciously playful. "Just promise me one thing, kid: do not, under any circumstances, put that hat back on. Or think about stopping me."

"Wha -?"

Before Dipper could even look up all the way, Bill wrapped both arms around his middle, held him tight, and jumped up into the air.

The shriek Dipper let out was embarrassing, to say the least. Briefly overwhelmed by the terror of his feet no longer touching the ground, he clung to Bill, his hat fluttering uselessly out of his grip as they soared higher and higher. Bill laughed over his yells, and Dipper thought he said something as well - another reminder to not double down on the binding, lest his levitation fail and they plummet to the ground - but Dipper could barely form a coherent thought as it was.

He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in the fabric of the sweater. It still smelled like Mabel, and was at least somewhat calming, in the smallest way.

High above the treetops, Bill finally stopped and floated in place. He crossed one leg over the other, then pried Dipper away from his body and set him down on his knee. Dipper, trembling like a leaf, pawed at Bill's shoulders with his eyes still shut before taking them both in a death grip.

"Open your eyes, Pine Tree," Bill coaxed.

"Like hell," Dipper hissed in reply. "What are you thinking?! You can't just - just -"

"You've survived worse," Bill said with a laugh. "You're not in any danger! Just open 'em."

"I swear, if this is just some, some ploy to get me closer to you -" Dipper exhaled hard through his teeth, then opened his eyes, one at a time.

Gravity Falls sprawled before them, a glorious valley of mystery and wonder. The town itself seemed but a small hub nestled in the center of miles upon miles of trees, occasionally broken up by clearings or rivers or Corduroy logging camps. It was truly a sight to behold.

"Levitation is good for a lot of things," said Bill, his voice a stark and grating reminder that he was still a part of the scene. "Getting a bird's-eye-view of a place is one of 'em. Then you just zip on down to wherever you wanna go." He set a hand on Dipper's waist, then used the other to point out a section of forest. "Lookie there! That's where the weird dinosaur almost ate you."

"Would have eaten you too," Dipper said, his voice unsteady. "You were stuck in my head at the time, remember?" He sighed, resigning himself to the extended contact with Bill instead of trying to wriggle free of the demon's touch. If only he could properly levitate on his own… The hand on his waist made his stomach churn, and having to hold onto Bill for dear life wasn't any more pleasant. He didn't feel like ordering Bill down, though, at least not anymore - the view actually was very nice (even if his heart was still pounding a mile a minute from their sudden flight).

Bill chuckled and shifted his legs, causing Dipper to grip him tighter for fear of falling. "Now then - you still worried about whatever I saw in your head? Or do you have better things to think about?"

"Anything is better than… Yeah," Dipper replied, fidgeting. "Uh. Thanks, I guess. I mean, you're touching me way too much and you scared the shit out of me, but - thanks."

Bill's fangs glinted in the sunlight as he grinned. "We're a team, Pine Tree," he said in earnest. "I've got to look out for you."

"You do a piss-poor job of it."

"I could drop you, you know."

Dipper looked at Bill's face, into his eyes. The breeze from so high up was ruffling his hair, making his right eye easier to see and even offering a glimpse of the third centered on his forehead. It also ruffled the high collar of his sweater, the periwinkle blue a stark contrast to Bill's vivid yellow hair. It really did change so much about his appearance. Gone were the reminders of who he really was, the monster that had chased Dipper in his nightmares; now was the age of an angular, sharp demon-man who looked on the verge of laughter even as he threatened Dipper's life.

An unbidden half-smile graced Dipper's face.

"You won't, though."

Bill snorted and looked out to the horizon. "I'd be free of you, y'know," he said. Then he sighed. "But Ax did say I would need you. Can't imagine what use you'd be to me dead."

Dipper hummed. "Yeah. I can't imagine I'd be good for anything as a corpse." He began to relax by degrees, his death-grip turning into more of a firm hold on Bill's bony shoulders. So much was visible from their height; so many amazing things, so many fond (and not-so-fond) memories. And maybe there really was nothing to worry about. Maybe he got himself worked up over something stupid.

Bill looked around at the ground far below, then back up at Dipper. "So, hey," he began, grinning again. "I noticed how flustered you got when I was changing. Am I actually attractive to you, kid?"

Dipper contemplated throwing himself to the ground below.

As the days had passed, one thing remained the same: Ford insisted upon injecting Bill with his sleep serum once Dipper announced it was time for bed. Nothing Dipper said could convince him it wasn't the right thing to do. Bill was too dangerous, he said; he would remove the hat in Dipper's sleep and, no longer bound, wreak havoc as he had originally intended.

Dipper knew he would be a fool to defend Bill against such an accusation. Doing so would imply he trusted Bill - or reveal what had happened earlier that day, when Bill had taken advantage of his unbound state to simply get Dipper's mind off of things (a strange move he couldn't quite get over). No, it was better to just let Ford do his thing. The less defending Dipper did on Bill's behalf, the better.

So into the living room they would go, because the basement was too low but Dipper didn't want Ford to see the sleeping bag in the attic. Bill would immediately become drowsy and just barely manage to climb the stairs before either falling onto Dipper's bed or actually being considerate and crawling into the bag. He never managed to take his own shoes off, something Dipper continued to do for him, much to the chagrin of Mabel who often watched as he did so before leaving the room to change.

Concessions, Dipper would remind her, should she ask. He was making concessions. Being fair with Bill in the hopes that the favor would be returned - and thus far, it had been, to some degree or another. Bill had remained cooperative. Amicable, even.

A loud snore from the demon in question startled Dipper from his thoughts and prompted Waddles to stand up from his place by Mabel's bed to come investigate. He snuffled at Bill's hair for a moment before Dipper waved him away, pushing him back to Mabel's side of the room.

"What, afraid he's gonna wake Bill up?" asked Mabel as she re-entered the room in her pajamas. "That shouldn't be a problem for a variety of reasons."

Dipper scoffed and sat back on his bed, then shifted his weight away from his bandaged arm. "I'm just trying to keep him away from Bill in general," he insisted. "Do you really want your pig all up in Bill's business? Something might rub off."

Mabel shook her head, then walked over to the nightstand to retrieve the bandages and cleaning fluids left there. "Dip, you gotta change the dressing on that thing," she said, referring to Dipper's bite wound. She stepped around Bill and sat down at Dipper's side. "Lemme see."

With a wince and some reluctance, Dipper offered his arm to his sister. "It hurts," he whined. "Changing it, I mean. Or messing with it at all…" He sucked in a breath through his teeth as Mabel began to unwrap the sullied bandages.

"Yeah, no wonder," she said as she inspected his arm. The deep wounds had begun to heal, but only just; they were still nasty, though thankfully not infected due to rigorous cleansing. "Any deeper and you woulda needed stitches. In fact, they probably wouldn't hurt…"

"No stitches."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you big crybaby." Mabel tsk'd and began cleaning the wound, doing a fairly good job of maintaining a calm visage even as Dipper hissed and groaned at the pain. "I can't believe he did this to you," she murmured as she set aside the bottles and began to re-wrap Dipper's arm. "I mean, I can, but… having you two working together before this even healed…"

"...Not like I didn't hurt him just as bad," said Dipper, frowning down at his arm. "He just… bounced back faster. The whole thing was a violent mess."

"Don't defend him!" Mabel said, squeezing Dipper's wrist. "You really need to stop, Dipper. It's like every time we talk about him, you've got something new to say about his character. He's getting to you."

Dipper looked away, first at Bill, and then to the opposite wall. "Look, I'm just trying to be amicable," he said with a sigh. "I still hate him, okay? He freaks me out, he upsets me, I haven't forgiven him for anything he's done… I'm just trying to be fair. As long as he doesn't step out of line -"

"Dipper, he possessed Grunkle Stan!" Mabel exclaimed. "And then he blackmailed you with Grunkle Stan's life! He manipulated you, used you, abused you -"

"And I haven't forgiven him!" Dipper gave Mabel a hard look, then pulled his arm back and gently touched the bandages with his opposite hand. "I haven't. Really. It's just…" He trailed off, unsure of how to explain how he felt - to her or himself. Bill was the enemy, Dipper knew that, but at the same time, Bill was… an ally.

Everything had happened so fast. It was hard to make sense of it all.

Mabel looked at her brother for a moment, then folded her hands in her lap and looked across the room.

"I think I know how to get rid of him," she said.

Dipper snapped to attention. "What?" he asked, incredulous.

Mabel looked back at him intently. "He carries it everywhere with him, Dipper," she went on. "On his back. The Cipher wheel. It's how we were going to defeat him originally, remember?"

Visions of Weirdmageddon danced before Dipper's eyes. The Fearamid. Bill's throne. Standing in the circle with the people he'd come to know. The flow of energy he'd felt…

He shook his head to rid himself of the images.

"I know it's hard to think about," Mabel said, reaching over to give Dipper's shoulder a firm squeeze. "I'm sorry. But I just thought of it today - What if we assembled the wheel again? We could send Bill back to the Nightmare Realm, or destroy him, or -"

"We don't know what it does," Dipper interrupted. "I won't destroy him, Mabel. Not… not on purpose." The words felt thick and heavy in his mouth.

Mabel sighed. "Dipper, please. I bet someone knows what it does. I mean, you could ask him, right? I'm sure he'd tell you. From what you've said, he seems like kind of a blabbermouth when it comes to you."

Dipper looked down at Bill, sleeping soundly by his feet. It was true, wasn't it? The longer they'd been together, the more open Bill was. Just the other day he admitted to his fear of death. What else would he admit if Dipper simply asked?

"I'll get everyone together," Mabel said, squeezing Dipper's shoulder again. "You don't have to worry about that part. Just get him to tell you what it actually does, and if it'll send him away, we can finally be rid of him. Then everyone will be happy."

Dipper continued looking at Bill, at his relaxed face and gaping, drooling, snoring mouth. Everyone but you, he thought. Am I really okay with that?

He didn't know.

"...I'll ask," he relented, and Mabel pulled him into a tight hug.

"There's still hope for you, bro-bro," she said before kissing his cheek. "This is the right thing, I promise. He's just been funkin' up your mind with all his weird jank."

"English, please," said Dipper, earning a laugh from his sister and a small smile from him. He made a show of wiping his cheek with the heel of his palm, then leaned away from Mabel and cocked his head. "Oh, uh, by the way…"

Mabel stopped laughing. "Oh no," she said. "What now? Did something happen today?"

"Bill wants to go out to lunch," said Dipper, avoiding Mabel's question. "He first brought it up when the sweater was suggested. I figured… I mean, it wouldn't hurt, right? You avoid him all the time, you could probably use some one-on-one time with him."

Mabel gave Dipper a wide-eyed stare. "...Dip, in what world would I need one-on-one time with Bill freakin' Cipher?" she asked. "I mean, he'd probably just stuff me into another bubble."

Dipper frowned. "He's stuck with us for now," he said. "It's a chance to… y'know, study the enemy. You may as well get to know him the way he is now. Or the way he's acting, I guess. Familiarize yourself with him outside of some weird love of sweaters."

"The only redeemable thing about him so far," Mabel scoffed. "Alright, I'm game. We can go tomorrow. Dunno how we'll explain it to Grunkle Ford, though…"

The twins went quiet for a moment, both contemplating the idea. Bill continued to snore away beneath them, and Waddles, having fallen asleep, joined in.

"He doesn't necessarily have to know," Dipper said.

"I mean, he doesn't have to know everything," Mabel added.

"Excluding key details isn't technically lying," finished Dipper.

Both nodded, and then Mabel pushed herself up off of the bed and grabbed the medical supplies. "Okay, so we'll let him know that we're taking Bill out, and when he assumes it's for training purposes, we just won't correct him," she said.

"Right," Dipper agreed. "Sounds great to me."

As Mabel busied herself with putting the supplies away and turning off the light, Dipper glanced down at Bill again. A thought occurred to him - would Mabel have answers for why he might feel the way he did about Bill's appearance? He'd avoided ever telling her about his feelings before, but now…

He opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it. She'd skin him alive if he admitted he was attracted to the horrible form Bill had built for himself. It wasn't like he meant for it to happen, and it wasn't like he liked Bill as a person (or demon, or whatever he was), but even still… She was so worried about Bill's influence on him as it was. And in truth, he was worried, too.

Dipper sighed, then flopped down on the bed and pulled the covers up over himself. "Good night, Mabel," he said softly into the darkness.

Good night to you too, Bill, he thought, guilty for doing so but compelled all the same.

"Night, Dip," said Mabel as she turned over, and Bill continued to snore.