Hey! Sorry this chapter took a little longer! But the reason for that is because this chapter is a bit longer than normal. Enjoy! And thanks again to my beta, cubot!

Chapter 9: Fun

"If you're done interrogating me, then I believe it is time for us to leave," Bill said with a smile as he held out his arm.

Mabel blinked. She had almost forgotten about her agreement to go with him to another dimension. Shrugging to herself, Mabel took his arm. They had made a deal and she couldn't back out now.

In a flash, she was pulled…. somewhere else. When she regained her senses, Mabel found herself in what felt like an oven. Even the walls and ground felt like they were radiating heat. They looked like they were in a cave of some kind, because Mabel could see nothing but rock walls and flooring. However, when she looked up to what should be the cave ceiling she could swear there was some sort of red, smoke-filled sky above her. The cave, if it really was a cave, was huge with wide open areas and corridors that seemed like they went on for miles. The light source in the cave was no mystery, and it was the reason that the cave was so warm. Pouring down the walls of the cave and settling into the pools on the floor was slow-moving lava.

Mabel inched closer to the rippling movement of the lava as it flowed into a larger pool where it was soon swept away to other places in the cave.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Bill shrugged. "Oh, that's not important. What's important is what I brought you here to show you."

Bill grabbed her hand and carefully led her away from the lava she had been intently studying and through a rocky corridor.

"Wait, are you seriously not going to tell me where we are?"

He grinned back at her. "Nope!"

Mabel pretended to pout angrily, but she was far too giddy about what she might be seeing next that she couldn't stop a grin from forcing itself upon her face.

"Well, can you at least tell me where we're going?" Mabel asked as she allowed herself to be dragged through this strange new place that smelt like rotten eggs.

"And ruin the surprise?" Bill asked, cackling to himself. "Not a chance! Come on, it's just through here."

They turned a corner and suddenly Bill stopped and turned to her, causing Mabel to halt.

"Hold on, I need to give you something first." Bill held out his hand and suddenly there was a large gold bracelet in his hands. "Here."

Mabel blinked in surprise. "A bracelet? Why are you-"

"It's a gift," Bill said simply, holding it out to her.

Mabel took an uncomfortable step back. "Umm, it's really pretty but I can't-"

Bill chuckled before reaching out and grabbing her arm with his free hand. For a panicked moment, Mabel thought about pulling away, but the gentle way he had her wrist in his grasp made her stop. There hadn't been any malice or force behind his gesture and her curiosity overrode any residual fear she had of him.

In Mabel's hesitation, Bill slipped the gold bracelet around the wrist of her right hand.

"I said it's a gift, I didn't say it was a gift for you," Bill explained further.

"Huh?"

"Come on, we're almost there!" Bill still hadn't let go of her hand, and he took full advantage of this as continued to drag her, hand-in-hand, through the strange overly-warm world they were in.

"Could you be any more cryptic?" Mabel asked sarcastically as Bill pulled her around yet another stone corner.

Mabel dug in her heels and came to a full stop when she saw what was before her.

Gold.

Piles of gold.

Mabel had never seen so much treasure and it was so shiny.

"Wow… this is…" Mabel breathed, unable to form the words. There were coins, necklaces, rings, decorative items embellished in gold, crowns, jewels, gold statues and many other antique items. The entire pile of gold was much taller than her.

"Oh, that's not what we're here to see," Bill told her. "This way."

To Mabel's surprise, Bill began climbing up the pile of gold. Mabel clumsily followed the demon up the large pile. From her new perspective on top of the pile, Mabel realized that the pile dipped in the middle as if it were a valley surrounded by mountains.

It was a valley of gold or... as Mabel started to see the inhabitants of the pile of gold… a nest.

Mabel's mouth fell open. "Are those… dragons?"

Small, grey dragons, some no bigger than her fist, and some as long as her arm, were cuddled together in the middle of the gold valley.

"That's right." Bill put his fingers to his lips and admitted a high-pitched whistle.

The small dragons sat up at once, their heads whipping around to look at the two of them.

Bill reached over to Mabel and grabbed her right arm, lifting it up so her new bracelet shone in the light of the lava dripping down the stone walls.

The dragons chirped in excitement, spread their wings, and flew towards the two onlookers.

As the dragons approached, Mabel squealed in fear and amazement as the dragons descended on her and her alone. Two small dragons landed on her arm and nipped playfully at the bracelet on her wrist. Their claws scratched at her arm, but her sweater protected her skin from taking the worst of the sharp claws. The dragons' claws and teeth tickled her skin. Another dragon, this one the length of her arm, came to sit on her shoulder and playfully nipped at her ear.

Mabel giggled hysterically to herself. "They're so cute! I can't believe I'm seeing real dragons!"

Without hesitation, Mabel reached out with her left hand to pet one of the small dragons that were currently fighting over her bracelet. The small dragon cooed happily in response before its brother managed to snatch the gold bracelet from Mabel's arm and flew off with it. The other dragons followed, launching off of Mabel's shoulders to follow the dragon with the prize. The dragon with the bracelet didn't get far, however, because it couldn't continue a steady flight pattern with its already small wings and heavy load. It crashed into the pile of gold not far from Mabel's feet.

"Dragons love gold," Bill explained. "I knew they would love you if you brought some for them. We're lucky the mother isn't here. I don't think she would be too happy about us infiltrating her nest."

"Bill, this is amazing!" Mabel gushed, turning to him. "I love dragons! I didn't even know I loved dragons until now! How did you know I loved them if I didn't?"

Bill laughed and shrugged. "Just a guess, Shooting Star. I had a feeling you would like it here."

"Well, this is incredible!" Mabel didn't know what she was doing until she was already hugging Bill around his middle. The demon didn't move; he stayed perfectly still like he was confused about what to do. Mabel knew that she should probably let go of Bill; that the fact he wasn't hugging her back probably meant he was uncomfortable. However, an unexpected thought entered her mind: Was she the first person to hug Bill Cipher?

If she was, then the sheer accomplishment of being the first person to do so was enough to make her want the hug to last a bit longer.

But that wasn't the only reason.

If this was the first time someone hugged Bill Cipher… then that was just a little sad, and for some reason, that thought made her not want to let go.

Slowly, finally, Mabel released Bill and took a step back. Mabel brushed her hair behind her ear in a vulnerable gesture of embarrassment.

"Sorry," Mabel apologized as heat started to rise to her face. The hug had lasted way too long and Bill hadn't reacted at all. Most people at least relax a little, even if they aren't used to hugs, but Bill hadn't even moved.

Fighting her embarrassment, Mabel looked up at his face to see an astounded expression frozen on Bill's face. It was only there for a second, however, before his expression flickered and was replaced by his usual composed amusement. He always looked like he was watching something that bored him but that had the one redeeming quality of being mildly funny, so the half-smirk rarely left his face.

"Don't worry about it," Bill assured her nonchalantly as he absently tugged his suit back into place.

Relieved, Mabel smiled lightly, her gaze falling on the baby dragons that were currently fighting over the gold bracelet that they had taken from her.

Mabel climbed over the gold, stumbling a few time, as she made her way over to the little dragons. To her delight, they allowed her to pet their scaly backs and one of the smaller ones began to climb onto her hand. Mabel sat down on the gold and another dragon crawled onto her lap. Mabel giggled as she pet them.

"They're so cute!" She gushed.

Bill made his way over to her, this time floating just above the gold.

"I think they like me." Mabel beamed up at Bill and noticed the odd angle she had to turn her neck to look as him. Smiling happily, she patted gold next her, inviting him to sit down. He took the invitation and settled beside her.

"Dragons are empathic," Bill explained. "They can sense if someone wants to hurt them, which is why they have no problems with us being here. We have no intention to hurt them or take their gold."

Mabel picked up the smallest dragon and held it to her face. It cooed, nipping happily at her nose.

"Aww!" she squealed, placing it back in her lap. One of the larger baby dragons flew around Bill and landed on Mabel's shoulder. It put its face against Mabel's cheek, as if asking for attention. Mabel scratched its head happily. Mabel had three dragons on her now, and a few more playing beside her legs. Mabel quickly realized the dragons were purposely ignoring Bill.

She looked at the demon in confusion. "Do they not like your or something?"

Bill shrugged. "They're probably afraid of me. If it wasn't for you they would probably be hiding right now."

Mabel frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"They can sense that you're not afraid of me, and so they figure they have no reason to fear me if you don't."

Mabel's mouth parted in surprise. Since when was she not afraid of Bill? When did that happen? Was it this morning when she made the deal, or was it even before that? She wasn't sure anymore.

"So they don't mind you because I'm here, but they're still not willing to crawl all over the big bad demon?" Mabel teased.

Bill flashed a grin, his teeth blindingly white. "That's right."

Mabel laughed. "You're not so scary."

Bill's bright smile melted into a cocky smirk. "I'm what nightmares are made of, Shooting Star. You're not going to find a scarier demon than me."

"Ow!" Mabel hissed, retracting her hand from one of the small dragons who had playfully decided to shoot out a small spark of fire from its mouth.

"Careful!" Bill warned, reaching out to intervene before stopping short, his hands half-reaching out for hers.

Mabel cradled her hand, which she had managed to remove just before it was burnt. She was currently eyeing the demon with poorly concealed amusement, her lips twisted up as she tried to fight a smile.

"You can relax, 'stuff of nightmares,' I'm fine," Mabel assured him.

Quickly, Bill retracted his hands. An angry scowled flicked across his face before he smiled and chuckled to himself. "Of course. I just need to return you to your brother in one piece."

"Sure, sure, that's why you were concerned," Mabel teased again.

Bill's smile tightened and Mabel wondered if he was angry at her teasing. Her worries were banished, however, when his shoulders relaxed and he laughed.

"Very well, Shooting Star, you win. I supposed I can live with you not being afraid of me. I wouldn't go spreading it around though; I have a reputation after all."

Mabel giggled. "Don't worry, I can keep a secret."

Mabel directed her attention back to the dragons on her lap, teasing one of them with a piece of gold, which quickly became a game of tug-of-war. "Is this what you do when you're not on earth? Travel through dimensions and find nests with baby dragons?

"Well, no, not usually."

"Then what do you do?" Mabel asked, curious. "Make deals with people? Infiltrate their dreams?"

"Sometimes, but only if they have something I want, or the deal is going to be entertaining. You have no idea how boring things can get when you've already seen it all."

"What kind of things do get from people?"

Bill hesitated. "It's not quite that simple, Shooting Star…"

"Do you hurt them?" she asked; her eyes wide. Now that she wasn't afraid of Bill, she found herself wondering if she should be. She believe that he didn't want to hurt her, but that didn't make him a good guy, especially if he was willing to hurt other people.

Bill sighed. "Yeah, sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes deals go bad. I come to people in their hour of need and offer to remove whatever nightmare they're living. But deals always have to be two-sided and some people can't keep their side."

"You trick them, don't you?" Mabel asked. "You offer them their dream, but your deal turns out to be worse than their nightmare."

Bill's mouth parted slightly. "That's not what I said…"

"But it's true, isn't it?" Mabel asked earnestly. She knew this was her chance. She had to ask him the hard questions while he still couldn't lie to her, even if a part of her didn't want to know the answer.

"That is true, but before you start calling me a monster again there is something you still don't understand."

"I'm listening," Mabel urged, and she really was listening. She wasn't as eager to condemn him as she used to be. She knew there was more to him than just a monster.

"I can't always control the deals they make. Even if I had good intentions to help them, the deal could still end horribly. The bigger the deal, the bigger the price people must pay, even I can't control that. People tell me what they want and I tell them the price. It's not like they don't know what they're getting into. Most people run into trouble because humans don't seem to know what they really want. Once they find out they don't really want what they asked for, they break the deal, and that has its own consequences that even I can't control. I'm just a businessman, Shooting Star. It's not personal."

Mabel considered his words carefully. She didn't know what to think of them, but she knew she could believe him, because he couldn't lie.

"Do you have to make deals?" Mabel asked, cocking her head to the side. "They seem like they do more harm than good."

Bill seemed to consider her questions thoughtfully. "I suppose I don't have to do anything. As long as there is a dreamscape, I have an eternal existence. But you try having unlimited power and not using it for anything. The boredom starts to itch after a while, and with humankind running around like chaotic little ants it's hard not to get involved."

"But you don't have to make deals," Mabel pointed out. "You could just… do people favors if you really wanted, couldn't you?"

That made Bill laugh. "I suppose I could, but everything has a price. If I did favors for people then I would be paying the price with my own energy. And even though I'm immortal and I could do that… I'm really not that nice of a guy, Shooting Star."

Mabel felt herself relax. This hadn't really been the answer she wanted to hear from him. She wanted him to tell her that he would never hurt or trick anyone, but she already knew that wasn't the truth. However, his explanation hadn't been all bad. He really was just a businessman looking for some entertainment, and Mabel found a hard time judging someone that was as old as Bill probably was. She goes crazy within fifteen minutes if she had nothing to do. Bill was probably thousands of years old and had already seen everything there is to see twice over. Anyone would go a little stir crazy after that… or in Bill's case, just plain crazy.

But he wasn't exactly the psychopathic killer Mabel had assumed he was years ago. He was just a bored guy with a lot of power who refused to believe that he could feel compassion or that he had a conscious. But Mabel had a feeling he had both. He cared about her at least a little bit, after all, and that had to count for something, right?

"Alright," Mabel said at last. "I guess that makes-"

To Mabel's surprise, the oldest baby dragon, the one that was sitting on her shoulder, had gathered enough confidence to suddenly flap its wings and take a swift dive for Bill's head. At first, Mabel thought that the dragon was attacking Bill, but the dragon pulled up just in time and swiped Bill's hat from his head.

"HEY!" Bill shouted as the dragon flew away with his hat. Mabel could swear she heard the dragon chortling to itself in laughter.

From the corner of her eye, Mabel saw Bill's uncovered eye flash red in anger, but it quickly disappeared when he glanced at Mabel with a scowl.

Mabel laughed and jumped to her feet. "Oh, stop pouting; the little guy just wants to play! Come on!"

Bill glared after the dragon. "I'm not chasing after that lizard-"

"Okay, fine, I'll get your hat back," Mabel said in good humor. "You and your pride can wait here." She winked at him playfully before running after the dragon.

"Mabel, wait!" Bill shouted from behind her, but she had already turned the corner to the next corridor.

The dragon hadn't gone far. It was waiting for her perched on a large, strange-looking rock formation with the hat in its mouth, his wings open, waiting for her to come closer so he could just fly off again and the chase would continue.

Mabel crept forward carefully. "Now, no more funny business you. That hat isn't yours. It's time to give it back."

There was a mischievous glint in the dragon's eyes which made Mabel wonder if it knew exactly what she was saying.

Something warm grabbed her hand from behind and she shrieked in terror, whipping around to punch whatever had grabbed her. She found herself staring into a yellow eye as her heart tried to burst out of her chest.

"Bill! Don't scare me like that!"

"Well, don't run off! You have no idea what you might run into!"

Mabel pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Well, it's a good thing you're here then. It's your hat anyway."

Bill scowled, glance at the dragon that was still eyeing them curiously. Bill waved his hand and in a flash, his hat was back on his head. "There."

Mabel slumped in disappoint. "Aww… that wasn't as fun as I thought it would be."

Bill smirked as he adjusted his hat. "You just wanted to turn my hat into a chew toy."

Mabel gave him a very serious look. "Yes I did."

Suddenly, there was a rumbling noise. At first, Mabel thought it was a rockslide, but as she listened she realized it actually sounded more like a deep throaty growl.

"What is that?" Mabel asked, looking at Bill. However, his eyes were glued to where the young dragon was sitting. Mabel looked over, and to her surprise, the rock formation that the dragon was sitting on was… moving?

Smoke started to billow out from the rocks and Mabel quickly realized that they weren't rocks at all. Glaring at them, and blinking sleepily, was a large, gray dragon; its red eyes boring into them. The baby dragon had been perched upon its mothers head, which had been tucked underneath her paw so neither Bill nor Mabel had recognize it for what it was until it looking at them. Now it was currently deciding whether it was worth the effort to barbeque them or not.

"Umm," Mabel took a step back. "Bill?"

"Yes," Bill answered evenly, his eyes not leaving the mother dragon.

"Are we in trouble?"

"That's a… possibility. Ancient dragons are one of the few creatures that my powers are… less effective against."

"So… we should run then?"

"Definitely."

Mabel took off first with Bill quick behind her. They could hear the dragon roar in anger and take a deep breath. Mabel knew what was coming next, but she couldn't help but look behind her to see the wall of fire shoot down the narrow passageway straight towards her and Bill.

Bill grabbed her around the waist and pushed her into a human-sized crevice in the wall. Mabel could feel the fire shoot past them, the heat stinging her skin. The only protection she had was Bill, who was sheltering her from the fire, his back to the flame, his hands wrapped around her as he pushed her as far into the crevice as she could fit.

With nothing but rock around them, the fire quickly began to die out. They could hear the large footsteps of the mother dragon as she searched for the two intruders. She was getting closer to their hiding place, and any second she would find them. If she blew fire directly at them now, there was no way they could dodge it.

"Ready to go?" Bill asked in her ear.

"I've been ready since the fire almost singed my eyebrows off. What have you been waiting for?" Mabel snapped back. She saw him smirk in response and in a flash they were both pulled out of that dimension and into a world that was much cooler and easier to breathe in than the smoke filled cavern.

Bill released her and Mabel stumbled backwards out of his arms, her head swimming in confusion. She instantly recognized the hotel room she had been staying at for the last few days.

Mabel coughed a few times to remove the smoke from her lungs.

She glanced up at Bill who looked completely unburnt. However, his suit was covered in soot and dirt, and looking down at herself, she looked just as bad.

"That was… not how I planned that trip to go," Bill explained hesitantly, a few pieces of soot falling from his darkened hair onto his nose.

Mabel could feel her hands shaking from the brush with death and she couldn't help it. It was all too ridiculous. She laughed.

It had been dangerous and wonderful and fun. The last time she had so much fun was last summer when her and her brother had finished up their last mystery before they had to go home for the school year. The only real adventure she had this summer was when she was nearly stabbed to death, so that one hadn't been fun at all. She had been waiting all year to have another adventure and now she had met dragons, teased and hung out with a demon, and dodge a wall of fire. It was like out of some supernatural fairytale.

Bill's eyes widened as Mabel's laugher continued. "Are… are you alright, Shooting Star?"

He sounded more than a little concerned about her mental health, which was ironic coming from him.

"I'm fine," Mabel said between laughter. "That was just so much fun!"

"You weren't scared?" Bill asked.

"Of course I was! I was terrified! I really thought I was going to be burned alive, but we escaped! We made it!" Mabel squealed.

"Almost dying is… fun for you?" Bill asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It can be," Mabel explained. "It's part of the adventure and that was an awesome adventure! I saw dragons! Dragons! It was amazing!"

Bill laughed, shaking his head in amazement. "Most mortals are sensitive about the whole 'mortal peril' thing, but now that I think about it, you must be used to it by now."

Mabel shrugged, still grinning. "Well, yeah! Usually the more dangerous the adventure the more fun it is!"

"So… you had fun then?" Bill asked.

"Of course I did!"

Bill nodded, satisfied.

"Did you have fun with me?" Mabel asked back.

As soon as the question left her lips, Mabel noticed the hesitation in his eyes.

Bill hesitated for a half a second, his mind racing through a multitude of answers he could say to answer her question. He wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear, but he also couldn't lie.

He could twist her question back at her, he could answer a different question then she asked, but similar enough that she wouldn't notice, or he could not answer at all and distract her from the fact she asked him anything. He had used all these tricks with her already and the naive girl failed to notice them.

One thing was for sure, he couldn't tell the truth to the question she asked. She would become suspicious of him all over again if she knew-

The smile dropped from his face.

...Wait.

"Bill? Are you okay?"

Bill looked down at the girl, stunned by his own revelation.

"Yes, I did," Bill told her.

Shooting Star's eyebrows creased in confusion. "Yes you did what?"

"Yes, I did have fun with you, Shooting Star."

The girl beamed up at him, her smile was blinding. She raised an amused eyebrow at him. "You don't have to sound so surprised about it."

Bill smiled and chuckled lowly. "I just didn't expect that to be the truth."

And it was the truth, as strange as that was. He actually did have fun with Shooting Star. In fact, that wasn't the first time he had fun being with her this week. However, having fun with her was the first time in centuries, maybe in his entire existence, that he actually had fun that wasn't at someone else's expense.

Bill had never had to think this way before. He never had to think about right and wrong, lies and truth, good and evil. Bill just did things to benefit himself or said whatever he needed to get his way. He never had to think about whether he was saying a truth or a lie, whether he was doing something right or wrong; he just did it.

However, this deal he made with Mabel was forcing him to think in a different way. He had to figure out when he was lying and when he wasn't. He had to figure out what she considered good and what she would view as evil. One mistake and she would distrust him again.

It was difficult because Bill usually didn't think in such boring, one dimensional terms.

It was unexpected, he realized, that a girl who could have such a mundane concept of right and wrong could actually be farthest thing for boring herself.

I really hope you guys liked this chapter! I feel like the story is finally starting, and it's nice to be able to write them a little more free now that Mabel isn't as guarded. Also… DRAGONS!

Please review and let me know what you thought!