A/N: 'Sup dudes, Cora here. Pretty much I'm too lazy to get my butt working on my actual stories, so I've decided to do "practice stories", or pretty much random little one shots. The purpose of them is for me to try out different writing techniques and overall improve stuff. (I'm following the lead of a guide book I bought in Oregon.)

A/N the Second: This is totally an AU I made up just for these stories, in which Bill is human, works at the Shack, and is about the age 13 or so. (Stan has got waayyy to many brats running around at this point). This will also mainly be about my Gravity Falls OTP that has absolutely not even a snowball's chance in hell of actually becoming canon. Well, actually it has better chances at becoming canon than what Muffin Explosion might, but we all know the reason why for that. (Sorry if I offended any Muffin Explosion shippers. I tend to do that a lot.)

Disclaimer: Screw it, I'm too lazy. DIPPER YOU DO IT FOR ME! *throws cue cards at Dipper* Oh, um okay. 'I, insert name here, do not claim ownership of Gravity Falls or its characters. They are the property and copyright of Alex Hirsh, king of show writing, and creator of all.' Well, that's a little flattering, isn't it?

Days Go By

Some days at the Shack were nice. There was a healthy flurry of activity in which none of the workers were working their butts off, or lazing about, but rather just at a nice medium of doing things. Other days were worse, in which there were barely any tourists about and they had to bum around or clean something in the old Shack. The horrible days (which didn't happen all too often) were the days in which it was non-stop action and Mr. Pines needed things fixed, or built, or cleaned, or whatever. But those days were a dime a dozen.

Bill was a frequent enthusiast of the medium-paced days. On those he was able to get lots of different activities and chores done, or hang out with his fellow workers. He and Dipper (who was a year younger than him) went on monster hunts whenever they could, uncovering breath-taking secrets from all around Gravity Falls. Occasionally they would cause mischief to some sorry sap (aka Robbie V) or trade off theories about the mystery novels they shared in common. Bill figured he was on good terms with Dipper Pines. They were after all similar in a few ways, and the one-year age gap didn't hinder them becoming friends in the slightest. It was the other twin, Mabel, that Bill had to watch out for at times.

From day one he figured she had a..."thing" for him. To be honest it wasn't really rocket science. After one week of the Pines twins arriving at their great uncle's house, Bill had found a note in his jacket with pink hearts all over it and in big curly black writing it had said "Do You Like Me?" with only three affirming choices down below it. It was burnt to a crisp the moment he got home. Mabel asked about it the next day in hopes of an answer, but Bill decided to feign clueless-ness. This act had upset her the minute he played the card, and needless to say he had immediately been labeled "biggest jerk ever" for days following. Luckily for Bill the girl's personality was like a rubber ball, and she bounced back to her happy self, even apologizing to him for the forwardness she had earlier displayed. Bill, ever the gentleman towards ladies of all ages, apologized as well for upsetting her and made up for his mistake by buying her a carrot cake special at Lazy Susan's Diner.

Throughout the following fun-charged days of summer, Bill and the "Mystery Twins" had many adventures and escapades. All three had solved the murder of Wax Stan (and faced off against cursed wax figures), held off ghosts at the condemned Dusk 2 Dawn, even foiled Gideon Gleeful time and time again. Bill had to say he'd never had such a great time in the small town, and especially with two kids like Dipper and Mabel Pines. Bill never really had "friends" as Wendy and Soos only counted as co-workers. Bill had never really fit in with Wendy's group, and while Soos tried, he wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the knife shed. Without a doubt though could Bill call the Pines twins his best friends.

That particular day was one of very slow tourist traffic. Mr. Pines had taken the opportunity to pull Bill aside and "teach" him a little about business management. The old man was going on about communication to the customers and detailing how to make good sales on bad merchandise. Basically it was a conning lesson.

"Now you want to make sure that the costumers never know the merchandise is faulty. This is why we do constant patch-up jobs, or add things to make it seem more valuable or antique," he was saying as they entered the gift shop. Bill was bored out of his mind, only half listening to the old man as he continued on.

"Mr. Pines, not that I'm not enjoying this...fascinating demonstration or anything, but why bother showing me all this stuff," Bill put in, slouching against the nearest stable object.

"Cause life ain't fair and nobody else is capable enough to be a manager around here besides me. Now, one other thing you've got to remember is..." Stan rambled on as Bill inwardly sighed in apathy. He looked at the ceiling, which had to be infinitely more interesting than what he was currently subjected to.

Dear God, he thought desperately, I know I don't believe in you or anything, but it would be really cool of you to get me out of this, like right now. The ceiling didn't answer- nor did any celestial beings of great power-and he frowned, thinking of other great and holy forces he could "pray" to to save him. As he was about to send a mental plea to Shibalba (whoever that was. He'd heard about it from the "Road to El Dorado" movie or something) an object came zipping out of his blind spot, nearly striking him on the side of the face. It embedded itself on the post in front of him and Bill took a few breaths to steady himself as he identified the unknown anomaly.

It was a Nyarf bullet. Keeping an eye on Stan, the teen removed it from its spot. Turning the small orange projectile in his hands, he saw words written on it in plastic.

"'Around turn'" he whispered in confusion. What? Around turn? He twisted it again when realization hit him.
"Oh, 'turn around'. Duh," Bill did so, not sure of what he would see. There was a window behind him that showed a small view of the forest. He realized that it was open as well. Bill checked that Stan was still going on about whatever it was he was talking about, and quietly slipped over to the open window. He peeked his head out.

"PSSSSST" A not-very-quiet whisper nearly startled him out of the window and Bill looked down, only to find Mabel looking up at him. Bill smiled at her and she gave a metal-filled grin back at him.

"Need an escape?" she asked knowingly. Bill smiled wider and lifted himself out of the window and landed next to her.

"You know it," he replied. Mabel grabbed his hand and the two quietly raced away from their hiding spot, off to find something better to do than listen to old men babbling about business. Without a doubt in his mind, Bill knew that while days at the Mystery Shack were give or take, every one of them could still be enjoyable as long as you had a friend.

A/N: ACK, gag me with a spoon. Alright, so maybe I need to work on my endings a little. I'm way better at cliffhangers honestly, but those are for the intent of continuing something. Well, we'll see what the next one is like. More MaBill to come, I promise. Eventually maybe I'll get to the *cough* good stuff *cough*.