A/N: Mod Z asked for a fic about "that first time that bentley has a bad nightmare but asks if alcor can stay till he falls back asleep," so here that is. Bittersweet fluff.
Alcor—Dipper, really—pulls the nightmare out of Bentley, claws digging into its oily surface. It tries to thrash and resist, but he bends close and lets out a low, soft hiss through the gaps in his teeth, and it goes limp. Dipper is Alcor the Dreambender, though, and this act of playing possum does not fool him. The moment the nightmare is fully out, still as mortal death, he opens his jaws wide and bites down into the flesh, bitter with sharp tangs of fear and crisp hysteria. The nightmare writhes again, understanding too late that it is caught. He chews twice, then sucks the nightmare into strips, flesh slicing and splitting against the edges of his teeth. Panic bursts in his mouth, tingling against his gums and sending a heady, awful rush to his head, and he is reminded with the sudden burst of non-energy that there is a package of sweets waiting for him on Bentley's desk in exchange for eating the nightmare.
He is about to float over and retrieve the sweets to wash away the sour taste of Bentley's distress when his coat sleeve is tugged. He looks down, sees Bentley tired and awake despite his taking care with the nightmare, and whispers, "What's up?"
Bentley blinks, slow and heavy and though there's absolutely no ancestral relation, Dipper is reminded of Belle waking in the morning, of how she nearly tripped over her own feet getting out of bed. The moment is broken when Bentley yawns and tugs Dipper's shirt again.
"I…" he mumbles, and Dipper almost can't hear him. "Can you stay?"
Dipper freezes. He blinks and knew that he couldn't have heard that right, even though Bentley's colors told him yes. "Huh?"
Bentley shifts and pulls down on his sleeve. Dipper bobs closer to the bed. "Stay, please. Until I sleep again?"
Eyes wide, Dipper floats down and sits on the side of the bed, feet touching the ground and sleeve still clutched between Bentley's fingers. He feels a little emptier, feels the emptiness where there was once energy before he'd pulled the nightmare out, but he sits on the bed and says, "Okay."
Bentley hums, slow and sleepy. His eyes are closed, but his colors are still too unsettled—the pinks are much too bright and they pulse much too quickly. Dipper closes his eyes as well and tries to remember what he'd done last time there had been a nightmare.
Maddie. Staring up at him with eyes that loved but were unsure, holding his hand with hesitation, and pulling awful nightmare after awful nightmare out of her after that first cult kidnapping.
Dipper, eyes still closed, starts humming and twists just enough that his wing spread over Bentley. He concentrates, and it fills with stars, pulsating and glowing the way they had millennia ago over Gravity Falls. He doesn't know when, but he starts murmuring the words in a half-song.
"…my sunshine, my only sunshine…"
Bentley's colors start to quiet, to fade into sleep. Dipper smiles and leans over, almost on instinct, still murmuring, "…make me happy when skies are gray…"
He slides some of the hair out of Bentley's face. He doesn't stir, but something in him relaxes, and his breathing starts to even. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you,"
Bentley's grip loosens from Dipper's sleeve, and he pulls it away gently. Dipper, without a word, calls to his Flock and a Dream comes, still young but cocooned in Alcor's protective signature. He lifts it and places it next to Bentley. He strokes it just long enough for the Dream to curl up beside Bentley, then stands and picks up the snack on Bentley's desk.
He sends it ahead to the Mindscape and turns around. He floats up above Bentley and presses two fingers to Bentley's forehead, willing nightmares to stay away if only until Bentley fully woke again. As he does so, he murmurs, "Please don't take my sunshine away," and then slips into the Mindscape.