Okay, so this is totally like a little prologue to prepare everyone for what is to come. Setting everything up. Hope you like!
Pairing: Bill / Mabel (& a little Dipper / Pacifica)
Summary: Each time they return to Gravity Falls, the twins have more challenges to face. But when Mabel gets kidnapped and even a call for the seemingly helpless Bill doesn't really work, will the demon and Dipper be able to save her before it's too late?
The stars shine a little brighter when the town decides to fall asleep as one. There is no explanation to clarify on why such a strange phenomenon happens. No monsters or demons that lurk in the woods besides the mystery shack have proven themselves to be the core reason to why the glowing beams of plasma and light and hope and promise of a new day glow brighter once everyone is in bed. Still, the funniest thing being, no one even realizes what happens to the stars. No one, that is, except Bill Cipher: the one who always seems to be the triangular exception to the rules.
He resides in the twin Pines' attic room, sitting on a stack of books and staring out the window. The night sky is completely illuminated, shining brightly on his sleepless face. Being an all sentient creature who also doubles as the oldest who resides in this town of Gravity Falls, Bill knows the reason why this happens while no one else even bothers to question. He knows it at the back of his mind, stored away with all the other facts that just don't matter to him. Having the ability to know everything can be tiring and has to be used wisely so as not to completely overload the brain. He may be a mind demon, but even his has the capability to be fried.
He leans against a bedside lamp and turns away from the stars, his hand drags on the window, causing it to cease bringing the light of the night into the room that his body had previously blocked. His head turns to the twins. They still lie in a deep sleep, not even the loudest scream from a Gremloblin could wake those two. If Bill had a mouth, he'd smile at the thought. He's been going out of his way to drive these two up the wall ever since their return to Gravity Falls this summer for the sixth time consecutively That makes them both seventeen years old. He tells himself that the reason why he sends the Mystery Twins on crazy adventures of peril is because he's a terrible being that enjoys stealing candy from children and never wants them to come back once they leave after summer is finally over, but along with the truth of the stars, he has the reality of the situation stored in the back of his head, where even he can't quite remember.
Mabel sleeps to his left. Her long, brunette hair similar to tentacles, wiring, spiraling, and wrapping itself around everything it touched. Which was basically everything on the bed that may have been a good size on her first visit, when the two were both twelve, but a few sizes too small now that her toes hang from the edges. Her mouth is slightly ajar and reveals teeth still layered with the braces within. Her face still sparkles with glitter and her pajamas are homemade, or shack made. Between her arms, Waddles snores quietly, no longer antsy and ridden with an inability to sleep for more than hour straight due to age. Yes, it is indeed true that not much has changed for Mabel over the years. Her personality has stayed as the same over excited, peppy, happy-go-lucky shooting star as it was when she first arrived. Dipper on the other hand has suffered through some adult induced changes with his growing age.
An arm stretched far over the bed, almost dragging on the floor, Dipper lies restlessly on his own bed. Muttering bitter nothings under his breath, most likely enveloped in some sort of nightmare caused by the happenings of Gravity Falls. Bill knows better than to think they are his entire fault, but he knows that some most definitely are. He is okay with that, though. That's his job as a demon, to wreck havoc and rein terrors on humans. Which is what he does, but as of late it just hasn't been as fun as it used to. Watching Dipper toss and turn in his bed, mind filled with horrors that almost no one else his age has seen, it makes Bill feel something that he just rather not address. With age, Dipper grew more aware of what was really going on in Gravity Falls. He realized that despite how childish and fun the games were when he was a kid, they have reached all new levels as each year died and a new one blossomed above it. He and Bill both know that there is a storm is brewing and while Bill is able to keep is calm and composure through this series of events; Dipper is but a human who demands on wrapping himself on worry and issues that are out of his control.
There's a loud call from outside the window. Bill once again turns his view to outside, Stan is outside, having an argument with Soos on where to put a new attraction. The older waves his tired hands over his head while the younger simply nods in agreement, blindly following orders of the man that he admires and has been working for for so many years. Bill can't help but send a blue spark that knocks a sheeted cage out of Soos' hands and sends it flying to the exact spot that Stan wanted it to be. The old man must have had his eyes shut in rage when this happened and Soos didn't even realize quite what happened either because an entire moment passed before the two of them realized that both of their wishes had come true. Stan claps Soos on the back and Soos laughs, filled with joy of making his boss happy. This makes Bill roll his eye, such a cheery scene is not what he hoped for in the least.
He waves his hand over the window and now the sunny sky pours its light into the room. When neither of the Pines stir, he moves his hand again. This time, two blue sparks rise into the air before evaporating, one coming from each of the twins. If he didn't put a spell over them at night to make them sleep, they never would, not allowing him to ever rest himself. Now they begin to move, first Dipper, reaching instinctually towards the book beneath his bed, snapping awake at an instance. His head rises to the window and sees Bill sitting there. This, of course, gets him moving. In a fit of rushing towards and calling out to the demon, Dipper falls off of his bed. When he looks up, the demon is gone. He doubts that he was ever there.
"Dip," Mabel groans as Waddles jumps off of the bed and trots out of the room. She stretches and releases a long yawn. Her eyes never leave her brother. "I literally just got up, why are you yelling?"
He contemplates telling her what he saw, but shrugs it off. If he did, then she would only worry. "Sorry I had a crazy dream last night and I guess I got a little carried away." He trails off and looks up from the ground to see any concern that may have littered his sister's face turn to happiness once again. He releases a sigh of relief underneath his breath.
Her eyes sparkle in the sunlight. "Me too, Bro-Bro. Me too." From here, she goes off to detail whatever dream she had. Bill wasn't wrong to say that she hadn't changed over the years. She is the joyful, excited ball of happiness that she was when she was twelve. Dipper automatically tunes her out when she goes into detail about how she met up with one of her favorite boy band's lead singers and how they had a romantic dinner. It helps when she begins to change her clothes and he has to politely turn his back. He's seen her naked enough times to no longer care, being twins and all, but now he feels guilty whenever he sees her.
Not for any gross reasons, but for one of the reasons why she is so stuck on her jeans and sweatshirts now. Of course, she does loving wearing her own homemade clothes, she made her own fashion club at school to prove it, but she could easily make shirts and dresses, not just sweaters. No, the true reason to why she wears such covering clothes is for what she is hiding beneath it all. Scars and scratches and bruises for battles and squabbles with monsters. They litter her arms and legs and just about anywhere. Dipper has them, too, but he is not nearly as self conscious about his marks as she is. He doesn't even care that she has them. All he cares is that she cares. And every time they would change or it'd just be too hot a sweater and she'd take it off, he'd always notice the way she rubs her arms, hoping no one sees.
That was his fault.
For all the years they have come to Gravity Falls, each one he delves deeper and deeper into the world of its depths, his hands grabbing for more and more truths. His sister worries for his health and sanity, wondering if one day he'll snap and fully disappear into the book, no longer paying any mind to her. Of course, he forces himself to stay on the clear and narrow, but that doesn't stop her from forcing him to allow her to come with him on their journeys. And in the midst of it all, despite his cautious attitude, Dipper slips. There have been many occasions where Mabel has taken a blow for him. Many occasions where he thought that he was going to lose his sister.
One time in particular stands out to him more than the rest. They were in the middle of the forest clearing, searching for a breed of woodland hydra when they found it. This was on the rare spot where Dipper forgot his special light for the hints hidden within the pages of the book and he stopped in the middle of running from the beast to look through the journal in hopes of finding something to save them. From there, he doesn't remember much, supposedly the beast was going to attack him, but Mabel dived in and took the hit. He got the back lash, her body colliding with his. For a moment, he saw her motionless body on top of his through red tainted vision that wavered, but something flickered in his line of sight. The hydra disappeared and something looked to walk towards them in its place. By this time, he blacked out completely. When he woke up again, he was in the shack with his sister still asleep next to him, but this time they were in they were in their beds. He asked what had happened, but Stan claimed when he reentered the television room back from the shop the two twins were piled on the chair. The only thing with them was a note that Dipper found later in his pocket that read: "Be more careful." But he's kept it a secret, wondering if Mabel got a note, too.
Dipper peels off his shirt and lets his hand roll over a long scar on his side from that day. He knows Mabel took the blow, but he collided with a tree pretty hard due to her flying onto him. He didn't have to look at Mabel as he replaces his missing clothing to know that she, too, has a long scar, hers on her neck. He changes pajama bottoms to shorts by the time Mabel finishes changing herself. He turns his back to see her facing the wall, sitting cross legged.
"And then we were eating spaghetti and, ya 'remember the Lady and the Tramp, well we were going to do the noodle thing and were going to kiss." She looks over her shoulder to see Dipper smiling and she returns it. "You woke me up before we could!"
"Oh!" He stutters under her gaze. "Well, I had a dream last night that we were pirates and you were the captain and Wendy and Stan and Soos were on our ship." He spins a lie. "We had the most gold out of all the other pirates and then Bill came!" Mabel's smile drops for a moment and Dipper clears his throat. Sensitive subject. Don't mention the guy who is always trying to kill you to your sister. "Well, we totally did not let him steal our gold."
Her smile returns. "Good." She nods softly and rolls off the bed, spinning around in the process. "Yo, Bro-Bro, I'm going to make breakfast. Care to join?" She holds out an arm for him to link. He stares at it for a moment, thinking of what he would have said all those years ago. When they first came to Gravity Falls. When they were afraid to even step in their Grunkle's kitchen. When not everything was live or die. He wonders if he would have taken her arm them. He wonders if he would skip down the stairs with his sister. He wonders if he would have gotten wrangled into helping make breakfast.
Because, for just the hell of it, he does it now.