Cutie: Damn, has it really been over three months since I've updated? ...Sorry. On the upside, I finally figured out where I'm going with this story.
Also, I realize that it's Journal one that has the information on how to summon Bill while Journal three just has a warning about him, but I couldn't think of any other way to get Bill to show up. Other than him being a creep and watching Dipper 24/7. So please just stretch your imagination a bit, I might be changing what's in the journal based on what the story needs.
As soon as Dipper found himself coming into consciousness, he wished he hadn't woken up. Groaning, he turned over and tried to get more comfortable, hoping that it would somehow help his searing headache. Despite the fact that Bill had healed him, he still felt a bit of soreness all over his body.
After a few minutes of shifting and trying to relax, Dipper gave up and threw off his covers. He slowly got up and went over to the bathroom to begin his morning routine. Switching on the light, Dipper stopped to look at himself in the mirror.
He gave himself an exasperated look. 'What did I agree to yesterday…'
Dipper kept trying to think of ways Bill could get around his conditions. There's no way the demon wouldn't try to abuse their deal. Would he try to take over Dipper's body in a different way? What did he mean by 'influence'?
Does he mean to take over Dipper's mind slowly by manipulation? Is that what he means by influence? Is Bill going to try and convince him to allow him to take over? Or is it something else?
Before Dipper could go any further in his thoughts, a knock on the door interrupted him. "Dipper? Is that you?"
Dipper opened the bathroom door to see Mabel standing in front of him. She was looking down at the ground, biting her lip and tugging on her sweater. She looked uncomfortable, guiltily looking up to meet her twin's eyes.
Oh right, their fight. Dipper had been so caught up with everything that had happened with Bill he'd nearly forgotten about the fight he and Mabel had. Dipper wasn't sure what to say when Mabel started speaking.
"Dipper, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I was just frustrated and stressed out from setting up the band. Candy and Grenda are having trouble playing their instruments and I still haven't figured out a set date for the concert. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Mabel had the decency to look ashamed for lashing out at him.
Dipper was still a bit miffed about what Mabel had said the previous day, but he told himself he was just being childish. He shouldn't hold a grudge against her for something so trivial.
Dipper stepped closer to her, arms already reaching around her in a hug. "Don't worry about it, Mabel. I know you didn't mean any of that. I should've told you that morning that I was planning on going out rather than just leaving without saying anything."
Dipper heard her give a sigh of relief as she hugged back. They gave each other their usual monotone pats before Mabel pulled away. She had a big smile on her face.
"I already made breakfast downstairs. I knew you were tired since you didn't wake up at nine like you usually do. Come down and eat, okay? It'll get cold if you wait any longer." She told him.
"I'm gonna go ahead and meet up and Candy and Grenda. Candy is having trouble keeping rhythm with the drums and Grenda still doesn't know how to read music. Wish me luck!" She said with a chipper voice before rushing out of the room.
Dipper gave a small smile as he watched her leave. He was glad that their small fight hadn't escalated any further. He wasn't sure he could handle a long drawn out argument with Mabel. She was right, anyway. It was the just stress talking, he knew even when Mabel said those things that she didn't mean them.
After taking a moment to finish up in the bathroom, Dipper quickly got dressed and went downstairs for something to eat. While putting on his shirt, he heard the front door slam and knew it was Mabel leaving.
Coming into the kitchen, he saw the french toast covered in glitter Mabel had left for him and paused for a moment. Before he even had a moment to think about scraping the glitter off, he heard a grumble from behind him.
"I wouldn't eat that if I were you, kid. Ingesting glitter is a choking hazard and I am not paying for a hospital bill to pump plastic out of you. Mabel ain't here so you won't hurt her feelings by tossin' it in the garbage." Stan walked past Dipper to the coffee maker, still in his underwear and tank top.
Dipper got a knife out of a drawer and went to sit down. "I'll just scrape it off. French toast is way too good to throw away. I'll happily risk choking for it."
Not accounting for the glitter she added to everything, Mabel was a pretty decent cook. Once all (or at least most) of the glitter was taken off, Dipper dug into his breakfast.
Actually, brunch he realized as he glanced over to the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost noon.
'I guess it makes sense that I slept in. I was exhausted yesterday.' Dipper couldn't help the wince on his face when he thought about why he was exhausted. The pain from both the gremloblin and Bill's awful healing process were still fresh in his mind.
Dipper finished his breakfast, only choking on glitter once. He washed his dishes (since Grunkle Stan had told them he wasn't gonna clean up after their messes) and went back up to his room to grab his journal.
Dipper sat on his bed with the journal in his lap. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go out into the forest today. Not after yesterday, at least. Dipper needed a bit of a break from danger after such an ...event.
But at the same time, he didn't want to put off talking to Bill. He didn't like the demon, but he didn't like not knowing what he was planning even more. Dipper wanted to know every single part of their deal.
...Maybe he could get Bill to put it on paper? Like a contract! Yeah, then the demon couldn't go against anything that they'd agreed upon and-
But Dipper had already sealed the deal. A written contract, while a nice thought, would be virtually useless at this point. This was frustrating. Dipper was basically stuck; he'd already agreed to what was admittedly a rather vague deal -two actually- with no knowledge of what they entailed.
What was Bill after? Didn't he say he was coming by in the morning to "test his influence" on Dipper? It was already past 11AM with no sign of the dream demon.
Dipper hesitated, pulling the journal closer to him like it was a comfort. Would it be wise to call the demon? Did he even want Bill here?
He sighed. Whether he called Bill or not, the demon would probably show up today at some point. Dipper had been asking himself all sorts of questions since he woke up and it would be nice to get some answers.
With that thought in mind, Dipper flipped to Bill's page, ready to draw his summoning circle on a sheet of paper.
"No need, Pine Tree." Dipper jumped at the sudden echoing voice in his head.
Frantically, he moved to put the journal back in its hiding spot. He didn't want Bill seeing it. Even if Bill supposedly knew everything written in it, that didn't mean the demon wouldn't try to destroy it.
"I can hear you just fine. Don't waste time drawing the circle, next time just call me through the mindscape. It's a lot more convenient!" With that said, Bill appeared in front of Dipper as the whole room faded to gray.
"Bill! I thought you were coming by in the morning." Dipper stood up, having hid the journal just in time.
"Also, don't read my thoughts without permission, it's rude!"
Bill laughed at the kid's words. "You already gave me permission kid! You said I couldn't control you or erase your memories; you said nothing about reading your thoughts."
Bill had only just arrived what, 2 minutes ago? And Dipper already wanted to slap him.
He sighed. "Have some courtesy, you damn triangle. Do you even know what manners are? Honestly."
Bill shook his cane at the boy. "Of course I know my manners! Geez Pine Tree, your impoliteness knows no bounds." -"My impo-!?" - "I could teach you a thing or two about proper manners if you wanted."
Dipper glared at him. "I'd ask Grunkle Stan before I asked you. Anyway, didn't you want to 'test' this deal of ours? Or did you just come here to insult me?" Dipper wasn't really sure what 'testing' the deal entailed, but he was sure it wasn't anything good.
Bill grinned, "I'm so glad you asked, Pine Tree! I've been setting up all morning, it just took longer than I thought it would."
"Setting up what?" Dipper asked, completely puzzled.
Bill gave a thoughtful look, "Well, I've never been able to make two consecutive deals like this where I get access to your mind and get to influence you at the same time. So I'm excited! I want to know what we can do with this!" Bill gave Dipper a mischievous grin. "If this works out the way I'm hoping it will, we're going to have a lot of fun together, Pine Tree."
Dipper shuddered. He was worried about Bill's intentions but at the same time wasn't sure if he really wanted to know what they were. "I don't want to know your definition of fun."
Bill waved him off. "Anyway, let's get started. We're already way behind schedule, kid, and I've got important things to do. People to see, deals to make, you know how it is."
Then without any warning, Bill tipped his hat, tipping gravity with him. He disappeared as Dipper shouted in surprise and fear as he felt himself suddenly being lifted off the ground and falling out the window he'd left open.
Dipper screamed, "Bill! What are you doing!?"
He heard Bill's voice in his head as he neared the ground, "Testing, Pine Tree. What else?"
Dipper braced himself for a harsh impact but it never came. Just as he neared the ground, the world tilted back and he seemed to slow down as he fell. He landed softly on the grass below.
The brunette gave a sigh of relief before glaring at nothing (since he still couldn't see the damn demon). "What was that, Bill!? How did you make me slow down?"
"Giving you my influence, kid! I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but I'm pleased to see it did!" He heard the blonde in his head before a flash of light momentarily blinded him and Bill stood before him.
'Wasn't sure if it would work or not, huh…' Dipper thought dryly. Well, it was nice to know the demon was willing to risk Dipper's safety. Dick.
If Bill heard his thoughts, and Dipper knew the demon had, he ignored them.
The demon seemed...oddly excited. "These two deals go perfectly together, kid! Being in your mind makes it a lot easier to -" he stopped as Dipper interrupted.
"Stop, Bill! You keep talking about this damn 'influencing' of yours but I still have no clue what you're talking about! Tell me right now, exactly, what do you mean by 'influence'?" Dipper gave him a hard stare, refusing to allow anything further until the blonde talked.
Bill sighed with a shake of his head. "I'm disappointed, Pine Tree. Honestly, of all the meat bags I thought you would've figured it out by now."
"You haven't exactly given me much to work with now, have you?" The curt response came. He wouldn't acknowledge Bill's attempt to taunt him.
Bill rolled his eye, "Influence, Pine Tree." Dipper was getting really sick of that word. "As in I have an effect on you. As in, I can project onto you."
Dipper's eyes widened. Wait, did Bill mean-
The demon grinned at him. "About time! Yes, that means I can project my powers onto you! Pretty cool, right? Makes you wanna stay on my good side, doesn't it?" Bill said with a teasing voice.
Dipper was too stunned at the new information to give a snarky comment back.
Cutie: I really like using exclamation points, don't I? I mean, can you blame me? Everything Bill says sounds like it should end with an exclamation point. So it's his fault, not mine.
Also, sorry this took so long. I haven't had a ton of inspiration lately and classes have been kicking my ass.
