Alec: Being sick sucked big time yesterday.
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Bill stomped through the forest near camp, grumbling about how he could still fight, how unfair Ariel was, how unfair the world was. It had been a few days since the first battle and although Bill's injuries had mostly healed, he was forever blind in his left eye. So for the time being, Ariel was keeping Bill away from the battlefront and instead putting him on patrol duty. Tobias, on the other hand, was still allowed to fight, which pissed Bill off to no end.
To add insult to injury Tobias- whom Bill had spent the battle avenging for his injuries- was in a strategy meeting with Ariel and her seven generals. Apparently Tobias "showed promise on the battlefield."
"Stupid," Bill muttered. "I show more more 'promise' than Tobias. Stupid eye, stupid Ariel, stupid, stupid, STUPID!" He slammed his fist into a tree so hard it shook. It knocked something down from one of the branches. Scratch that, a demon.
Bill edged closer to the demon, sword drawn. He was quite attractive, really, with long brown hair and such gorgeous, soft features. Even his black horns and wings and claws didn't detract from his sex appeal, making him appear even more sexy and mysterious.
The demon was unconscious, and it was obvious that he was injured. His right arm was barely attached to the rest of his body by a small cluster of muscle fibers, his chest slashed. He probably wouldn't live much longer.
Bill knew what he should do- kill the monster. Or at least just leave him there to die. But- unlike his brother- he hated the idea of death, excluding his outburst on the battlefield.
What was he supposed to do?
"Three...two...one..." Right on cue, there was a flash of light. When the glow faded, Ford was still asleep but now preschool aged. Ariel placed the slightly-older (but still younger than he should be) boy on the couch, Ford unconsciously snuggling with one of the couch cushions in his sleep.
"Aww!" Mabel cooed. "He's sooo cute!"
"Don't wake him up!" Dipper hissed.
"I know, I know," Mabel assured him, batting her twin away. "You know what? I'm gonna make him a sweater!"
"He's only gonna be that big for another day or so," Dipper said. "What's the point?"
"Well, it's fun, for one thing. And I'll make him another sweater tomorrow!"
Dipper sighed, walking out of the room to check on Bill. The demon-turned-human still hadn't woken up yet, and he was fast asleep in the spare room, the way he'd been ever since they defeated him almost nine months ago. Although Ariel had been the one keeping an eye on him- she had been keeping him in her home (a floating castle above Gravity Falls that appeared after Weirdmageddon)- she'd dragged him back to the Mystery Shack after Sabina tried to possess him. She failed the first time, but she succeeded about a month ago, attacking everyone in the Shack while trapping Bill in a Dreamworld. Ariel managed to knock them out- with the help of Ford and Dipper- but it turned out to be a temporary fix.
He'd had plenty of chances to see Bill's human body- he ended up in Ariel's castle rather frequently- but he still found it fascinating. Maybe because Bill was now an ordinary teenage boy like any other- excluding his past. He had messy blonde hair and one-golden-one-blue eyes that tended to stare at everything- although he appeared to be blind in his left eye. At least when Sabina was possessing him a third eye appeared on his forehead, and it glowed blue. His skin had a gorgeous tan, and he was very well toned-
Wait a second. Why on earth was he thinking that Bill was attractive? Stupid teenage hormones. And he hadn't even been an official teen for a whole year. He sighed, stepping back into the living room where Ariel and Mabel were.
Bill snuck into the shack in the woods, being careful that he wasn't followed. Against his better judgement he'd decided to help the demon. He just wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let the demon die, especially as helpless as the creature was at the time. Of course, he couldn't tell anyone if he didn't want to be labeled as a traitor. Although they'd probably think it was the demon's Allure that made him do it. Then they'd kill the demon and never ever let Bill anywhere near a demon.
At least Ariel put him in charge of the medics. Being able to heal was one of his specialties- he'd invented a method of using it on the new race that called themselves "humans"- and it made him feel a lot more useful. But it did hurt, the way Tobias looked at him. Like he was pathetic. Like he pitied him.
Bill was startled to see that the demon was awake. He was staring out the window when Bill entered the shack he hid the incubus in. The demon looked up, surprised.
"A Spirit, rescue me? How cute," the incubus said. His eyes narrowed. "And their prince, no less. What do you want from me?'
"N-nothing," Bill stammered, nervous. He was the weaker twin and he knew it. He bet the demon could probably kill him if he wanted to.
The demon glanced coldly at what he was wearing. "I though both princes were warriors," he snorted. "Why on earth are you wearing a medic's uniform?"
"I'm better at healing than fighting, actually," Bill admitted, embarrassed.
The demon laughed. "Seriously? You're William, aren't you?" Bill nodded. "I heard about what you did on the battlefield. If you're telling the truth, then your healing must be extraordinary."
"Thank you," Bill whispered, the compliment completely unexpected.
The incubus smiled. "Well, I might as well be civil to my savior. My name's Jared, by the way."
Ford looked up as Dipper walked into the room. While he'd been happy not to be an infant when he woke up, being a preschooler was still frustrating.
"Dippuh!" He exclaimed. While he could talk a bit better, not being able to pronounce things properly still frustrated him to no end.
"Hey, Grunkle Ford," Dipper said, flopping onto the couch.
Mabel giggled. "It's kinda funny calling him Grunkle when he's so little." Ford pouted at that statement. It wasn't entirely his fault he was like this.
Ariel laughed. "You have a point there. Although he's not gonna be younger than you for too long."
"You said you could only use the potion three times," Dipper pointed out. Potion? Was that how he got older? "So how old is he going to be in the end?"
Ariel shrugged. "Hard to say for certain, but I'd say about my physical age."
Ford blinked at this. They were going to be the same age? Over the past nine months he'd spent a lot of time with Ariel. She'd proven herself to be intelligent, observant, kind, an amazing diplomat... the list went on and on. He lost count of the times she'd saved either him or the twins, and the times she'd comforted him when he was tormented about the things he'd done in the past.
He knew he had a crush on her. A major one, actually. What held him back was his social awkwardness... and the age difference. Not the fact that she was several billion years old, but the fact that she looked like she was in her late teens, early twenties at the most, while he was almost seventy.
Maybe he'd have a chance after all this. Maybe.