The twisting scar along Bill's face made him more threatening than before. It was a long white line across his skin, to a once bright blue eye that was now white and lifeless. Mabel had tended to it, cleaning it multiple times a day so he wouldn't get sick.
"Dear god, woman, I'm not a child!"
If only someone had warned her that Bill Cipher was a child.
Mabel rolled her eyes, pressing the damp cloth harder against his skin. He hissed in pain, but didn't move away from her touch. Every person in the house besides Jonah and herself were afraid of Bill. His injury had made him temperamental to say the least, often snapping at the staff for small mistakes.
"You are injured and refuse to take care of yourself. If you did this, then I wouldn't have to." Mabel sang, only pulling back when the wound was clean. It was healing nicely, in a day or two she wouldn't have to worry. "You're scaring the staff with how much you yell at them."
"Good." Bill, crossed his arms. "They should be scared of me."
"Should I be scared of you?" Mabel returned, placing the bloody rag into the water dish. Bill's eyes snapped to her, and Mabel almost flinched at the lifeless white eye staring at her.
"Yes." Bill said, the bitterness disappearing from his tone. "You should."
Mabel hummed, pretending to be absorbed in collecting her things, as she always did. Bill's eyes never left her, not until she moved and rose to look at him. Steeling herself, Mabel leaned over and pressed a soft kiss above his injured eye. Bill froze underneath her, lips parting in shock as Mabel gathered her things.
"It's a terrible thing, when a wife fears her husband. It's a good thing that it's not happening here."
Mabel left the room without glancing back, but she could feel his gaze boring into her until the door clicked softly behind her.
It was well into the afternoon when a letter arrived. Mabel was washing up for supper, wondering if she should go and check on Bill again. He had been holed up in his study all day, refusing to come down for meals. Mabel had left him alone after she kissed him, figuring it might be the cause of his pouting.
There was a fast, rapid knocking at the door. Mabel twisted to see who it was, but none of the servants were near. With a sigh, she moved to answer the door. The man standing on the other side looked like he had just discovered what color was, covered in head to toe in colors Mabel had no idea they could make into fabric. The man presented an envelope, which Mabel took without question. Then, without uttering a word, the man left.
Mabel shook her head at the strangeness. The paper was heavy in her hands, delicate cursive addressing the letter to Bill. Mabel wasn't surprised by that, since she had started living with Bill she had received no mail.
"Bill?" Mabel said softly, knocking at the door of his study. Bill brushed blond bangs out of his face, his scarred eye covered by an eyepatch. "Why are you covering your eye? Does it hurt?"
Mabel placed his letter on his desk, reaching out and brushing her fingers along the still healing cuts. Bill reaching up and pulled her hand away, shaking his head. In a quick movement, he pressed a soft kiss against the back of her palm. Mabel almost didn't feel it.
"It doesn't hurt. What's wrong?" Bill turned his gaze to the desk, where she had placed his letter on. "Ah."
"It just arrived, and I can't seem to find any of the servants. You really do scare them away, don't you?" Mabel teased. Bill didn't react, breaking the wax seal on the letter. "Bill?"
He didn't reply, pressing his hand against his mouth. Mabel took the chance to look at him, truly look at her husband. In the last couple days they had grown close, as they had to when she was tending a wound. Mabel watched as he gnashed his teeth together, jaw clenching.
"Well, I don't know what I expected from him." Bill finally muttered. "It seems as though we'll be entertaining guests soon."
Mabel felt a rush of excitement go through her. She hadn't been around anyone but Bill and the staff since he was injured, and it wasn't like her to be shut in. Bill looked up at her, the hard lines of his face softening.
"An old...acquaintance? I actually don't know how to refer to him, he's a strange man, will be coming the day after tomorrow. He's an old business partner of mine, Theodore Strange. Though he likes to be called Tad." Bill ran a hand through his hair, ruining it from its perfectly held form. "He probably just wants to meet you."
Mabel laughed a little at that. "Maybe he's just making sure you're not dead. Jonah tells me half the town is celebrating your demise."
It was teasing, but Bill's face pinched and hardened again. Mabel's smile immediately dropped. Tension laid heavy and thick between them, forcing words from Mabel's throat. She always hated silence.
"You never did tell me what you do for work, what is it? I know you worked with my uncles a little." Mabel brought a chair close, sitting next to him. He had asked her once why she didn't sit across from him, and she had shrugged and not replied.
"It's nothing important." Bill flapped a hand. "Rather boring really, I'm a middleman of sorts. I find what people want and give it to them at a fee."
"When you describe it like that, it does sound boring." Mabel admitted. "What did my uncles ask for?"
Bill paused, turning his gaze to her, examining her like she had asked him what color the sky was. When she didn't say anything, Bill let out a low whistle and ran his hand through his hair again.
"You don't know." It wasn't a question, but a statement. "They didn't tell you? No, why would they, it's not important to them."
Mabel folded her arms across her chest and waited. Bill seemed to war with himself over whether to tell her, his good eye finally flickering over her. He sighed when he saw her arms crossed, crossing his own to match her.
"It's not important. They would have told you if it was, wouldn't they?" Bill reasoned when Mabel opened her mouth to argue. "It's really of no importance. They don't like what I do and they have made it clear we are not going to do business again."
"People in town say that my uncles are the only ones that came out on top of a business deal with you." Mabel wanted to say she was taunting him. She wouldn't be if he just told her what it was about. "Is that true?"
Bill's lips curled up in a snarl, his eye narrowed. Mabel instinctively pulled back, standing and moving to leave. She meant it, when she said it was a terrible thing for a wife to fear her husband, and if Bill was trying to frighten her, he did a wonderful job of it. There was something feral in his eyes, a spark of something darker that allowed her to believe he was just as heartless as rumors made him out to be.
"Mabel." Bill said, just as she passed through the doorway to leave. "Tad will be here tomorrow. Make sure everything's ready."
Mabel shut the door.
"Master Strange has always been a bit...strange." Jonah said, sending her a displeased look when she snickered. "He'll be here within the hour and you're laughing?"
"You're the one making jokes with his name." Mabel scooped the pig into her lap. She still had not thought of a name for the piglet, but Bill thought calling her pig 'bacon' was quite amusing.
"It absolutely astounds me how you and Bill are so alike." Jonah prattled on, making tea. It was one of the first things Mabel had learned from Jonah, how Bill liked his tea. "Where is he, he's going to leave his guest waiting."
"Keep him waiting, he only comes to visit when he wants something." Bill spoke from the doorway, making Mabel jump. Bill shot her a smirk, sitting down gracefully next to her.
"If you had your way, you'd shut yourself in your study." Mabel snickered again at Jonah's words, Bill giving her a distasteful look. "Please, before the Mistress came along you hardly remembered to come down for meals."
Mabel outright laughed, because it sounded so like Bill. He spent so much time in his study that Mabel would have to drag him out of it to eat, and even then he would sometimes bring his work with him. Some nights she would go and visit him in his study, just to see what he was working on. It seemed rather boring.
"Must you?" Bill groaned at her laughter, which only made Mabel laugh harder. "Throwing me to the wolves just because Tad is coming to visit."
"Well, of course." Jonah set down the tea, turning towards the door just as their guest knocked. Mabel's laughter immediately died, her fingers going to brush out her skirts.
"That will be him. Go answer it." Bill stood with a sigh. "He's too annoying for this, I have no idea what he could want."
Mabel bit her lip anxiously. As much as Bill complained, it appeared that he knew Tad, and Mabel wanted to get along with him. Bill didn't seem like the kind of man who had many friends, and if Tad was one, Mabel wanted to make a good impression.
"Welcome." Jonah greeted, leading Tad into the room. He wasn't all like she expected, having seen his servant in such bright clothing. Tad looked almost dull in comparison, his drab clothing almost a perfect match for Bill's own. He had a perfect bowler haircut, and an umbrella tucked underneath his arm.
"Tad, it hasn't been long enough." Bill greeted his friend with a soft smile, one that Mabel had only seen a few times before.
"If I didn't know better I'd say it's been a century! Your new secret wife give you that after marrying you?" Tad gestured to Bill's face. Bill laughed, but it sounded cold, fake. Mabel waited patiently to be introduced.
"You could have just asked to be introduced. Tad, this is my wife, Mabel Cipher." Bill gestured to her. Mabel rose and shook Tad's hand, only to have the man keep a hold of her palm and press a kiss against the back of her hand.
"Are you telling me she didn't give you that? Because anyone brave enough to marry you would be brave enough to gut you." Tad laughed and took a seat, umbrella in his lap. Mabel poured tea for him, laughing as well.
"I didn't hurt him." Mabel found the thought of physically harming her husband almost amusing. If she had wanted to hurt Bill, she would have done so a long time ago.
"Well then, he must be getting into trouble in town again." Tad took his tea with a soft thank you to Mabel. "What, threaten someone again?"
Mabel looked over at Bill, arching a brow. "That's a great question, actually. I know that shopkeeper, what in the world did you to do have him slash your face?"
Bill looked at her, completely unamused, lips pursing. Tad seemed greatly amused, sipping his tea to prevent his laughter from spilling forth. Mabel sat down graciously, waiting for Bill's response.
"I simply reminded him of everything I had done for him and that he owed me payment." Bill explained slowly, every word picked out carefully. "He took it too far."
"I hear quite often that you're the one taking things too far." Tad replied, still smiling. Mabel didn't say anything for, letting them speak to each other.
"Did you want something today, Strange?" Bill snapped. The cheerful atmosphere had quickly deteriorated, and Mabel felt herself sit up a bit straighter.
"I can't visit an old friend?" Strange gestured his hands around vaguely. "I wanted to come and meet your bride, and maybe talk a little business."
Bill sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose but wincing at the pain that shot through his brow. Mabel leaned over, pulling his hand from his face to check on the wound. Bill pushed her hand away, giving her a tense smile.
"Mabel, give us a moment, will you?" Bill asked. "I'll send Jonah to come and get you when we're all done talking."
Mabel frowned, her lips pursing together in an awkward line that didn't suit her face. Bill didn't back down, and Mabel finally nodded and stood. Tad nodded his head at her, and watched her leave. As soon as she shut the parlor door, their whispered words were heard, but she could only make out random words, until she pressed herself against the door.
"...that's a ridiculous amount to ask." Tad's voice drifted through the thick wood of the door. "Does your wife know of your business?"
"Are you blackmailing me? What she knows isn't any of your concern." Bill replied back. "Accept the deal or don't."
"Fine, fine, you drive a hard bargain Cipher. Better tell your wife what you're up to, before someone else does." There was a rustling of noises, as Mabel assumed Tad stood.
"She doesn't need to know."
Mabel pulled back, her fingers gently grazing across the wood. What in the world did Bill do for work? He was a mystery, and she felt a burning curiosity well inside her. There was a sudden presence behind her, and Mabel yelped as she ran into Jonah.
"Eavesdropping?" Jonah teased, steadying Mabel. She laughed awkwardly, trying to brush off the unease.
"Don't worry, I won't tell." Jonah joked. "Just don't get caught."
Jonah walked away, brushing out imaginary dirt from his uniform. Before her, the door to the parlor started to open, but Mabel turned away before she saw who was there. Curiosity burned at her, but she ignored it. For the moment.