Illusion is Reality

Chapter 111

-3 dimensional-

"Ooh~! I love it!" Mabel was tilting her hand this way and that, looking at the bracelet Blue had given them all. "You do good work," she told Blue. Dipper was staring at his own a little more suspiciously, not putting it on yet.

"Yes, I do," Blue said unabashedly to this, in response. "I am rather well-known as the best of The Worst for a reason!"

"What does that even mean?" Dipper complained under his breath. Stan was considering his own, turning it around in his hands. "This is that magic thing?" Dillon was very suspicious of all this. (Blue nodded.) "I'm sure Phillip would love to see this kinda thing." His boyfriend was such a fanboy for the supernatural and alien-kinds of things. ("WELL. I did give more to Seb than these! You can bribe HIM for another!") "So… this is some add-on to the Deal that aunt Wanda made with Miz for our magical protection?" He didn't really trust any magic and weird alien stuff, the last time technology like that went wrong, he lost his dad for nearly his entire childhood.

"It works with-and-around it, meshes with it as the Deal currently stands," Blue noted. "I had to add in some 'exceptions' to the barrier suppression spell on the bracelet to allow the Deal to operate unfettered, but this 'add-on' fills in most of the rest of the gaps that are there-still. -Not all of them. Most."

"It won't block everything, like, people can still shoot you with spitballs." Miz noted. "It's more for the lethal or harmful stuff."

"If the shot-at-you spitballs were coated with a mild poison, though, this will recognize it and neutralize it, even if it would 'only' make you sick," Blue added. "Similar on other fronts, if shot at you at a speed that would damage you in some way severely. Won't stop everything in every situation. It's a spell, not intelligence. -Combinations of effects won't necessarily get caught by this, unless the parts are close enough to be considered non-unique, seen as not cumulative-separate but large-single-effect."

"And laser tag fights that are non-lethal are allowed. Same with non-lethal paintball. Just to list examples." Miz helped Wanda put hers on. The twins already had theirs on, giggling as they waved their hands around, trying to copy Blue's dance. "Can we grow more arms too?" Zach wondered.

"I don't know yet," Blue told him. "I didn't try to Look at your biology fully, or your Mind." (Yet.) "Just and only your basic energy signature for the tuning for this."

"Seb can grow extra arms. I'm pretty sure you could too." Ford chuckled. "Especially you Zach. You've got more weirdness in you than Sebastian after all." (Blue looked over at him at this.) The boy's eyes went wide. "I'm stronger than daddy?" At Ford's nod, Zach jumped around squealing.

"Hah! In your FACE daddy!" Zach roared. "Alpha kid! Alpha kid!" Which had Seb turn to Miz with a deadpanned, "I'm absolutely certain you taught him this." Miz cackled. "Who knows~ I'm sure Mabel's been just as bad of an influence~"

Zoe growled, upset and pushed her dancing brother to the floor. "That doesn't-doesn't matter! I'll still be stronger THAN YOU!" She stuck her tongue out. Zach whimpered from the floor. "Daaaddy~!" He sobbed.

"Oh, so now you need me, huh?" Seb lifted a hand to keep Zoe floating away from her brother while he picked up his son. Blue watched this strange set of interactions with mild curiosity. "Zoe, no bullying your brother." Seb scolded as he hugged Zach to his chest. "You ok?" He patted Zach's back. The boy sniffled. Seb put Zach back down, where he instantly latched onto Seb's leg.

Ah. Human-ish children and their too-forceful 'play'. "More or less 'weirdness' means NOTHING when it comes to strength and raw power," Blue told Zoe. "What REALLY matters is how you use it, what you have, what you do to obtain even more, and what you do with all of that next," Blue told Zoe next, then leaned forward a bit to stare past Seb's leg, to look at Zach where he was clinging to Seb still. ("Were you damaged?" Blue asked of Zach, as the child looked up at him a little teary-eyed. Zach shook his head 'no', hugging onto his dad's leg a little harder, and Blue nodded once and straightened back upright again.)

"Also, control." Miz added. "Always work on that." ("Yes. Control is important for EVERYONE," Blue intoned, turning his head slowly towards her to face her.) Miz huffed. "Yes, I know. I'm working on control too." She grinned at the kids. "When you're a little older, and your minds are more developed, I can teach you more. Right now you still get hurt when you try too hard." Heck, even Seb could get hurt sometimes.

Zoe started bouncing as Zach stared at his hands with wide eyes. Having powers was such a responsibility… Like Arachnid man...

("Well," Blue murmured, "That would take care of the second thing. Mostly. By way of delegation.)

"Look Diego! Mine is better because it's for my powers!" Zoe shoved her wrist at her cousin.

Diego frowned. Then he looked up at Stan. "How come I don't get super powers?" he complained. The adults all groaned. The question was finally asked. Stan shrugged. "Sorry kid, I don't have alien powers to pass on. We could throw you into radioactive waste and see what happens," he joked. (Blue frowned slightly at this.)

"And then I can get superpowers?"

"Sur-OOOOOWW! Carla!" Stan whined, holding his arm when she smacked him. "Don't tell that to our kid!" She picked up her baby. "You don't need super powers. You're fine the way you are."

"You're like Metalman! You could build yourself a cool armor that can fly and shoot lasers!" Zoe told him, making his iconic poses. Diego lit up at that, turned to Ford and asked, "Can I use your science stuff to build armor?"

"I don't see why no-OW!" Ford got smacked by Carla too. "The hell with you, Stans?"

Mabel and Dipper sighed. They also wanted superpowers… Stupid bland dad. Shermie frowned when he was glared at.

Blue sighed and stretched. "Well, little sister. That's all of my needing-talking list done far enough at this stage, and most of my post-talking-with-Seb list here, too," he said, before recapping with... "Seb said 'yes' to the third thing of the armband-reminder visualizer tool like yours, and doesn't want the fifth thing of getting that other eye back again in any form, because he likes the eyepatch aesthetic. The first thing of 'teaching Seb how to turn Seen things into knowledge' is available for him via his armband-reminder visualizer tool if he wants it. You are handling the second thing of 'teaching Seb's half-demon spawn here how to control their powers, and how not to make bad Deals' for me in the short-term, putting off my needing to offer again for awhile. That only leaves…" Boue turned towards Seb, "The fourth thing. -Do you want to do general information sharing on the state of things between 'sets, with me?" Blue asked of Seb directly.

"Um… Yeah, um, I think it'd be a good idea to stay in touch 'bout this stuff." Seb nodded firmly. Blue grinned at this.

(Ax sighed. Don't come crying when something happens, William.)

"Thank you, you know, for everything. It was really nice of you to help us." Seb smiled and rubbed his neck.

"HA. I'm NOT 'nice'; I'm just helping out my sister, so that she can be safe and happy here." Blue told him honestly with a verbal shrug, in a 'this is-and-was a perfectly reasonable thing for me to do' tone of voice.

"I know you aren't. But what you did was nice." Seb pointed out. "And we will keep her happy." He ruffled Miz's hair.

"Help her be able to be happy here, with her 'mom' and 'new little siblings' and you, yes; no forcing," Blue said, then nodded to Seb once. And then, without much fanfare, Blue tapped Miz's ambrace once (flexing his energy to burst-send an update to it with the entire Maid RPG campaign he'd set up for her Maniacs and not finished with them himself yet, for her to use herself as-and-if she wished it), slipped her borrowed phone out of his pocket to hand back to her, which she took. After that, Blue reached out and hugged Miz (since it seemed like she wanted one; he was learning!), and then… Blue vanished. His body falling into ash and then those ashes themselves fading away. The Pines blinked slowly at the spot where he used to be. Stan scratched his head. "Well that was… abrupt?"

"Well, I'm gonna head out too," Miz told them. "I kinda had some stuff over in my own Set that I was supposed to do… and just… kinda didn't wanna do." She rubbed her arm. The humans shrugged. "Sure, you go do that… we're… we're just gonna… try and get our thoughts back in order." Wanda deadpanned. "No offense, your brother is like a natural disaster, coming in and stirring everything up, and then just… leaving."

"That is a pretty accurate description," Stan said lightly. Seb laughed. "God he is insane! But, yeah, I don't totally dislike him, deep down he… yeah, you get me." He looked at Miz, who beamed at that before waving at them and then fell, dropping against Stanford. The scientist gasped and caught her before she hit the floor. "At least warn us before you do that!" he wailed.

(Back to our regularly scheduled 1st person POV with MizBill)

I sighed as I got back to my own dimension. Things felt more comfortable here, freer. Though I suppose, since this dimension is made out of 'myself', it would make sense that it was more comfortable. Hanging out with Blue was fun, but also… kinda stressful. Mainly because he was always so confrontational with people. He worried way too much. It couldn't be healthy. But if I told him that, wouldn't he tell me that keeping himself and me safe was all about being healthy? Erm...

Well, he's not wrong. But I feel like many of us aren't as… impatient? Worried? As he is. I mean… I guess the lot of us take life at a more lackadaisical pace than he does. I just want to have fun and do things at my own pace, ya know? I shook my head, floating off back to the 3rd dimension. Speaking of pace...

How is the Earth going? Might as well go check...

Writing was being fully developed all around the world. I wouldn't call it calligraphy, but I liked watching China begin turning their drawings of places and objects into 'words' that could be understood. A few places in Europe were beginning to mess with proper script as well.

Also! Copper smelting! Ah… it was still really behind what Atlantis had been making, but I wasn't allowed to go around teaching people how to do more impressive stuff. Well, that's fine. I liked watching them do it themselves, I guess.

Like domesticating animals! Damn yes! Finally! I was seeing chickens and horses being tamed now. You know what that even means?!

Chickens means EGGS! And eggs means… PASTRIES! People were already making bread with the ground up wheat and grains. But with eggs into the mix… the milk and butter from the cows and goats they domesticated before… cakes were going to be invented! They HAD to be!

And if they weren't, then I was going to have to inspire a few people. I mean, do they have whisks yet? I just really want cakes okay?!

I poked around, checking on all the human communities. They figured out eggs were edible pretty quick. Fried eggs, boiled eggs… some ate them raw and got sick. Eh… it happened. I mean, chicken's poop out of the same hole they laid eggs with, so… of course you'd get sick if it wasn't cleaned properly. And cooking at high heat was just another measure to make sure all the bacteria that would make someone sick was killed. I thought about what brother said, about killing millions of bacteria...

...well, death was death. But killing bacteria so that you didn't get sick… that was self defense, wasn't it? That made it fine. And killing animals for food, it was fine too, wasn't it? I knew there were some people who refused to eat animals, because they considered that to be 'killing' and taking their lives. But plants were living too. What was the difference there? I've MET plant-people on other planets. The potato planet came to mind. And… even if the plants on Earth weren't technically thinking people with minds and stuff… killing a plant was still killing a plant.

...besides… I looked down at the planet. I think some plants are actually becoming sentient. I know the trees in that valley where the spaceship landed were absorbing all sorts of Weirdness from the weakened barrier between my Nightmare Realm and the 3rd Dimension. Give it a few thousand years and they'll probably be able to form sentient thought. I mean, Sir Bedazzle was just some random plant/animal thing I created on a whim, and he was… developing true sentience. I doubt he'd ever get any smarter than a real dog, but it was still more than any of my Nightmares managed.

What was the difference here, I wonder?

Well whatever. I poked around a few dreams to plant the idea of 'baking' and left the humans to do with that, what they wanted.

So Hectorgon and I set up the new typing system for Pyronica. Pictograms in place of the Letters that made up Standard Galactic Common. Then I made a filter that transformed the text she looked at into the new alphabet. Really, I don't think it's that Pyronica couldn't read, so much as she just struggled with it. So I guess maybe this would help out.

[? Ꮂ ? モテᄋ? モテᆪ? モナᄑ ?] She typed out. I nodded. "Yup, I understand you." She looked delighted by that. "So does that mean… I can finally read those boring books you and Kryptos love so much?" I laughed. "You don't have to read a book unless you're actually interested in the subject matter, you know? There's no point in putting in the effort and time into something you don't care about."

"I guess you're right." Pyronica blinked. "But what kinda books would I even like?"

At that, I flicked my fingers and one of the books from my personal collection popped out. I tugged at the edges, stretching it into a larger size, since Pyronica was over three times my height and wouldn't be able to comfortably hold a book this small. I handed it to her and she looked down at the cover. I watched as the Filter translated the text into the new alphabet we made and she managed to sound out the title. [? モナル ? モナヘ? ? モテᄋ ? モナワ] And then I saw her eyes go wide and she began to cackle. "You gave me your POOOORN~!?" She asked. I turned bright orange. "Y-you don't have to say it so loudly!"

"So I can see what kinda SMUT you enjoooooy~!" Pyronica sang as she danced out of the room. I screeched and flew after her. "Noo! This was a bad idea! Give it baaaack!" I cried. "Go find your own porn! Don't read miiiine!"

"You shouldn't have handed it over then~" Pyronica sang, pulling the book out of reach whenever I flew around her, reaching for it. I even stretched my arms longer, twirling around her. But Pyronica's known me for eons. She knew how to escape my arms, stepping all around and aside from my attempts. Then she skipped off right out of the room. "Don't worry Bill~ I'm just gonna use this to find out what your preferences are. Then I can take you to the right sex clubs and get you LAID!"

"Uuuuugh! I told you I'm not into that!" I whined again.

"Dude. There are plenty of psychic sex shops, ya know?" Pyronica called out from down the hall, she was still running and I was still chasing. "No touching at all. They just create an illusion based on your fetishes and let you have fun with them!"

I paused. "Wait, really?" I never really Looked into this type of thing. Pyronica nodded. "It's usually for those clients with the really wild taste. The dangerous ones. Not everyone wants to put their physical bodies in such danger for the sake of their fetish. So a bunch of psychic dudes got together to make this service." Pyronica noticed I wasn't chasing her as urgently anymore. She slowed as well.

"Bill, I get that you're not interested in any of that physical touching thing. But you DO like satisfying yourself." She grinned at me. "So after you kept turning down stuff, I figured I would have to look into something else. So I thought… maybe this…"

"...Ronica…" I lowered my hands. She shrugged at me. "I mean, I know you DO actually like erotica and stuff. So… I dunno. I get really happy when I'm sexually satisfied. And… with you unable to g-get your spa treatments to feel better anymore… I thought… you know… this would be something that could help you get some stress relief."

I floated closer. Oh Pyronica… that's… such a ridiculous thought process. But… "You're just worried about me, still?"

"You used to love getting pampered along with me!" Pyronica cried. "I miss it! I miss going out to the spa together, getting our scrubs and massages and…" She sighed. "I dunno. I just wanted to find something fun that you'd enjoy." I sighed. "I mean… I do like masturbating as stress relief." I leaned against her. "Look, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about my personal satisfaction. I can deal with that on my own."

Pyronica just continued to look frustrated. Well, for someone like her, who practically lived for sex, she probably assumed others needed sexual relief to be happy, like she did. Even after all this time, I guess she still didn't really understand this. "Look, maybe I'll check out that place with you, but really, you don't have to do stuff like this for me." I patted her arm. "I can deal with my needs by myself."

"But… you always help me with my needs…" She said. I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Because your needs and mine are different." I gave her a smile. "So please stop. I'm fine on this front. Just… enjoy your porn. And enjoy your sex. Don't worry about me."

She looked rather saddened by this. "Look, it's fine. Please understand." She considered me for several long seconds before she sighed. "Am I… just messing everything up, for you?" She asked morosely. I gave her a hug. "I mean, it's a little uncomfortable that you keep suggesting it. So… please stop."

She sighed. "I keep… making this same mistake, huh?" She gripped the book in her hands. I sighed. "It's fine. I don't care. You're my friend. I know you're still trying to help. It's just not what I need." I patted her again. "Now go and discover the wonders of reading."

Pyronica let out a bark of laughter. "The wonders of written porn, you mean? Yeah…" She turned to walk off and glanced back at me. "Sorry, for always making you uncomfortable." I waved her off. "It's fine, like I've said multiple times." And then, before she could try apologizing again, I flew away.

Really, I… okay, I can admit I was a little frustrated that she kept doing that with me. But, whatever. Maybe she'll finally get it through her head that this wasn't for me.

Actually, there was another thing that was bothering me.

I floated towards Kryptos's room. The place was… more or less, a mess. He was really upset from… everything. I felt bad about it. I knew I shouldn't. But I still did.

"Kryptos?" I knocked on the doorframe, despite it being open. Not because I didn't want to just barge in, I mean, the door was open, and normally I'd just go right in- but there were objects being thrown out (along with the sound of Kryptos's frustrated screaming) and I didn't want to get hit. Also… right, Kryptos wasn't allowed to be anywhere near me or alone with me for a really long time. I almost forgot. I stretched my arm out into the rest of the house and snagged Ammy by one of his blocks. He was reading and didn't seem to care when I dragged him all the way over to where I was. Then I floated down the hallway a short distance. The papers being flung out of Kryptos's room fluttered to the ground and the compass poked his head out. "Bill? What's up?"

He looked exhausted. Drained and unhappy. Yeesh. Did Blue's words really hurt him that much? I was a little mad at my brother, if that were the case. I mean, he did make Kryptos have to destroy all his work from the past century or something. "Are you ok? You look like shit." Wasn't gonna minch words here.

He stared at me and then turned with a snarl and kicked a pile of papers. "No! I'm not okay! Uuuugh!" He stomped on them for a while. I gathered up the papers that were thrown around. "You know, not all of these are from your research into killing Time Baby." I pointed out. He sighed. "But they're still Death Rays and other doomsday devices." He sat down on one of the piles. I looked around. "You've been trashing stuff for the past week. How is there still this much stuff?" Ammy turned a page in his book, paying us no mind. It's why I grabbed him, really.

"Oh you know, sub space pockets keyed into me and me alone, where I hid more of my work. But I might as well destroy those too! Because why not?! Everything's stupid! And I'm stupid and it's all stupid- STUPID!" He kicked another pile. I winced. "You're not stupid. If this is about what my brother said-"

"I don't like him!" Kryptos seethed. "No offense Bill, but your brother is such a-" He let out a snarl and kicked another stack of papers. "Why does he hate me so much?!"

I sat back and let him throw his tantrum. "Blue's got really high standards. Also, he keeps thinking you're trying to kill me."

"Which is RIDICULOUS!" Kryptos threw his hands into the air. Ammy glanced up from his book with one of his eyes, the rest still focused on it. His multitasking skill was probably higher than mine, now that I thought about it. No, I wasn't jealous!

"How? Love and hate are two sides of the same coin, according to my research into this subject." Ammy spoke in his bland tones. "And, since your romantic feelings for my mother are unrequited, then it only stands to reason that at some point, that rejection would turn to pain, then anger, then hate." I nudged Ammy. "That's technically true, but you don't have to say it."

Kryptos's jaw dropped. "Wh-what the heck Ammy?!"

"Well, that is the most logical conclusion to come to, based on what I've learned."

"Ammy! That's a very mean thing to say." I scolded him. He shrugged. "I am merely pointing out that this is a possibility."

Kryptos looked like he was going to explode or something, but then all the tension drained out. "Getting mad is only going to make me seem worse." He turned and went back into his room. "...I don't think you're out to kill me." I called out at him.

"...thanks Bill." I heard him mutter.

Neither of us said anything for a good long while.

"Hey, so… what are you going to do now?" I worried about him, he just… lost his goal, the thing he was working towards for so long. Kryptos grumbled. "I'm fine. I'm… going to rethink what I want to do with my time." He scoffed. "Probably start working on getting another degree in school."

"That's… good?"

"It's not good, but it's enough for now." I heard him move more things around. "I've got all eternity to figure out whatever else I want in life."

"...if you still want to take over the galaxy, I feel the need to tell you that my friend Tina is trying to do that too. So you'd have to talk it out with her on which parts of the multiverse you want."

"Who the fuck is Tina?!" Kryptos poked his head out from his room.

"Um… she used to be one of my sister's Shrine Maidens. But she's planning to get into politics. Take over the Federation and tear it down to rebuild into something less shit." I shrugged. "I like her, she's a Good person. And she hates how the Federation is run." I straightened as something occurred to me. "Hey, you could work together with her, right?"

Because Kryptos can't lead his way out of a paper bag. Even if he took over the multiverse, he wouldn't be able to be any sort of leader or ruler. But Tina could. Tina could lead, I'm sure of it. But she was unwilling to use force to rise to power. So… if she got some help...

I shook my head. Naw. She wouldn't like that, now would she? And she'd be suspicious as fuck if Kryptos, one of Bill Cipher's friends, went up to talk to her. "Actually, nevermind, that's probably a bad idea. She's Lawful." I sighed.

Kryptos stared at me, the incredulous look was actually making me blush. "You're friends with a law abider?!"

"Hey," I defended, "Tina wants to re-write the laws- to make them something that isn't shit!"

Ammy and Kryptos were both staring at me now. ""Suuuure~"" and I knew they were teasing me, but I liked seeing Kryptos smiling again. "So, are you helping her take over the Federation?" Kryptos asked, settling down on one of the piles. I groaned. "She only knows me as Miz."

"...so she's not actually a friend?" Ammy's response made me quick to defend her. "Tina IS my friend! She just… doesn't know I'm Bill Cipher." I turned orange as I remembered. "She thinks I'm Bill Cipher's daughter."

Kryptos's jaw dropped before he fell over, laughing hysterically. "Uwu!" I whined. "It's not funny!"

Ammy placed a tendril on my shoulder-ish area and deadpanned, "It's not funny. It's hilarious."

"The both of you suuuuuck!" That only made Kryptos laugh more. Well, if my embarrassment makes him feel better, I'll do it. This time, the next time, as many times as it takes. To make sure he doesn't get all sad again. My bowtie buzzed before I gout tell them off again. "Shit, hang on. Be right back."

"S-sure. Have fun, Bill Junior!" Kryptos cackled. I flipped him off before Blinking away.

My summoner was one of those posturing types. Wanted something from me and wasn't willing to pay up. I could Feel it. I tapped my cane on his desk, putting on a show of being bored out of my mind.

"-nd that's why I need to get those blueprints. I've worked too hard to just give up when I'm so close to-"

Was he still talking? Ugh, blah blah, blueprints for a new type of energy generator that his cousin allegedly stole from him after his father's death. Such a thing would make him rich beyond belief. But his cousin had the blueprints. The only reason the other guy wasn't already makin' bank was the fact that the generator required a special part that isn't listed on the blueprint. It wouldn't work without it. And guess who had that missing piece~? My current client of course!

"-n't let him keep rubbing it in my face. He can't even use the damn thing! I know he can't. But my every attempt to get him to hand them over peaceful has failed-"

He was still talking? I waved a hand. "I don't need your life's story, what do you want?"

My client blinked his stalks at me. "I want the blueprints."

"The physical copy?" I asked lazily. Really, I was just… bored. This wasn't even an interesting Deal. He nodded at me. "Yes! Haven't you been listening?! This is important-"

"Yeah, yeah. Important to you, you've got the mechanics you hired to build it for you, you've got the missing piece to the machine, you want the generator for yourself, you can make smaller version to sell and take royalties for- it'll power that space station you run as a travelling hospital…" (and charge way too many credits for their treatments…) "Need I go on?" I lid my eye at him, wanting to get this done so I could go do something fun instead.

His neck flaps unfurled and he chuckled. "You really do know everything, as the rumors say." I placed a hand on my chest and let out a huff. "You flatter me, but I don't know everything."

"You know enough to get me what I want." He grinned, the uneven jagged teeth grinding against each other as he did so. "More than that, I've been compiling a list of your abilities. And teleportation is a major one."

"Well. Yes." I rolled my eye. "How else did you think I get to my clients?"

"So, you can get me the blueprints. So, gimme." He said. I sighed, rubbing my closed eye. "And payment? I don't work for free dude."

"Ah, I can give you a cut of the profits from-" He started to say, but I cut him off. "I want you to give free treatments to patients at your hospital."

He stared at me dumbly. His jaw was so low that it touched his desk. I used the end of my cane to push it back up. "What's with the long look? With the money you're going to be making from that generator, you'd make more than enough credits to be able to afford that."

"Why do you-" He stood up from his desk.

"What you gain, you lose." I grinned at him. "If you refuse this, then I'm gonna have to take something else from you…" I let my gaze roam around his body, making it clear what I had in mind to take from him. If I was reading him right, there was a 50/50 chance he'd care more about his money than his body. Well, even if he agreed to give his body to me, instead of his money, well then I could do other things with him. But I'd rather he took the free treatment for patients Deal, if only so there'd be a hospital people could go to.

I watched him think about it. And really, I was being more than generous here. "What… would you take from me… if I didn't agree to make my hospital free of charge?"

I giggled. "Well, I'd just take you instead." I told him matter of factly. "You'll belong to me. To do with as I wish."

"That's ridiculous!" He smacked a fist onto the desk. "Why would anyone ever give themselves over to you-"

"Hey buddy~ I'm being really upfront here. I normally don't just tell people what I want, nor do I give them a chance to choose between options." I tilted my hat back, leaning back on my cane. "But I've been told that I should start being more…" I flicked my bowtie, "...honest about who I am and what I want outta people. So, call this a test run. The new and improved Bill Cipher! You want something from me, I want something from you. So… unless you make me a better offer than what I've already listed…"

"I can give you a shareholder spot in my hospital- I can pay you a portion of my profits monthly-"

"I have no need for money." I told him simply. He seethed. "Then why do you want me to cut my profits entirely?!"

"Because you won't even need them, with the mad cash you're gonna get from what you want." I shrugged off. "I'm being completely honest here. You gain something, you lose something."

"I can pay you-"

"And I don't want your freakin' money." I didn't see why he didn't get it. "If you don't want to make your hospital free, then… double- no, triple the salaries of your staff. Everyone. The Healers, the helpers, the cleaning staff, the chefs- everyone."

He relaxed a little at that, until I added, "And you can't raise how much you're charging patients."

"Why do you even care so much about the treatment costs-"

"Because if people get sick and die without treatment, I have less people to play with!" I snapped at him. He stared. "What?!" I looked away, making a show of being embarrassed at my 'slip'. "Well, every person exists for my entertainment." I told him, wasn't even really lying on this front. "What fun can I have with a dead body? I mean, I could still play with it, but that gets old fast, there's only so much you can do with a corpse before it's fallen apart." I shook my head, tutting softly. "But living people? Oh they're DELIGHTFUL!" I grinned. "And as I always say, I'm ALWAYS WATCHING!" I twirled my cane as I took a few steps toward him. He leaned away, making me quite amused. Good to know people still considered me enough of a threat to be cautious.

"So institutions like yours? Keeping people alive? Well, I quite respect that, you know?" I leaned in, curling my eye into a smile. "Thank you for fixing my toys so I can keep playing with them."

He swallowed heavily. "...am I also just a toy to you?"

I stared unblinkingly at him. "You summoned me didn't you? That means you want to play with me."

I probably shouldn't be enjoying his expression so much. Well he'd been boring me for the past… 5 minutes, I needed some kinda fun. Besides, I'm being entirely serious here. And it wasn't like I was planning to hurt him. Physically. Financially, eh… not even that. I wasn't kidding when I said that the royalties of the generator, if he sold a set of modified blueprints to the Federation with the proper paperwork in place, would more than make up for any losses. "Tick tock," on the clock "I'm a very busy god, do ya want the blueprints or not?"

Frankly, I didn't even care about losing out on a Deal, I was getting plenty from humans now. Small Deals here and there when they wanted to know stuff. I was set, didn't really need another. I wasn't desperate for power. (Though I do admit to wanting some, for personal reasons, future plans, as one might say.) So… just take it or leave it dude.

He took it, agreed to treat patients for free even. Sweet! I felt the Deal burn through me and the blueprints dropped out of the air into my hand, which I then handed to him. "Thank you for your patronage!" I tipped my hat at him. And now, I had authority to enforce that patients coming to his fine establishment for healing and physical care, would be able to do so for free. Well, it just meant more stuff I had to keep track of, which was annoying, but I set up a Curse alert to tell him if he ever went back on this Deal or turned anyone away who needed help.

Not much, but it was something. Oof. Tina was still trying to figure stuff out on her end, but I might as well contribute my parts.

(...Meanwhile, back in Blue's dimensional set, in Dimension 46'\ ...)

Ford sighed as he finished making the last of the sandwiches for dinner, for the rest of them. He glanced back over his shoulder as heard Stan coming back down the stairs a bit sooner than he usually did when playing 'servant' to Bill, telling the demon that the next meal was ready. And something about the strength of Stan's gait, the heaviness of his steps, was a bit...

"...Problem?" Ford asked him quietly, given how Stan seemed a little grumpier than usual just then. Stan grumbled something that he was fairly certain was meant to be unintelligible, but… "What did Bill do."

"Kid locked me out," Stan told him, and Ford blinked at this, not understanding why this was… surprising or otherwise seemingly unexpected behavior on the demon's part to his brother? Stan let out a sigh. "Kid made it pretty clear that as long as I didn't kick him outta 'my' bedroom, that we're sharin' right now, that I'd be able to go up there whenever just fine, Ford."

"And now he's revoked it." Ford started pulling down plates from the cupboard. "You truly weren't expecting this?"

"I didn't kick the kid outta my room, Ford," was what Stan told him next. ...Because, apparently, his brother Stan still hadn't started seeing sense on it not being a good idea to explicitly continue to give the demon open access to his sleeping quarters, still.

"Well, perhaps you should do so now," Ford said, as he finished setting the plates out. After all, now that Stan finally knew that reciprocation was not going to be received...

But to this, Stan just gave him a long look and said, "Ford, half the reason I was gettin' a handle on the kid in the first place was because I was talkin' to him at night. Out in front of the TV, and right before bed." He turned away and opened a drawer for the knives and forks. "I ain't kickin' the kid outta anywhere or anything without talkin' it all out with him first."

Ford stopped where he was standing in front of the table and looked back over at him, feeling more than a little nonplussed about one particular aspect of what Stan had just told him. "...You weren't talking with him out in front of the TV," Ford said slowly. Stan had only been grumpily doing that head-patting thing out there in the living room, that Bill had just as grumpily barely put up with, every time.

"I was talkin' to him then sometimes," was Stan's response to this. "Was talkin' with him more in our bedroom, though. In there with no-one overhearin' us." Stan set down the silverware next. "Get a lot outta him in the nights. Sometimes in the mornings, too."

Ford glanced over at him again at this, as he moved past him for the glassware in the cupboards. "Because he's tired, and hasn't eaten yet?" Ford realized.

Stan nodded. "Lets more things slip. ...Don't seem to care much later that he does it then, though." He took the glasses as Ford handed them to him, and frowned a little. "Haven't been talkin' with him as much since he got the attic room. Couldn't get him alone after… well." Stan looked away. (Ford knew what he meant. After the man-eater had arrived, things had gotten very bad, very quickly.) "Haven't been talkin' with him much since we got back from that other place at all." Stan's expression darkened slightly. "Maybe if I had, then I coulda caught this before-"

"-it wouldn't have mattered," Ford said, looking away from him. Despite hating to have to tell him this, to be right about this, he still told Stan that, "He wouldn't have told you-"

"-that I killed him!?" Stan slammed both his hands down onto the kitchen table, and Ford barely kept himself from flinching, slowly closing his eyes where he stood at Stan's side, facing the sink as Stan faced in the opposite direction as he was, looking outwards into the rest of the room.

(And if Miz was there, that moment, hearing this, she would have turned to her brother with the biggest 'I told you so' expression and disappointed frown in the history of time itself.)

And Ford had nothing he could say. He wanted to reach out, place a hand on Stan's shoulder, anything, but what could he do? He'd felt partially adrift since Stan's… since Stan's real twin brother had come back - been brought back, or rather, brought forward in time by the triangle demon himself. He'd even known just-prior to his return that-

"Stan, he didn't actually die," Ford said quietly. He hadn't even meant to say it, really. Hadn't really thought it through. But he'd had to say something, and anything he could think of had sounded wrong, both plain and simply. And Bill-

"The kid told me he had no more deals goin' on, the afternoon after you and Dipper cut yours off with him," Stan said roughly, scrubbing at his face, and sounding miserable as he said it. "That means he-"

"-was pulled forward, and the deal Bill made with him was made inactive during that time, before Bill released it shortly thereafter," Ford told him, turning to face him. Because this, at least, he could do for his- for Stan. "I do know a few things about them."

That got Stan looking over at him, but the look on his face was anything but promising, before Stan turned away from him again, leaning heavily forward on his hands.

"Thought you didn't ever try and break that deal the kid had with you before," Stan said, both lowly and slowly. And it was clear from Stan's tone that that had been the impression that he'd gotten from the demon's own view of the situation.

Ford felt pained at the thought of it, having to even think about all those years on the other side of the portal and-

...But Ford pulled in a breath, and he said, "The first years, it…" He swallowed, hard. "...It didn't even occur to me that breaking my deal with Bill was even a possibility," Ford told him, feeling a little like he was walking on eggshells he was trying not to break as he said it. "It wasn't until many years later that… I found myself in a unique position where I was able to study- to do research into the idea. It still didn't seem possible; nothing I read about, then or since, sounded like it would ever be feasible, given the exact nature of our deal." 'Until the end of time.' No limits. "I did try, to an extent, but…" Ford sighed, feeling tired.

"Yeah, well." Stan looked away from him, and neither of them said anything for awhile.

Not until Stan straightened away from the table and said, "Think I'll pry that kid outta there with the next best thing to a crowbar tomorrow morning." At Ford's questioning look, Stan adopted a knowing (almost cagey) expression and tapped the side of his nose, saying, "Think I've got a recipe for vegetable soup around here somewhere. I get up early, grab some of that stuff from the store, toss that all in a big pot and set it all cooking on a really slow burn... ? It'll stink up the whole house with the smell of that stuff. Kid'll either be down here eating that up with a spoon, or down here complaining about smells filling the place up, up to every last inch of the attic. One of the two." Stan had an almost nasty look in his eye as he said this, and Ford barely held back the sigh. (Ford didn't even breathe a word out to try and stop him from doing so, though.)

"Gonna go get my twin from downstairs," was what Stan told him then, next. "Kid shouldn't be skipping meals, or makin' it so I can't check on him and I gotta pull this shit on him instead. But hey," Stan said as he turned away from Ford, moving away from the table, "Even if the kid's being a little punk about shit these days, at least I can make sure that Sixer eats somethin' here, still."

(If Bill had been standing there, down in the kitchen in that moment, he would have, of course, looked about to complain about Stan's twin being referred to in such a way, yet again. Because "He's not my six-fingered hand. That's that Stanford." …Looked about to complain about it, but not necessarily said it aloud. For some reason, Bill had only made it clear the once, right near the beginning of this new old mess, who he considered to be his six-fingered hand. And he hadn't repeated it since, even if Bill had looked like he wanted to grimace as badly as Ford felt, every single time that they, demon and displaced scientist both, heard Stan call out that nickname in reference to that other Stanford of Stan's...)

And with that said, Stan walked off towards the living room door, headed for the Mystery Shack's gift shop, and presumably the basement door opening behind the snack food vending machine within it.

Ford couldn't hold back a slight wince as he heard the door to the gift shop area slam closed hard behind Stan as he went.

And as the seconds stretched onwards, as Ford stoid there jn the kitchen, waiting for Stam to come back, the idea of a dinnertime meal with just himself, Stan, and that Ford of Stan's was… it just seemed to him to be...

Ford struggled with it internally for a moment, before he made a decision, straightened in place, and reached out definitively for his own plate.

Ford was upstairs, sitting at the base of the stairs up to the attic, and eating his meal in (not only relative, but actual) peace.

He felt an odd sort of solidarity with Bill at he did so, even if he was also feeling a rather potent mix of several other somewhat hard to describe feelings at the moment, at the very idea of agreeing with Bill Cipher on anything at this point - as he had been feeling more and more often, lately. (Too often, really.) But the idea of Bill refusing to take a meal with Stan's twin brother this evening, especially after what had happened after this afternoon between them, was simply… kismet, really.

Ford had realized exactly why Bill had walked - really, stomped - his way out of the kitchen and up every last of those stairs after the end of the meal, all the way up the entire staircase. He'd understood perfectly well that Bill had been very annoyed with Stan's real twin brother in that moment.

(Ford had also been somewhat… peeved at that other Ford for his ongoing behavior, himself. -Not that Ford would ever admit it out loud. Getting kicked out of his own lab the very first afternoon had been insult to injury, really. He'd been watched by Stan's sibling, while he'd gone about removing all of his things from the basement lab space downstairs - as if he'd needed some sort of proctoring oversight for just such a thing, when the removal of such potentially dangerous items had been for the man's own safety! He'd only done it so that Stan's twin brother would not be able to potentially mess with them and then accidentally murder himself with them; it had been purely and solely for Stan's twin's own health and safety - his benefit, not Ford's own.)

(That had been bad enough. Worse was the fact that Ford couldn't say that Stan's twin's behavior had exactly improved in any way since then, even if he hadn't demanded anything out of Ford himself in the meantime since then. Ford's two boxes of things were now sitting in his bedroom - but Ford had a very uncomfortable feeling that the only reason that Stan's brother thought he still had that room in the house was because he felt he was letting Ford keep it. That the only reason he hadn't just taken that for himself, and away from Ford, too - been able to take it, really, without any fuss on anyone's part at all - was because he hadn't wanted it due to the bad memories associated with said room; Stan's twin brother had thought that sleeping in there would give him nightmares again, and had decided upon taking an entirely different room instead, because of that.)

(Bill himself had already addressed the issue of Ford's continued presence in the Shack in no small way, before it had gotten much worse. Stan's Ford had floated the idea of 'why is he even here?' in his house - as if it were some great (cosmic? karmic?) joke - but Bill had shut that all down rather quickly. Bill had been the one to pronounce and declare that the house was more Stanley's than anyone else's, by right of claim, and that he should know it. That Stan had more claim on the basement than all of them too, even the house above it itself. -Stan's twin brother had backed down quickly on the subject after that, but...)

Stan's twin brother, upon hearing Bill clomp and stomp his way right up the stairs this very afternoon, had simply thought aloud that Bill was still and simply having trouble moving his human body around, that he was still getting used to maneuvering it about. And he'd actually seemed to believe it, what he'd said to them both on the subject. -Ford knew better, though. Stan knew better as well. The idea of Bill doing the exact opposite of floating his way up the staircase on purpose meant something rather the opposite of that, in fact. Stan's twin brother, who acted as though he knew Bill better than Ford himself did, truly seemed to believe that this was - very wrongly - the case.

And yet Ford had felt no inclination whatsoever to correct him on this - rather the opposite in fact; he'd felt an almost perverse disinclination to warn him of the truth of the matter, of such a thing. ...And Stan himself had not spoken up, either. He'd just kept on drying the glass that he'd been holding at the time after washing it, remained silent, and just let it slide.

Bill himself had been acting… differently around Stan's twin. And it was not the sort of 'differently' that he'd been doing at times with the others of them all up until that point, either. This new different way of acting had been…

...iti had been a rather horrifying experience for Ford, truthfully. He'd barely managed to keep something of an expressionless poker face going every single time that Bill did it, and it was a near-constant thing at this point. Bill's exuberance, his bite, and his snark had been damped down to the point of near-complete nonexistence entire. He was holding himself back almost completely. Every last part of Bill's movements, lack of gestures, and largely calm tone of voice practically SCREAMED out that he was absolutely lying with every motion, act, and breath that he took, around and nearby Stan's own twin, and yet...

And yet Stan just let all of that slide too, just the same, and Ford truly did not think Stan realized how dangerous it all really was. Stan had professed before that he didn't care what the demon thought, he only cared about what Bill did - how he acted. But that was simply the worst of all mistakes that could be made; Bill's actions were a direct result of his thoughts, and Bill's thoughts shifted just as abruptly as his moods were mercurial. Leaving him to his own thoughts and only caring about his current 'actions' was a mistake, and a potentially very deadly one. Because sooner or later, Bill would get bored - if not tired - of holding himself back so completely. The demon's thoughts would shift over to something else instead - something more fun for him, to take the pressure off - and then Bill's actions would change so abruptly that Stan would have no chance or choice left but to-

Ford shook his head. Because 'sooner' was looking far more likely than later now, with Stan's twin brother thrown into the mix, and Ford...

...Ford really, truly did not understand why Bill had done it. Bill clearly wasn't enjoying the man's new and ongoing presence here, in the midst of things. And if Bill had not, in fact, stepped in two days ago to correct the ongoing degrading situation between Stan's twin and both the niblings...

-Yesterday afternoon, right after the kids had left the room with Stan's twin, Bill had turned to Stan and immediately told him (rather, all but demanded from him) that he wanted them to continue sleeping over at Soos' house. Period. Endstop. In not many more words than that. And Stan had agreed with him.

Ford… hadn't disagreed with the idea of it all that much, either. And, if he was honest with himself about it...

...the reason he was eating up here at the base of the staircase for the last flight of stairs up to the attic, rather than in his own bedroom, was also (he felt) for the very same reason. It was also the same reason he'd been locking his bedroom door at night - and not just because Bill was sleeping in the same house as him. He'd not only felt a general unease at the notion of not doing so, but the feeling itself hadn't abated in the slightest after doing that. He hadn't felt comfortable enough to lay himself down in bed for some sleep until he'd ended up moving a dresser in front of the door, and one of the bookcases in front of the room's single window as well. (Neither wouldn't be enough to stop an actual intrusion into his room. but they were more than enough to slow someone down, while also acting as an early warning system….)

It had taken Ford awhile to unpack the tangled mess that was his emotions, and he found himself still having trouble putting it all to words after that, but… he didn't trust Stan's twin brother not to enter his room without his permission.

It was a stupid thought, in a sense, but those were his feelings at the present time on the matter. Stan's twin brother clearly felt he had an absolute claim on the house, and every room that existed within it - if not necessarily every thing in it, given the two boxes of Ford's things from downstairs that were sitting in Ford's bedroom currently, instead of lying downstairs on those shelves, again and still. But...

...really, that was likely what he felt the most solidarity with Bill about, at this particular present moment in time. Because right now, if Bill had gone downstairs and entered into Stan's 'shared' room in order to talk with him and then sleep… Stan's twin brother likely would have felt he had the right to follow the demon straight into that bedroom, or at the very least open the door and accost the demon in there any time he liked, whenever he felt the urge or general inclination to do so, at any hour of any day of the week.

And Ford knew that Bill was aware of all this, because Bill had stopped falling asleep outside. He knew that Bill didn't want to be accosted by Stan's twin brother when he was trying to relax, because Bill hadn't been sitting with Stan in his chair in the evenings with him anymore, either. Not after he'd tried to the first night, and that hadn't lasted more than a few minutes before Bill had gotten up and left - for good reason. In the context of all this, Bill's lockout of the attic to Stan made the most perfect and logical sense, really. Bill likely just wanted some peace away from a certain 30-something year old annoyance, and didn't want to have to worry about Stan coming in and pushing him to come downstairs to be around his twin brother again.

...which Ford could both relate to, and just didn't understand in the slightest. Because Bill only did things that benefited himself. -So why had he brought Stan's twin brother forward in time, and effectively 'back to life', then? Bill clearly wasn't getting any sort of benefit out of having done this at all. So why had he done it, really?

Ford sighed. ...Well, at least Stan's twin brother had kept a wide berth away from making his way this far upstairs to-date. (The kids had had him feeling off-put and wrong-footed to start with, so he'd been staying away from their room for the most part while they'd been there during the day, as well.) And even the tone-deaf scientist seemed to have picked up on the realization that going that far upstairs towards a room that was solely Bill's was something of a very bad idea.

...So of course Ford had done that very thing instead. Perhaps he really was an idiot and a fool.

Ford sighed.

He finished up his last sandwich, and downed the last of his drink, and then looked up towards the dark opening that led up into that final 'penthouse' attic room 'suite' that Stan had let Bill claim for himself only a few short weeks ago now.

He supposed he ought to go back downstairs at this point, but first… It was unfortunate, but he would be remiss if he didn't at least go through the motions of trying to call Bill down for a meal for Stan's own sake, given that he was already up here.

So Ford put his glass on his empty plate, and lifted it in one hand as he stood up. And with his other hand, he knocked twice against the barrier covering the gaping black hole of emptiness that was spanning that entry.

Except on the second rap of his knuckles, he felt his fingers sink into the plane.

Ford stilled in place.

He looked up at the opening where the barrier was, staring.

...He could feel the pressure at the boundary there, in that region, pressing back against him. But his fingers had crossed through and into it.

Ford slowly lifted his hand.

He could still feel the pressure there, but it was consistent. It didn't increase; it was constant.

...Bill wasn't making it more difficult to get in, the harder he pushed; it wasn't a warning of '...I don't really want you up here, but if you push things and want it enough…'

And it wasn't a 'just stay out', either. He hadn't locked Ford out completely. He'd been able to move his hand through it so far, with only some resistance, on the second 'knock'.

-Not the first. It wasn't a free motion, either, one with no resistance; it had not been an 'open invitation', as it were.

(What was Bill doing? ...He had to have been paying attention to the first knock, in order to decide to grant him some form of access at the second one, didn't he? Which meant Bill had most likely been paying attention to him and watching him from when Ford had first sat down on that final set of stairs, to begin eating...)

Ford straightened his arm, and pushed his hand up even farther. He stopped for a moment as he moved his wrist past it, then held it in place. He tried moving his fingers slightly again, and, yes, they felt like they were able to move freely now. ...So it was more like an airlock boundary, than anything. Something closer to a cleaning barrier that one had to forcibly move one's self through, that kept out undesired elements: bacteria, biologicals, and other chemicals and radioactive matter.

For a moment, it occurred to him that Bill could grab him by the wrist now and drag him the rest of the way up into there bodily, caught like a fish on a string with a little bit of bait-

-but even as his adrenaline spiked at the very thought, and he froze in place, mind racing… nothing happened. And nothing continued to happen, as he stood there in place. As his right hand, and his wrist, remained on the opposite side of the boundary that Bill had set up, up there, as his own. He wasn't pulled forward; he wasn't pushed back, either. Nothing changed as he stood there at all, with his arm outstretched through the opening there, impinging up there on Bill's claimed space.

Nothing happened.

(Ford's racing mind slowly calmed down. Mostly.)

And nothing still kept on happening.

Ford breathed in and out carefully, as he thought about this.

And then he almost absently set his plate with its glass down to the side - to leave it lying there down on the third step from the top - and he moved his foot up one step. Ford shoved his way upright and at least partially through the barrier that Bill had put in place, but was only now allowing him entry through, for the first time since the demon had been back.

He'd never gone into Bill's room before. And it was probably a bad idea. But, the feeling Ford had right now was...

...that this wasn't really an invitation. Just a sort of neutral allowance that Bill was giving him. Almost ambivalent in nature, and in kind. (If Ford had had enough information to be able to think about it in more detail, he might have realized that the way he'd been feeling about Stan's twin brother - avoiding him, and staying up by Bill's room in doing so... that it might have been possible that Bill could have been feeling a similar sort of solidarity towards him in that regard, too, as Ford had been feeling towards him earlier.)

This wasn't Bill showing off, either. It was a very quiet sort of ambivalent allowance on Bill's part, and that meant…

Ford breathed out a bit of a tired sigh.

And despite the fact that he knew full well what entering Bill's domain might mean, and exactly how dangerous it was for him to do that...

...Ford did it anyway. (...because he could. Because Bill wasn't making a big deal out of any of it. Because he was tired, and because...) He didn't really want to go back downstairs just then, and...

Ford took another step, and another. And soon enough he was standing waist-high, with his hands on either side of him, touching the floor on either side of the opening to the attic around him.

It was pitch black up here, still. He couldn't see anything, really. He couldn't even see the rest of himself, hidden in shadow below him; it was almost like staring down into some sort of bottomless, dark pool.

The only light up here at present was a dimly lit-up outline surrounding the opening up into the attic itself - and the light wasn't coming up from below; it surrounded the outside of the opening, like a border. It was a strong outline that had him wincing at first, before his eyes adjusted and he realized it wasn't a shade of Bill-colored bright screaming yellow, just a faint glowing soft white shade of light instead.

He looked around, and there was just… nothing. A pitch black empty darkness, that went off into infinity.

It occurred to him why Dipper had had some difficulty in explaining what the upstairs space actually looked like, now. ...And why Dipper had seemed off-put at how he 'hadn't been able to see anything at all' of the attic, or the room or its boundaries in any way at all, up here.

It was a darkness that Ford was familiar with himself, yes. But that had been inside of a spaceship, in a hold, inside a container with no lighting within it, inside or out. The attic was supposed to have several windows in it; there, there had been no windows to the outside to let any light in - not that there was much light out there in the depths of space in some of the most dire of circumstances, near wormholes or out in the far reaches beyond the distant stars, between galaxies. Sometimes, there was simply no light there at all but what you brought with you, and if that lighting went out...

Ford pulled in a breath. He curled his hands over the edges of the lit-up boundary of the hole he was standing in. He could feel the solid wood that he couldn't see below his fingertips, palms and hands here, despite what his eyes both were and were not telling him. He didn't stop to ask himself if he really wanted to do this, either.

He simply walked himself up the last few steps of the staircase into (what still should have been) the attic room of the Shack. He came to a stop only after he'd ascended the very last step into darkness, cleared the threshold with hiz boots almost before the thought of stopping and thinking this through began forming inside his mind.

And Ford stood there for a bit, stood there strong and tall and quiet and still, on a bit of wooden flooring that he couldn't see below him, and he didn't think anything further about his circumstances (or the possible predicament he'd just so openly and blindly walked himself right into), not at all.

Not until the light started to dim behind him.

Ford spun in place and was reaching down through the opening to the attic space in a flash, thinking racing thoughts of 'no, oh no, I should have known better, Bill has me now, of course it was a trap-'

-and he'd expected it to be that, just and only that… up until he'd crouched down and nearly unbalanced himself as both his hands kept going down, down and back through the barrier with almost no resistance at all, and-

Ford barely caught himself by the one hand, then the other, falling to one knee and grabbing onto the first and second steps of the wooden staircase. He barely managed to stop himself, before he took a header right down them next, right down those stairs again, and-

Ford stilled in place. And instead of fleeing, he observed.

Because the moment Ford had put his hand through the barrier field at the top of the stairs, the glowing light around the opening had brightened right back up again. He'd only realized this belatedly (regaining his balance had been a bit of a higher priority first), but now that he'd had a chance to register and then realize this…

The fact left him blinking, feeling more than a little bit... odd. Off-balanced, in a way that wasn't just centered in how his body had been truly, physically off-balance for a moment there, as he'd recentered himself and caught himself handily at the edge there. Because… He… wasn't trapped up here? At all?

...or had the fading light been a warning that the opening was closing, and now the stupid human would 'get what he deserved' if he dared to stay up here and-

Ford shook it off; he literally, physically shook his head from side to side, sat down in place and shook the thought off and away from him, out of his head. (Because Bill didn't taunt like that. Not quite.)

Bill didn't set up his taunts like that. (Not like that.) And this didn't feel like one of Bill's games to him. Because Bill liked his 'fun' and 'games', yes, but… Bill was far more direct in his taunts and 'teasing' (and torture) than this. (Many an other demon might, would, but Bill himself-) The triangle demon was very in-your-face about it; no guesswork was involved - he'd just show himself in-person and tell you directly, laughing as he taunted you with oh-so-many disparaging words for you all the way. No, this wasn't some warning from Bill. The character and substance of what was happening here felt substantially... different, in some way. (More serious, perhaps?) Ford wasn't entirely certain, but...

...Well, he didn't feel threatened.

Ford pulled in a breath - not quite shakily, almost bracing in fact - and...

-Ford pulled his hands away from the boundary, rocking back on his heels and out of his crouch to sit down on his rear end as he reared backwards almost a bit too far-

-and his hands slapped down onto the floor behind him, just as his butt hit the floor. (He could feel the grain of the wood below his fingertips, still rather solidly and physically there, for whatever that might actually be worth.)

(It was a reminder that he was in the attic of the Shack, still, and one that he sorely needed a few moments later when…)

As if it was a signal of some sort, the light glowing at the boundary of the attic opening slowly began dimming again. And it dimmed, and dimmed, and dimmed further, and Ford firmed his jaw and pressed down slightly against the floor he could feel but not see beneath him with both hands and his feet, and…

...he waited. He waited until the light had all but died, and then almost completely extinguished itself - so low that for the span of almost a minute he'd thought he was seeing only the last afterimage of it left in his vision…

And then...

...The stars slowly began to come out.

It was almost as if the light at the boundary had drowned it all out, but Ford knew better. He was good at gauging the strength of all nearby light sources by this point, after all of his travels and travails on the other (wrong) side of the portal. The 'boundary' light was still there, a sort of marker for exit, and had never quite gone out, not completely, but...

...over the course of the next minute, so slowly that he almost doubted what he was seeing at first, just as he had the continued existence of the boundary light at the entryway and exit to the room, he started to see small lights begin to glow around him.

And after a good length of time, counted by breaths in minutes, he was sitting on the floor of the attic, surrounded by a pitch-black field full of stars.

And Ford slowly began to relax in place without even knowing it.

(He even recognized some of the constellations, as he slowly craned his head to look about.)

It was… soothing, almost. Sitting there, in the quiet. No disruptions, and knowing he wasn't going to get any - not from downstairs, not from below. He felt something relax inside him, even as something more uncertain began to grow in its stead.

After awhile, Ford shifted into a cross-legged posture, then pushed himself backwards in short movements by his hands, until he had his back up against the attic wall behind him - a solid location at his back, at a distance he remembered by memory alone, relative to the opening - and it was right where he'd expected it to be.

He sat back against it, dropping his head back - not quite sharp enough to set the metal over his skull ringing, but hard enough that he was reminded of its presence - and he pulled one leg in towards his chest a bit, to gaze outwards and consciously decide that it was safe enough up here for the moment, that he could relax a bit and release some of his inner built-up tension.

For awhile, at the beginning of it all, he closed his eyes and just breathed.

It was an almost painful feeling in his chest that he felt rise up in him next, as he let the tension slowly ease out of his shoulders, and the back of his neck. The idea that he was taking comfort by being upstairs, here, away from Stan and that other version of himself who was down there… that instead of going to Stan, or at least trying to, he was up here; he had come up here to be with (or at least nearby) Bill Cipher instead…

That slight almost-painful feeling didn't quite go away, even as the rest of the tension slowly eased its way out of his body, but he slowly got used to it, that new hurt. He slowly grew accustomed to it in some small way, until he was just and only sitting there, head back, staring up and out at the stars, sitting there. And he sat there until he slowly closed his eyes again, just breathing, just and only trying to be for a little while there: to simply sit there and breathe and exist. For that to feel alright again, for him to sit there and do so.

To try and have that feel all right again, for him to simply be there and exist there as himself, just... to sit there while not doing much of anything at all at the moment anymore, other than to be… simply him. Stanford Pines. For that to be okay again, for him to do. To just exist and be.

...But of course that wasn't the end of it. Of course that slow-growing uncertainty that had begun when he'd first come up here soon began to rear its ugly head inside his chest once again - with far more of a driving purpose behind it this time.

Because, as Ford reopened his eyes again slowly, he began to wonder if Bill was even around, upstairs, with him, right there and then, after all.

He knew he was in the attic. If he hadn't been able to feel the wood grain below his fingertips, and the slight roughness of it at his back, he might've wondered if he was in the Mindscape again, but he wasn't. With all the stars around and surrounding him here...

(If he'd been set floating up here, he would have begun to panic.)

It was Bill's idea of a space to relax and repose one's mind within, that much was certain. But this wasn't Bill's modus operandi. The last time Ford had been in a 'starry landscape' with the demon, it had been full of books, odds and ends, and papers. He'd (still, at that time) been greeted to cushioned chairs and a chessboard and tea. -A false 'warm welcome', which he was not and had not been expecting here at all, one he would have eschewed, rejected and run from if it had been offered to him again here, in the here and now, but...

...just, and only, a black and empty starscape? With nothing and no-one at all, neither beyond or within its boundaries, except him?

It made Ford feel a little uneasy. And while the stars here were not that cold unending light he was used to seeing from the depths of space - this was more of a softer, gentler twinkling, of the sort one might perhaps expect to see if one was up on a high mountain, or hovering out in the lower atmosphere - it was still a bit… well, not lonely almost, but...

...was Bill actually here?

Ford looked about again, slowly, and then:

"...Bill?" he tried calling out, and...

...There was no response.

Ford waited, and waited, and nothing happened. The stars stayed where they were. What little light there was in no way changed in nature, let alone unexpectedly.

And after a while, long after his uncertainty had begun starting to bleed over from the certainty that 'Bill must be up here, he had to have been paying attention to me below' to a far more uncertain feeling of, 'no, he isn't actually here…'

Bill arrived.

-Not quite abruptly, he faded into sight (and it was only then that Ford realized that there was some sort of directionless light source up here - there had to be, because he'd been able to see himself and his own hands and arms, torso and legs all quite clearly from the time that he'd first come up here). Bill faded into existence at not too far a distance away from him, walking towards him rather purposefully, almost as if he had something in mind-

-and before Ford could straighten in alarm or do much of anything else-

-Bill sat himself down at Ford's side, leaning into him, before Ford even had a chance to form any sort of coherent thought towards worry.

Ford blinked down at the demon.

Bill was sitting next to him now, fully-visible. He was here. The dream demon was well and truly here.

But Bill wasn't sitting next to him as he usually did. Bill was leaning up against his left side. The side of the demon's head was turned away from him a bit, towards the left, and his gaze seemed to be somewhat in that direction, as well. (Ford couldn't quite see his eyes, but he could barely see a bit of his eyelids and eyelashes, and his eyes were somewhat closed, or at least lidded not more than half-open and rather low.) But the side of the demon's head was actually touching up against him as he did this, with a not insignificant amount of pressure. And it reminded Ford of-

Ford blinked.

...It reminded Ford, just a little bit, of when they'd both been down in that basement in that other new dimension, stuck there for eight hours of time.

Except then, Bill hadn't slumped up against him willingly. He'd fallen asleep first, unthinking and unconscious when he'd done it.

This time, Bill was awake.

Ford looked down at him, the demon, not quite staring, and thought about this.

And somehow, it didn't quite feel out of place. Bill was tired, clearly, not just from the lowered eyelids but the slump of his shoulders, and yet...

And yet he'd still let Ford upstairs. He'd let him upstairs, to stay up here with him… when he himself did not want to be downstairs around Stan's twin brother, either.

Ford turned his head away from him slightly, and let out a long, slow breath at the thought of 'solidarity' in the face of this newcomer. Of the fatigue that even Bill was exhibiting here, the slump in his shoulders and the tension in them, too.

And then Ford tilted his head back and said, with almost a rueful smile as the words passed between his lips, "I don't want to be anywhere near him, either."

-Ford really had no idea what happened next.

He felt himself grabbed abruptly at his chest, was barely able to jerk his head down and around, to look down at Bill who was grabbing his sweater in two fists and staring up at him like he was- the demon with an expression on his face that barely registered as- angry? Insane? Irate? Ford had no idea-

-as he was yanked forward abruptly, starfield spinning around him, Ford couldn't think, everything went upside down, he lost his balance and heard the sharp slam of- a door? A large object against something that was-?

-yanked around more fully, lighter area surrounding him now as his vision was spinning about (or was he?) but as he twisted his head around to try and see more fully what-

-sheer vertigo and set-spinning again, another hard yank and he was SLAMMED to the floor(?!) and-

-and Ford fell to his knees, hands, collapsed almost onto his side as he… what… what…?

...what had Bill done?

Ford breathed. He sucked in air as if it was going to vanish on him for a few long moments, because what in the world…?

Once he felt like the world (or his entire existence) was no longer set upon by an insane dream demon into some sort of crazy spin cycle, Ford managed to get his arms out a bit farther away from his chest, down and under him, and… he slowly pushed himself up, slowly raised his head up to scan the immediate and surrounding area.

He was in a… dark room? There was some light here, unlike before - playing off of the surfaces here - so they could not be in outer space. There was air, of a sort he was rather overly familiar with - so they were some sort of planetary body, possibly even the same… yes, this was the proper atmospheric mix - they were most likely at a location on Earth.

Ford slowly got to his knees, then to his feet, and he stood up. He twitched as he heard a 'SLAP' against the floor in front of him and a flare of something around him, and-

-there was Bill Cipher. Bill was standing in front of him, and had stomped his foot down into the ground for some reason.

...and then the demon apparently saw fit to waver in place, swaying from side to side for a few long moments, and then...

...Bill walked over behind a pool chair to sit down, then collapse down on the ground behind it, head vanishing completely behind the obstruction between them.

... Wait. A pool chair?

Ford blinked.

And then Ford turned in place, surveying the area around them a little more carefully, now that his eyes had adjusted better to the somewhat sparse light surrounding them.

...apparently they were in an indoor pool room of sorts? Where were they, exactly? (They couldn't be in Gravity Falls still, could they? He didn't think there were any indoor pool rooms like this in any of the houses in town...)

Ford frowned, as he looked around further. There were several pool chairs and a few tables, surrounding a large swimming pool - a rather fancy one, if he had to guess, what with the multi-tiered levels, the water slide, the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over a lit cityscape at night. ...Wait. Those windows- was this a penthouse?!

...Oh. Oh, of course it was. Ford huffed out a breath. Of course Bill would see fit to drag him from one 'penthouse suite' to another, for no stated reason.

Ford started to walk forward, intent on getting a better look out at the cityscape surrounding the place, to try and see where they were-

-and slammed into an unseen structure directly in front of him, relling away from it and cursing as he slapped a hand up to his nose. Damn it!

Once Ford stopped seeing stars (he'd hit hard enough to clang his forehead off of the thrice-damned thing, too) and finished checking his nose - thank goodness, not broken or even bleeding - the aging scientist glared around at whatever invisible obstruction was in his way.

And when he looked down, he had to stifle a curse.

There was an unbroken line of symbols and unknown writing stretching out in a long curve in front of him, and when he reached out a hand to the air, the curved line of written symbols on the floor below him seemed to align with the unseen obstruction he'd just hit above.

He slid his hand down the wall to the floor, squatting down as he went, and realized that, yes, this was the source of the barrier.

He looked up again and around, and realized that what he'd missed by not seeing it earlier (hardly his fault, in this low a dim light) was an entire circle surrounding both himself and Bill, here. Damn it.

To hell with this. Ford reached for the firearm at his side-

-and his hand hit pure air and kept going past the side of his belt. Ford nearly startled in place, as he pulled his coat away from his side completely and-

He wasn't even wearing his holster.

Ford started cursing under his breath, as he started patting down every inch of every pouch, fold, and pocket he was supposed to have on him, and realized-

-not only had he been completely disarmed, but every last bit of his dimensional travelling gear he'd had on him was gone, along with everything else he usually carried on his person these days.

Ford gritted his teeth.

He turned in place and stomped back over to "Bill!", fully intending to read the demon the riot act as he dropped down to a crouch in front of him. Ford reached out and grabbed him up roughly by the shoulder, because "You-!"

But Ford came to a screeching halt almost immediately, as he started to lift the demon up by said arm, just under his shoulder and armpit. -Not because Bill looked to be asleep, but because Bill wasn't wearing his spacecraft-grade armor.

Ford knew this, because he could feel it. -Not the armor itself, but by the way that the lay of the clothing he was grabbing under his palm slid against squishable and slightly rough human skin instead of slick armor plating… he could tell that it wasn't there. He felt something different instead.

Bill kept the damn suit in 'stealth mode', so that any pressure directly against it would give the same feel as what was below it, up until a point - and at that point, it immediately hardened against anything further, resisting all attempts at further force from being transmitted to what lay below it any further. But such light pressure and friction of clothing moving against it wasn't enough to stop that transmission from occurring.

Bill wasn't wearing his suit of protective armament right now, when Ford was dead-certain that he'd been wearing it just before this.

So when Bill's head twitched oddly on his neck and he made a soft 'hrrRRrrrr'ing sound (not quite dangerous, but not quite something he liked the sound of upon hearing it, either), Ford lowered him to the ground again quickly.

Ford crouched down there on the concrete of the pool deck in front of the demon, and he thought about this.

Ford raised his head again and looked around...

...and Ford let out a sigh as he rubbed a hand over his face. He was simply too tired to deal with any of this right now. He ran a hand over his face as he stood up again. (Hurting Bill wouldn't solve anything. And right now, if Bill was so tired that that hadn't woken him… then trying to fully wake him back up likely wouldn't actually get him anything in the way of an explanation. At this point, Ford knew enough to know that Bill was likely to be largely incoherent if he tried waking him up despite this, even if the demon didn't end up in a largely bad mood upon waking - though that was an almost certainty, given the circumstances at hand.)

Ford let out another sigh, looked around one more time, and then slowly pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to the one pool chair that was fully enclosed within the circle with them. He turned in place upon reaching it, and sat down on the edge of it heavily.

Ford was tired, and he needed sleep, too, loathe as he was to admit it. (He still hadn't managed to find any of the non-decaf coffee that was in the Shack yet, wherever it had currently been re-hidden.)

...Well, at least Bill had left him the pool chair, even as the demon had taken his own apparently-preferred lying-on-a-perfectly-flat-surface option. Balled up into a tiny little triangle, almost. (...Just like he had done down in the corner of the basement of the house owned by his old high school science teacher's dimensional duplicate, the last time he and Bill had both been down there together. ...A sleeping posture the demon had gotten up, then lay down and taken to fall asleep in after leaning on his shoulder just prior. The parallels here did not escape him.)

Ford slowly eased himself away from the edge of the pool chair, and more fully on top of it instead. He turned in place once he was far enough back on it, then lay himself out flat on his back, knitting his fingers together over his chest, right by his heart. He stared up at the ceiling for awhile, and breathed, and he closed his eyes...

...and he thought...

...and he breathed...

...and thought...

...and breathed...

...and…

Ford let out a soft curse again, sat up, then stood up, and he started quickly stripping his trenchcoat off of his frame in short order.

Because damn it all, that was a cold concrete floor Bill was sleeping on, without that armored suit of his and its full climate-control and temperature control suite keeping his body both safe and stable, along with a full air filtration system to match. And Ford would be damned if he was going to sit by and let the crazy dream demon catch a cold, which he would then be the one to have to put up with, the next morning.

He knew what Bill was like on both not enough sleep and not enough food at this point, and he highly doubted that the demon would be any better with a fuzzy-headed cold mucking up his already highly screwed-up general reasoning processes, for what passed for 'clear thought' from the demon. It would likely end up being far worse, in fact.

And the very last thing Ford wanted to find out now, come the next morning, was what Bill Cipher with a cold caught from a chill from sleeping on a concrete floor for too long was going to be like.

So Ford slid off of the pool chair, and managed to lift the demon up, a bit at a time, to lay down his coat out almost completely flat on the floor, pulling it down underneath him. And he somehow managed this whole manhandling process without waking the demon up in the middle of it all, all over again. (Though Bill did start to twitch his arms at the start of his manhandling, his head oddly next, and his breathing began to change…).

Ford managed to set him down not a few seconds after he'd started. He found himself sitting back on the edge of the pool chair again not long after this, leaning forward over his knees and watching over Bill as the dream demon twitched in place intermittently; not waking, but….

Ford listened carefully to the demon's breathing (odd, for awhile - three short breaths, then one long one, before repeating the cycle) as Bill slowly, very slowly, settled out once again. For some unknown reason, Bill's breathing had an almost rough sound to it now, as if the back of his throat was constricting slightly - ready to make an 'hhhh' or a 'kkk', or an 'rrrr' sound perhaps, but not quite - in his sleep. The longer outbreath after the three short ones was almost completely silent, though. And over time, the demon slowly settled...

-up until his whole body flailed out a bit in place unexpectedly, rather spasmodically, and then- Ford blinked as Bill settled out again into a bit less of a balled-up triangle position, to something a little more stretched out and relaxed instead. Bill's breathing became more even after that, quieter and more drawn out then and thereafter.

Ford let out a sigh.

He pushed himself back onto the pool chair, lay himself out flat again.

Then he turned over onto his side (his back facing Bill), and slid one arm under his head, pillowing it. And once he himself had settled down fully for the night, Ford fell asleep himself in short order.

(Back with MizBill)

"Why you, again?" I deadpanned. Got another summoning to my farm planet and here I was, in my dragon form, with Tina in front of me. She huffed. "So, will you answer some of my questions?" I turned my head away. "I am a god, with much more important things to do."

"Please, I just want to know." Tina walked up to my side, no fear at all despite how big I was. "Tell me about Cipher." She asked. That confused me. "If you want any non-existent details of our non-existent romance-"

"He's not actually a bad person, is he?" she said with the self assuredness of someone who was already certain of their conclusion. I paused. "He's a demon god of chaos."

"And it's all an act, isn't it? That's why the Oracle still allows him in, despite everything." Tina grinned at me, we were alone, my worshipper had run off, afraid of Tina incurring my wrath and getting killed for being nearby. I DID show up in full dragon form after all. Still, I scoffed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Why are you also playing along with his act?" she pressed. I didn't say anything. She took a step closer. "Are you both trying to get something? What are you after?" She tapped my side. "And how does Miz fit in with all this?"

"You should stop pursuing this ridiculous theory of yours." I snorted. "Even if it was true, it would do no good to go around spreading that silly idea." I wasn't looking at her, but I could Feel when she understood what I meant. "So there is a reason…" she frowned in thought. "I suppose, if he was working with more illegal methods…"

"Do keep your thoughts to yourself." I rumbled. "Inquisitive ears and Thought-Seekers are everywhere." It shouldn't be a problem, my Deal with Tina ensured her protection. She literally, wasn't allowed to die or be harmed until she could reform the Federation, even if it meant taking it down and restarting from scratch. So she was safe, but her thoughts, that would be trickier. Most psychics and telepaths wouldn't be able to glean anything from her. But if anything directly targeted her, they might be able to learn a few bits of info I'd rather not have getting out.

I worked hard to make Bill Cipher a big name in the multiverse. And I managed to get most people to realize I was a Chaotic Neutral, not Evil. The Federation still lists me as the bad guy because that was tradition by this point. I'm their go-to scapegoat after all. I doubt they'd ever let slip I was actually not 100% a dick, but for the bigger threats, the mob families and criminal organizations, I needed my reputation as a threat to keep them in line.

"Can you pass on a message to Cipher for me?" Tina's words snapped me out of my thoughts. "Though my message is for you as well." I turned to face her, lowering my head and staring right at her. "If I were to restructure the entire governmental system, would I have your support?"

...support? From a dragon god like me, that was understandable. But from Bill? I narrowed my eyes. "And would that be public or…"

"The public wouldn't understand, but it would be bad for my reputation if the truth came out unexpectedly." Tina gave me a firm look. "And good or bad, Cipher is a killer. And help or support I'd want from him would need to be non-lethal."

"...that's a naive way to think of it." I shook my head. "Killing is wrong, as you moral types are so quick to point out, but everything has a time and place. A reason. Things SHOULD have reasons for happening. Motivation." I flexed my claws into the ground, gouging out deep trenches. "You'd do well to remember that. I won't hold back on defending what is mine. Lethally if need be. And neither would Cipher."

"It's still wrong to murder." Tina told me. "And I WILL make a world where that wouldn't have to happen anymore."

"Good luck with that." I rumbled. "For what it's worth, I hope you succeed." And then I got to my feet and flew off. My minor Blessing was cast. My Hope that she would accomplish her goal. It was very minor, almost a good luck charm. It wouldn't alter Fate or anything, just hopefully, make things turn out in her favor. Heck if I knew what it would do, I was still working on understanding Blessings.

I flew around in space for a while, just thinking to myself. What sort of governing body was Tina hoping to create?

So lost in thought, I nearly flew into a space station. I managed to twist in time to avoid a head on collision. I ended up half wrapping my long body around it, resting there as I got my bearings. Ah? This place was...

An arcade? An arcade space station, meant for travelling around and bringing entertainment to people. I peered into one of the windows, seeing the many games and machines inside. The people too. But they weren't playing or having fun, they were staring, for some reason. Pointing too. What're they pointing at-

Oh, me. Whoops. Sorry! I didn't mean to fly into you. I hummed and floated a little further away. That didn't seem to make them feel any better. I blinked when a section opened and a holoscreen popped up. [Please don't eat us] I almost laughed. I floated a little further away and looked around for who was the person typing the message. Ah, found her. I focused and mentally told her 'Don't worry, I'm not hungry. Just curious.'

There was a pause. Then the holoscreen spelled out. [Do… you not know what an arcade is?] to which I laughed. 'I've heard of them, haven't actually been to one before.' which was true, I hadn't really tried going to arcades out here in space. Too many people who'd probably panic and then the police would get called and then no one was going to have a good time. I've been to plenty of other places for playing, but not specifically an arcade. And… oooh this one had those games that gave tickets that you could trade in for prizes! I wanted to try! I wanted to play!

I stopped myself before I actually shrank down to do so. It'd be unfair if I went to play at an arcade without everyone. I mean, if I couldn't compare how many tickets I won to Teeth, then how was I living?! He was still beating me 10/3 and I need to find some way to catch up! Really, he's too good at videogames, but arcade games were different! Maybe I could finally win against him! I shook my head. No, that still led back to the original problem of staying away from arcades. Hm… I wonder if my friends would agree to the lot of us being shapeshifted for the duration?

[Does sir dragon wish to… watch us play?] I shelved that thought for now and turned back to the lady. 'No, I'm afraid I've frightened you all already. I apologize. I will leave.' and then I turned to fly away, heading back home to the Death Star to think about how to go about getting me and my friends into an arcade without causing a scene...

"Bill, care to tell me why there's an online petition for [build giant arcades for giant beings]?" Teeth asked me quite seriously when I got home and was back to being my adorable triangular self. I stared at the article he pulled up on his Com to show me. "Shit… news travels fast." Seriously, I'm wondering if introducing the concept of Google into the multiverse was a good idea or not anymore. Faster spread of information, which made it easier for people to find out stuff, but wow. Hang on… "Lemme see that article…" I took the Com from him and scrolled through. Huh. So apparently the arcade I was JUST at, felt bad that they weren't catering to gigantic sized beings (such as dragons) who might have wanted to play at their establishments. I mean, cool, I guess. But I also got the feeling that they wanted to see if they could charge money off me to go… ah, they mention that they take other forms of currency for people who didn't have Credits.

Huh. I don't count myself as having much money as Xin, I'm a harvest god for crying out loud! Hell, if they just wanted to cater to someone for monetary gain, they'd be going after me as Bill. I'm GOLD!

...then again, Xin's scales were also golden in nature. I wonder if they'd ask for one of my scales as payment. Even if you disregard the whole 'gold' thing, one of my scales (or even one of my bricks as Bill) would have enough stored energy within it to power their entire space station. Huh, between that Deal I just made and this thing here now, I'm getting the feeling that 'energy' is the hot word of the day. Was there something going on?

I handed the Com back to Teeth. "Well." I blinked. "I wonder how they're gonna rearrange a DDR machine for a dragon…"

Teeth's jaw dropped. "So this IS about you?!" He laughed. "Of course it is! What'd you do now?"

"I've never been to an arcade before." I told him. "The ones with the tickets and prizes. And I was in my dragon form and staring at one. So… I guess they felt bad?" I scratched my hat. "Actually, there IS a severe lack of commercial play-time locations built for beings that big. Even Teeth's colonies were only the size of a 4 story building (5 for the particularly tall ones). For things like… cosmic giants? They don't have any. Huh. I wonder if that's why Time Baby's so grumpy all the time. He's always working, and I think the only time he has any recreation time (HAH) for himself was when I took him with me to play (shrinking him down for convenience) and Globnar...

You know what? I really need to get that auto-Time Pillar up so I can get Time Baby some free time (HAH! Too easy!) to just… relax. Maybe then, he'd be less of a bitch.

...should go ask Brother about that. Erm… but he's still worried about me going over while 'Ford's there. Well… if I just… do it from within the Mindscape, without making a vessel, it should be fine...

"We need to go to an arcade." Teeth called my attention back outside myself. "I'm surprised you've never been."

"It's me." I deadpanned. "But if we all go in disguise, I bet we could. Make a note Teeth, we're going to an arcade someday! When everyone's free." I nodded. He laughed. "I'm gonna get my name on all the high scores. Start a legend!" I could see him floating off into his own fantasies about it. "You do that. I'm gonna go take a nap."

I searched for Xanthar and Saw him in Dimension 52, getting pampered by the shrine maidens. Aw~ lucky. Well he was busy. I didn't want to bother him just because I wanted a nap to go visit my brother. I could just go to sleep in my room… but I would rather be with someone if I could. Hm… who's free right now?

"Ammy!" I cheered as I popped up beside him. To my disappointment, he wasn't startled at all. Not even a jump or a squeak. He simply looked up from the paper clippings he was cutting up and said, "Hello mother."

"What 'cha doooing?" I sat down beside him on the ground and looked at his work. Oh. He was getting more pieces to add to his conspiracy board. I leaned back to look at the other corkboards lining all the walls of his bedroom. Huh. Imagine that. He found the 6 degrees of Kevin Spacecon between the AXOLOTL and Yoland… I wonder if the Prinny would be honored to learn that? I admit, I haven't seen her since… since Pynelope was killed...

"I am putting up the latest parts of my research." Ammy said simply. He lifted the scrap of paper, with a picture of Blue (?) and pinned it onto one of the boards. When he got that photo, I had no idea. I watched him work for a while before asking, "Can I take a nap here?"

"Sure." He agreed easily. "Thanks Ammy~" I flopped down on some pillows and conked out back into my dreamscape.

MizBill tumbled out of Blue's Door, not into Blue's dimension, like he thought he would, but Seb's. Huh? Blue was back here again?

He looked around and spotted Blue first, the pretty hair color popping out at him. Asleep in Stan's pool room again? And then MizBill's eye was caught by the OTHER person there. That Stanford. Wait… what?! What was he doing here?! MizBill looked around, the sun was just about rising and pretty soon, the rest of the Pines were going to wake up. And that meant...

"Oi… why'd you bring your Ford here?" MizBill muttered quietly to himself. Then he shrugged it off, because the comedy potential of such a thing was way more interesting! MizBill giggled as he pulled together a new vessel, dispersing the Miz vessel asleep in the guestroom and repurposing it for Jan's. Jan floated down to stand on the pool room floor and stretched, reorienting himself with this body. He laid down on another pool chair, near the edges of the barrier Blue had built around himself and his Stanford. "You're more tired than you told me you were." Jan scolded quietly, so as not to wake them. "I don't like you being so tired and worn out. Is there some way I could help you regain your energy levels?" he asked, even if Blue was asleep and unable to hear him. He felt better saying it aloud. Just 'cause. Jan also flexed his hand, materializing the modified version of the cybersuit Blue kept on insisting that he wear- funny, since Blue didn't have his own suit with him right now- which Jan had changed into (the) only (necessary physical component for it to work and 'cover' him all completely being) an arm brace, because he just didn't feel comfortable with the whole thing on. He pulled up the readings that only he could see, and checked on his brother. Status: Asleep. Well, yes, Jan knew that.

What he wanted to know was Blue's energy levels, how bad off he really was. Jan had the distinct feeling that Blue was overworking himself- hah! And to think he told Jan off all the time for it! Seriously, was there a way to see other people's energy levels?

He tried finding a way to access it, but Error: Insufficient permissions level was all that he could get out of the blasted thing. Darn. ...Guess he'd just have to try asking him. Probably say 'operational security' again, though. Jan pouted.

That Stanford didn't look like he was stirring anytime soon, and Jan kind of wanted to let his brother be for the moment. -Ooh, but he was probably going to be really hungry when he finally woke up though, right?

Jan not quite skipped off to the kitchen, intent on making breakfast for his big brother. Because as unhappy as he was at Blue's energy levels likely being so low, he WAS happy to see his big brother again so quickly! (And without getting in trouble for going back where that other 'Ford was, even!)

Let's see… what to make… well, if Jan had some time for this, and could just go off and grab anything he wanted from planet Earth… well… he'd never worked with ghost peppers before… Jan perception filtered the shit outta himself and slid right out and away into the city. Where's the nearest fancy supermarket? He flicked his fingers and changed his outfit into a large baggy sweatshirt, to hide his extra arms. He didn't like doing it, but perception filters caused glitches with cameras and surveillance devices, so he was going to need the extra protection.

So the early morning workers of the store opened their doors and were left shocked still at the gorgeous young man waiting outside. "Good morning~!" The young man chirped out in a voice that made this worker feel weak in the knees. "G-good morning," she stammered, blushing profusely when the man laughed. "Sorry for being here so early, just trying to get some grocery shopping done before the good stuff gets taken, right?"

The young woman nodded, stepping back as the beautiful man walked past her. She didn't know his name, or anything about him… but she could watch him forever~ 3

Jan strolled down the aisles, picking out the spices he needed and putting them into the basket he'd snagged from the entryway. In his pocket was Stan's credit card. Heck, it's fine, Stan already got gold off him before, so he saw no reason why he couldn't borrow the man's credit card for some shopping.

Jan (unknowingly) seduced all the morning workers that day. He also made his way back to Stan's penthouse with multiple bags of fresh greens and spices. And a few cartons of eggs, Stan was running low. Upon arriving back, Jan checked the time, eight thirty-ish. So Ford was probably going to be up for his cup of coffee soon. Jan put the products down in the kitchen and started working. Separate breakfasts for Blue than the rest of them. Jan really didn't want another argument to break out...

Ford yawned as he made his way to the kitchen. The house was quiet, it was nice having some peace before his niblings (and Seb) woke up and began screaming. He was also wondering if Miz was already awake; he didn't see her when he woke. Ford had gotten used to Miz crawling into bed with him by this point. He didn't mind, the guest bed was large and there was more than enough room...

There were clanging sounds from the kitchen. Ah, Miz was awake then. Ford sniffed the air and sighed. Oh. What was she cooking today? It smelled pretty good. He stepped in and blinked when he didn't see Miz, but Jan. "Morning, Fordsie~" The four armed humanoid called back to him without looking away from the stove top with multiple pots bubbling away.

"Morning Mi- I mean… Jan?" Ford tried with a smile. He only met Jan that one time after all. How many different forms and names did William even have? He went to the coffee maker and was pleasantly surprised to see that Jan had already brewed a fresh pot. "What's the occasion? That looks like a lot of work for breakfast," Ford noted as he poured himself a mug.

"Well, Blue's back-" and Ford nearly, nearly spit-took his coffee, but managed not to. "-and I think he's lower energy'ed than he pretends to be, so I'm gonna make him an extra nutritious breakfast today!" Jan stirred the pot and nodded at the color.

"Well~ That's~ fast" Was the first thing Ford got to say. Really, he'd feel much better if Blue liked him. It would be really cool to talk to him about the dimensions and things he could learn without him going all questioning and demanding on him.

"I know, I think he just liked it here~ Or probably got tired of that other Ford. Probably the latter." Jan whispered the last part. "Dunno why he brought his Sixer here though…" Ford almost did another spit take. "Excuse me?"

"Oh yeah, brother bought one of the Fords from his dimension here." Jan shrugged, stirring multiple pots at once. "By the way, I made curry today. This pot here is Blue's." He pointed at it. "So no one else is allowed to eat it."

"Ok." Ford shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. At some point, while Ford just watched Jan hum and prepare breakfast, Seb stumbled into the kitchen, all disheveled and sleepy. "Oh hey~ I was going to make breakfast, good thing. I can go back to sleep.." He left the kitchen just as sleepy, making Ford snort. But then, his demon kids came running towards him, almost slamming him against the wall. ""POOL!""

Seb groaned. Why did they like the pool so much?!

"Can we go?!" "No." "Please?" "Ok." Was all it took the twins to convince their dad. "But first breakfast, and you gotta say hi to everyone AND go with Diego, so you gotta wait."

The twins groaned. And their swimsuits were left there to dry too. So no pool yet...

"Come here and eat first you little gremlins!" Jan called out, levitating the bowls over. "Besides, the pool room needs quiet time right now. Blue's sleeping." That made Seb wake up with a shock. "Blue's back?! Already!?" He couldn't keep the whine out of his voice. Jan scoffed. "Sit down and eat, Seb."

And so they did. And Jan repeated the 'good news' to the rest of the family as they trickled in. And while everyone was eating, Jan took a few plates and bowls to put in the pool room for when Blue and his Stanford woke up.

Ford groaned a little in his sleep. He was tired. But there was… something… a smell in the air. It smelled really good...

He slowly began to rise out of a series of odd dreams that he couldn't quite remember to wakefulness. ...It wasn't quite fair, really. Stan had talked about making something quite fragrant the next morning for breakfast, to just about drag Bill downstairs - either to eat or to complain all about 'smelling and noses', but he hadn't quite considered the potential consequences to his own nose in the process...

Ford just lay there for a while, unmoving.

But then he began to frown as he slowly became aware of the fact that his bed was feeling unusually firm and segmented for some reason today...

Ford slowly opened his eyes...

...and realizing that he was staring straight into two sets of much smaller ones.

Ford blinked. The two sets of eyes (in two human children's heads) blinked right back.

And then Ford said, "Ah… greetings?" (Damn you, Bill. He'd assumed that it was likely that the whole place was empty. Where the hell had Bill taken them?!)

"He looks like uncle Sixer." One of the children said. "Look, he has his hands. Is he another uncle?"

"Nah, old. Very old. Like, 1000!" The girl moved from side to side.

What? "I assure you, I am not a thousand years old," Ford told the child as he slowly levered himself upright (now finally having fully remembered where he was and what exactly he had fallen asleep on the night prior).

"Oh. ok...Whatcha doing here?" "We're going to go to the pool!" They proudly showed him their swimming suits. "Uncle Stan said we can't swim yet though because he doesn't want us having cramps later and puking in his pool," Zoe laughed.

"I'm…" Then the rest of it registered with him. "Wait. Did you say 'uncle Sixer'?" he queried out of both of them, "And 'uncle Stan'?" he was starting to feel more than a little alarmed.

"Yeah!" The girl nodded. "They're daddy's brothers, duh! Your uncle is your daddy or mommy's brother." The boy made a 'duh' face.

...Sherman's children. Who he'd never met? Except he'd thought there'd only been the one and- oh, Bill must've pulled him into that other newer dimension and-

"Would you excuse me for just one moment?" Ford asked of the two children, with a smile that was rather more strained than he liked, as he stood up onto his feet.

His face was twitching slightly, as he rounded the side of the pool chair, and- Bill was asleep. Of course he was.

"-Bill." No response, just breathing. "Bill." Damn you, you blasted.

Ford pulled in a breath, squatted down in front of the insane triangle, and slammed a palm into the concrete floor right by his head. "BILL!"

The last seemed to do the trick. The demon let out a soft groaning noise and began to stir.

Ford waited rather impatiently (yes Stan, he did remember the absolutely unnecessary lecture that he'd been given on the subject of waking Bill up) as Bill slowly blinked his eyes open, slowly sat himself upright, paused, and slowly seemed to begin to come back to his senses after that.

"Bill," Ford ground out with very tried patience, "Where are we-"

"Blue!" The twins recognized the groggy blue-haired brother of their big sis. "You came back!"

"-and what did you do," Ford ground out at him next, glaring.

"Ss'ihX'r?gt;" Blue said, using Galactic Standard pronunciation while sounding half-asleep, as he swayed in place slightly, blinking, and staring up at him. He looked more than a little confused, as he stared up at Ford where he was crouching in front of him blearily.

"Oh, you're awake." Another voice called over. (Ford looked up, and his expression dropped immediately. Because he recognized-) Jan walked into the room with some towels over his arms, having left to get them for his siblings. "Your breakfast is over there. The blue plates are yours. The red plates are that Stanford's."

"Stanford? Like Uncle Sixer?" Zach asked Jan who patted his head. "Yup." And didn't explain much, just to ensure the chaos would soon happen.

Ford stood up in place, hand reaching for his (missing) gun before he had to abort the motion... "What are you doing here; Bill said you left." The 'dimensional set', which was supposedly some sort of thing.

"I… did? I went home. And then I went to go and visit some of my other Doors." Jan shrugged. "I can do that. It's kinda my thing." He placed another hand on Zoe's head and pet her. "And frankly, I happen to like this little dimension here~" He swept the two children up into his arms and snuggled them. "After all~ I have these sweet little monsters all to myself~"

Ford glared at him, pulling in a breath, about to read the man-eater the riot act-

"The twins leaved me!" Another child's voice squeaked. "Oh I know~ We'll both splash them sooo much!" Seb ran into the room with Diego on his shoulders, having been chosen to watch the toddlers.

-and it didn't take much for Ford to recognize the 'fire spirit' from his gait, posture of how he held himself, and the cadence of his speech - he'd recognized other demons by less, and the presence of the man-eater in the exact same location was also a very big clue.

"-YOU!" Ford thundered out at him, bristling in place.

Seb blinked. "Me?" He was very confused. Wasn't his brother- wait, no, this Ford was old. This wasn't his triplet.

Ford stepped forward, then had to stop short in place as he damn near hit the barrier again (and did brush up against it with his left hand, in fact).

"Calm down you lunatic," Bill muttered behind him, scrubbing a hand through his terrible bedhead. Then, and far more suspiciously: "...Why am I sitting on your coat?"

Ford was not calming down. "You're that so-called 'fire spirit' pretending to be-" Bill Cipher? No, wait that had been- Ford glared at him angrily for the supposed 'joke' he'd played on him, between seeming possessed by Bill, what with that one eye of his, and the devouring of his body by the man-eater shortly thereafter upon capture.

Jan snorted, barely hiding his mirth behind Zach's fluffy hair.

Seb put Diego down, because he was still so confused. "What? Technically I am a 'fire' something, ok, you… old... Ford? I have fire powers and it just so happens to be the best of my abilities."

"Sixer, just-" Bill began, starting to sound annoyed, as he got to his feet.

"-Don't call me that!" Ford grated out at Bill, turning around to nearly shout it back at him. (Bill looked like he was starting to get a headache.) "What dimension are we in, and why are those children calling you Blue?! That isn't your name-"

"What's all this shouting in here?!" A woman's voice called out, and Ford froze in place. That voice…

He turned around slowly, and saw someone he never thought he'd see again. All the blood drained from his face. This wasn't… possible… This…

"Bill," Ford said slowly, not looking away from her. "What dimension are we in."

Kari blinked at the old man in the pool room. A stranger, at least… it should have been, but she knew that face. "...what's going on here?" she asked Blue, spotting him easily.

"This crazy lunatic just came and started pointing at me!" Seb complained before looking at Blue and then back at old Ford. Wait… "HAHAHAHA! YOU'RE THE FORD WE TRAUMATIZED!" Seb pointed at the Ford. (Ford bristled at this. -He wasn't traumatized; far from it!)

"Surprised you didn't recognize him sooner," Blue told Seb sardonically. "Pretty sure he gave as good as he got with YOU, though," Blue noted.

"I was blinded by his hurtful words~" Seb grinned at the demon.

"What. Dimension." Ford repeated.

Blue grumbled out something under his breath that Ford didn't quite catch, then: "Dimension 46-apostrophe-backslash."

Ford turned back towards him, "No, we just came from-" Ford stopped.

He knew that they'd just come from Dimension 46'\ because when he'd first got back, he'd checked the dimension he was in, just to be certain. Things had felt just a little off, and because he'd been in Dimension 46, he'd wanted to be sure that he was home.

So this couldn't be Dimension 46'\ because they'd just come from there, except Bill wasn't lying.

And Bill had talked about repeats. Repeated dimensions.

And Bill had talked about dimensional sets.

And...

Ford swallowed.

He breathed very carefully.

And then Ford said, "Bill… what did you do?" He breathed. "You said that… those 'doors' to other sets… were in the Mindscape." So how were they here? What had Bill done to him?

"Blue. Explain. NOW." Kari glared. "Who is this man? He looks like my son, but last I checked, my little Stanford was only in his 40s."

"Haha… Little… Wait a second, mom!" Seb groaned. They weren't little!

"He's my Zodiac," Blue told her. "One of my 'Zodiac Ten'. He's m-mmm..." Blue paused, then stopped right there, as Ford stared at him.

"Ooh!" Jan raised a hand into the air. "Dimensional sets, alternative dimensions! And different circumstances leading to different timelines! That Ford is from Blue's dimensional set. I dunno why he brought him here though…" Jan pouted. "But at least that vessel doesn't have any of his dangerous equipment on him."

Ford continued staring at Bill.

"Bill…" Ford said slowly. (Bill's shoulders came up a little bit.) "What. Did. You. Do."

Blue's shoulders tensed a little bit more, and Blue started to shift from side to side, just a little bit, still not looking at him.

"Bill-" Ford began again.

"-You said you didn't want to be anywhere around him, too!" Bill spat out at him suddenly, just as suddenly staring right at him now, eyes wide and pupils cat-slitted. "It's YOUR fault! -You shouldn't just go around SAYING things like THAT to me, when I'm THAT tired!" Bill complained at him next.

Jan straightened. "Oh, so you're both hiding out from that 'Ford?"

"-I'm not HIDING," Blue complained next, grumbling. "I'm just not being there right now. I want to be here instead," Blue stressed determinedly to his little sister, crossing his arms.

Then he had to look up at that Stanford, after he walked back over to him to come to a stop right in front of his face.

"How did we get here, Bill," Ford stressed (feeling very stressed himself at present. Because-)

A flicker of expression moved across Bill's face, almost too fast for Ford to catch it. Almost.

Ford felt himself go a bit pale again, at the realization that Bill Cipher himself thought he had screwed something up, as Bill quickly rattled off, "It's fine, that vessel is yours, yours, and yours, all yours, I made it for you but-"

Ford started to shake slightly in place.

"-It's fine, completely fine, almost a body-really, completely and totally yours," Bill rattled off next, waving his hands around almost frantically as he talked before shoving both hands into Ford's chest like he was pushing it off on him almost roughly-

-and Ford captured both of Bill's hands in his own, which left the demon looking (and feeling) both nonplussed and blinking.

"It's fine. You're allowed to use my Doors." Jan frowned, worried about how Blue was acting. "And this dimension isn't made out of my dead body, so it's fine to make him a vessel here-"

"Your dead WHAT?!" Seb stared at him, horrified. Jan rolled his eyes. "Not the point, Seb."

Ford stared down at the insane demon in front of him. He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe for a moment. Then again. Then again.

Then, finally, he (without reopening his eyes) slowly and carefully said, "Bill. Where is my body right now?"

"...Back in our dimensional set in Dimension 46-apostrophe-backslash," Bill said next.

"You pulled me out of my body, and into the Mindscape." "...Mm." "Without asking first." "...Mmm." (Which Stan had told him not to do to any one of them without at least talking about it with them and Stanley first.)

Ford counted to ten (while trying not to panic horribly; Bill might have created this whatever-it-was he was in, but he'd given it over to him more than three times already, that really wasn't the most concerning part of the issue here now). And the Ford said, "How did you pull me out of my body and into the Mindscape, without me giving you permission to do so?" he asked of Bill next, sounding far more calm than he actually felt at the moment. "We don't even have a deal anymore, right now."

"-I don't need permission to push someone out of their body and into the Mindscape, Stanford," Bill told him next rather peevishly, sounding almost annoyed. "I usually only ask first for courtesy."

"I can confirm that…" Seb mumbled. "I don't need permission either."

Ford reopened his eyes. He stared down at Bill almost incredulously.

(Ford did not ask, 'Then why didn't you do that to me when I was trying to destroy the portal?' Because why did Bill do anything that he wanted to do?)

"It's only polite to ask, but we don't need to." Jan nodded, then he grinned. "Well, for a half-asleep slap-dash… he didn't turn out all that bad." Jan was walking around Ford and admiring the view. "Good job bro!"

"-I didn't screw up that vessel of yours," Bill reiterated firmly. "The only thing I skimped on was-" The demon paused for a moment, and looked down at himself.

"I seem to be missing more than a few things here, Bill," Ford noted dryly, as he picked up his (now-freed) trenchcoat up off of the concrete, to finally put it back on where it belonged (on his person).

"Because I made your vessel from scratch, and I didn't feel like recreating all of your gadgets and electronics," Bill told him next. "Not to mention the fact that if I had done that, you'd be spending your time throwing them all in the pool over there anyway, thinking that you just couldn't trust them, because I could have done a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g at all to them that you don't know about and can't test for." (Ford grimaced at this.) "I also left out several viruses and bacteria that you really didn't need, because not cross-contaminating other 'sets with potentially different pathogens is a thing. -You're welcome."

"Thank you~" Jan said, like a good little sister at his big brother's very thoughtful modifications. Seb just whispered a soft wow. "That sounds so gross...I wanna learn." He gently pulled at Jan's sleeve like a child, making him grin. "I'll walk you through vessel creation later."

"Of course!" Blue said next, preening slightly.

The demon lost the preening look when Ford said to him next, "You also seem to be missing your suit."

"I'm not missing it," Bill told him. "I'm deliberately not arming myself with it, because of Seb," he said next, gesturing at said-Seb. "I didn't come here last time to try and start a fight."

"Last time," Ford echoed. "When was this?"

"...Right after lunch back in our own 'set," Bill muttered out, before tugging his hands away and out of Ford's own, 'uncapturing' them from him.

Ford let him do so. He breathed in. Breathed out again.

Breathed in again and said, "You do realize that Stanley is going to ask you what you've been up to since he saw you last at lunch, once we get back."

"-Of course he is," Bill snapped back, crossing his arms again, not quite a complaint.

Ford reminded himself to breathe again here. Stan wasn't here, he was in the presence of three 'demons' (though none of them were Outsiders, apparently, if he understood the situation correctly). The man-eater had more control and influence over Bill than even Stan did, and-

"-Bill, why are we here?" Ford said again, not knowing what to think, and almost worried at his own lack of panic over the situation. He had no control or influence over Bill himself, and should have had the adrenaline rush of a lifetime driving him and his actions right now, and yet-

"I could text him, and let him know?" Jan spoke up.

"-No!" Bill said immediately, and Ford said at the same time, almost reflexively, "-I don't think..."

Then they both stopped, paused really, and looked back at each other. Staring.

-and yet, this felt like the starry sky in that attic room to him still. This felt like the basement in his high school science teacher's house. This felt like… it felt like...

"-You didn't actually mean to bring me here, did you?" At the look of sheer protest on Bill's face, Ford quickly added, before the demon could interrupt, "-You said as much earlier, when you told me you only brought me here because you were tired," Ford stressed. (And he wondered, in a corner of his mind, if this was how Mabel had felt when she'd realized on the deck of that boat that-) "You made a mistake."

At the absolutely furious look on Bill's face, Ford knew he'd gotten it right.

"Stan is going to ask you, once we get back," Ford almost breathlessly reminded the demon next, and he knew he was walking on thin air with absolutely nothing below him as he did it. Because the idea that the 'threat' of Stan finding out something that he didn't like having some actual sort of effect on Bill in this situation was completely ludicrous and laughable beyond belief-

...And yet he saw Bill stop himself, barely hang onto that anger, and clamp down on it as though gritting his teeth was helping the demon help to hold it all in, eyes closed as well.

"Your. Fault." Bill repeated, before opening his eyes again and glaring. "You're the one who can't decide whether you want to act like my six-fingered hand or not! -So don't come crying to me when I start trying to do things for you, again! Because I was tired!"

"So was I," Ford murmured out next, and that left Bill staring at him for some reason that Ford couldn't quite comprehend. (It was a little uncomfortable, though.)

"It's fine, you were half asleep right?" Jan tried to reassure his brother. "Stanley can't blame you for that."

"So… that's my son… from some alternate future?" Kari finally said. She sighed. "Well, now that that's settled. Please eat breakfast. It's going to get cold. But really, you shouldn't have brought their food to the pool room," Kari told Jan. "What if the children splash pool water into it?"

"Don't worry, there are tables further away. And I'm sure the gremlins and their sire know how to respect people's food…" Jan gave his siblings and adopted father a level stare. Zach nodded, like the good boy he was. Zoe huffed with folded arms. "I won't splash their food." She shook her head. "I will wait for after they finish eating to splash them!"

Ford looked over at them. He felt almost numb, looking at this dimension's version of… He knew it was probably going to start hurting soon, though.

But then Ford paused and said, "Gremlins and sire?" while blinking at them all.

"Miz- um… Jan now, always calls us that." Zoe pouted. "I dunno why." Jan giggled and poked her belly. "Because you're a gremlin~"

"Don't even think about messing with my kids," Seb not quite growled out at him next, which left Ford blinking.

"Your…" Ford blinked, then blinked again, looking between them. And then also over at Wanda when she came in, as Bill waved a hand over at her, too. "Oh." He compared the apparent genetics, looking between all of them, and- "...Oh."

And then Ford relaxed almost completely. (He'd been rather certain at this point that both Bill and the man-eater were a different kind of demon, not from the Outside as it were. But he hadn't known for certain about this 'fire spirit' one. But now he did. -Outsiders and demons of that ilk couldn't have children.)

Blue noted this, and made a gesture, 'tattoo'ing himself up, before making a second gesture to remove the 'nobody in or out' part of the set of barrier wards that he'd re-erected right before he'd fallen asleep the night before.

"I…" Ford began, then glanced around quickly at the flash of light, and the apparent change in the wards, before looking back over at Bill again. He paused for a moment, at the look of the black up Bill's hands, arms, and legs, the 'brick' pattern running up under his chin, and the way he was running a hand through his hair to grow it out to a much longer ponytail-length.

"What," said Bill, as he noticed Ford staring. "Takes less energy if I set it up this way, with magic. -Vessel, not my body," he noted, as he seemingly pulled a dark piece of leather 'string' out of nowhere, and twisted it several times around the base of the ponytail he was holding at the back of his head, using the piece of string to tie up his hair. "Don't go tossing a fit, there's no yellow here," Ford was told by him next.

"And brother prefers long hair." Jan pointed out helpfully. After all, he'd done this over in Jan's home dimension too, not just here the last time he'd visited Seb's set as well.

"I'm not-" Ford stopped. Then he asked carefully, "Bill, did you do something to make me stay calm at all this?"

"No," Bill told him, dropping his hands as he finished tying up his hair. "That's probably just the shock and the overload. I did move you around pretty damn quickly," the demon muttered out next.

"...Right," Ford said under his breath. The children, bored by all this, ran off to jump into the pool with a chorus of, """Weeee!"""

"Breakfast time. Need food," Bill said next, wandering out of the circle on the concrete and over to the table. From the look of things, and how excited the man-eater was at Bill's particular pronouncement, Ford got the distinct feeling that said man-eater had made it - which meant he wasn't about to touch it, let alone eat any of it.

Ford gingerly tried moving past it himself next, and after a wave of his hand through it, walked across the boundary line and through it as well. Glancing back at Bill, he slowly made his way over to the 'fire spirit'. The man was ushering the twins to go to the other end of the pool farthest away from him, for some reason. Perhaps because it was more shallow over there?

"I… believe I do owe you an apology over the misunderstanding in my own… dimension," Ford said, as he caught up to him. Because if the 'fires spirit' really thought that he would attack his children, then there had to be some sort of dreadful misunderstanding going on. "And…" he glanced over at the… 'fire spirit's children, playing in the pool, "I also owe you an apology for thinking you were a demon of… a particularly terrible sort." (Yes, he was still struggling for how to term and think of these things, still. Luckily, this dimension was different enough from his own that his dimension-hopping skills were kicking in almost automatically - which was part of the reason he was starting to roll with things better, instead of just panicking instead.)

"Oh. It's ok, I'm fine~ I have no more panic attacks about that sort of thing...Though tying people up is not cool. But it's cool." Seb reached for a high six with his right hand. Ford didn't high six him back, but it caught him off guard to see his 6 fingers; he startled in place. Seb shrugged off. "No high six then, that's fine too."

"Your children… They mentioned an Uncle Stan, and Uncle Sixer?" Ford asked instead, to try to understand the situation here better. He'd been more than a little off when he'd tried making any assumptions at all about Dimension 46; he didn't want to make the same mistake here.

"Oh. Yeah, they're my brothers, cool uh? So… would that make us technically brothers too?!" Seb gasped dramatically.

"Your…" Ford frowned. "No, that wouldn't. I…" He paused. "Are you… Shermie here?" he asked somewhat uncertainly.

"I'm… Shermie?" Seb snorted with laughter. "Haha! Hahahaha! No! Shermie's my younger brother. I'm Sebastian, nice ta see ya again, traumatized Ford," he teased lightly.

"I'm not traumatized," Ford repeated. But now Ford was even more confused by the state of things as they were in this dimension. "So, you're… their younger brother, then?" Ford was having trouble even thinking what life would have been like growing up with another brother who was almost their same age. (He had no idea that Seb was a reincarnated Bill Cipher. Most of what Miz had said back when he'd 'broken' there for a bit in the woods at the idea of multiple Bill Ciphers several weeks ago now hadn't quite tracked. Even after she'd tried to explain it.)

"Nah, we're triplets!" Seb grinned proudly. "Though I am younger than them by… I don't know, 45 minutes probably?" He shrugged.

Ford's forehead scrunched up in almost absolute incomprehension, because… "I can't imagine what that must have been like, growing up," he said, with a complete and perfect honesty.

"It was hell, I assure you." Kari drawled from where she was lounging. "You have no idea how much work it took to keep three trouble makers like them out of trouble." She shrugged. "I bet your mother had it much easier." (Ford froze in place a little as she talked, then looked a little uneasy as the actual topic of discussion began to register.)

"Ppft!" Seb rolled his eye. "I think it was fun, for the most part." He smiled at him. This Ford was more like the one from his other dimension. His original one.

Ford looked back over at Bill, checking to make sure the man-eater wasn't doing anything too terrible to him (they were still largely just eating), before walking a bit closer towards this 'Sebastian'. "I… What year is this?" He didn't quite dare ask after his alternate self and Gravity Falls. Was this other him still behind the portal? Had that even happened in the first place - was the man-eater the local 'Bill Cipher' here? If Seb had children this young, then there was no way that Shermie could have even had any children yet himself, unless the age difference varied as much as the 'extra brother' did? So Mabel and Dipper must not exist here yet, either...

"It's 2018. The stuff in Gravity Falls already happened. We stopped the local Weirdmageddon and I killed the local Bill." Seb answered with a shrug. He could see the gears in Ford's head trying to understand. God, it was so funny~~

Ford was frowning hard. How were they in the future and so young?! How was this fire spirit the- the triplet of this Stan and Ford?! His mom… this parallel alternate version of... their mother, was both here and alive still, and…

Are your brothers 'fire spirits' or some other sort of spirits, of one sort or another, as well?" Ford said, trying to wrap his brain around this one. It was a bit of a relief to hear that the local Bill had died; not so much that they hadn't been able to stop him without their own local Weirdmageddon.

"Nah, they're human." Seb shrugged again. "Which means they're booooring~" he sang. "Sixer would KILL to get my powers though~ Not sure about Fez, he isn't really into weirdness." Seb hummed before briefly turning away to tell the toddlers to be careful. The third toddler didn't seem like his son though and he wasn't Shermie's son...

Ford winced. If that were the case, then that may be why this Sebastian was so worried about him being around his own children. "I assure you, I have no interest in trying to take your powers, or in going after your children for any sort of reason related to them either," Ford assured him. "Though, I have to ask - if neither of them have powers, and you are triplets, why are you the odd one out?" Ford asked of him next.

Seb paused at that and raised an eyebrow. He looked at Jan who waved it off. "I told him, he didn't listen. It's on you whether you want to tell him or not."

Seb hummed. Yeah~ He wasn't going to have another Ford freaking out at him… "I used to be a...spirit, yeah. Got reborn. Have leftover powers. And I remember because the Axolotl is a bitch."

(Sigh) (-_-)

That sounded suspiciously like a lie to Ford. ...And he knew at least one being here who he could tell for certain was or wasn't lying to him or not.

"Bill," Ford said next, while not looking away from Seb at all. "Is that true?"

"HA," said Bill. "That's one way to put it." Before Ford could protest, Bill then added, "Another way to put it more ACCURATELY is to say that that one's another Bill Cipher who's from another 'set completely, who the local stupid lazy DERANGED lizard SCREWED OVER ENTIRELY, by ripping his UNDERSTANDING of anything-and-everything right out from under him in the process, and- what," Bill said next to Seb, "If I had to think about it, I'm NOT letting him get off that easy," he said, pointing to Ford as Seb sent him a dirty look next. "I'm spreading the whole 'that lizard is stupid as the day is long and COMPLETELY out of whatever passes for its skull' thing around."

"Thanks, Blue," Seb glared before sighing loudly. "Look, I got fucked in the head, whatever." Seb twitched. The blonde woman, who was most certainly Sebastian's partner, patted his arm. "Don't say it like that, Seb."

He smiled at her before looking at the older Ford. "Yeah, anyway. I'm human like you, though I still apparently produce weirdness energy, the twins too, I think the supernatural creatures can smell it. I just didn't want to dump all that on you… My Ford took some time to get over it…"

Ford stared at him for a very long time.

And then he said weakly. "...I think I need to sit down."

(Jan helpfully pushed a pool chair over. Which was ignored, rude!)

And then Ford turned away from Seb and walked over, to sit down nearby Bill. Not a few moments later, he had his elbows on his knees, and was holding his forehead in his hands.

Seb heard Ford asking a few questions occasionally from Blue rather under his breath, and occasionally getting a terse (and sometimes slightly longer) answer back, also said lowly enough that Seb couldn't quite hear what he was saying either. Ford didn't raise up his head the whole time they were very intermittently talking.

Once or twice, Ford even turned a little pale at whatever he was hearing and went very quiet for a while.

At the end of it all, Ford straightened up a little bit and then rocked back in his chair, scrubbing his hands over his face underneath his glasses. He looked more than a little done with life and just about everything at the moment.

Seb winced a bit. "I'm sorry? Geez, I didn't want you to do this. Sorry." He rubbed his arm.

"-Don't be sorry for existing," Blue shot back at him almost reflexively, before he ate another mouthful of string beans off his fork.

"I'm still a little sorry for existing…" Jan muttered.

"Feel you."

"Don't be sorry for existing," Blue said with a far stronger edge to his tone next "No. Bad. -Say you're not-sorry for existing. NOW. -Say it," Blue demanded of him next, while shooting a glare at Seb for bringing it up to begin with. "You're setting a bad example for my sister!" he said to Seb rather more dangerously.

Jan just hunched over, rubbing his arms.

"By being sad?" Seb asked incredulously. "-NO," said Blue, "By not being not-sorry that you exist! -BOTH of you say it now!" Blue demanded next.

Kari frowned at this older Ford, and she walked closer to him while Blue was busy arguing. "Why aren't you eating your breakfast?"

"The man-eater cooked it," Ford said rather reflexively, thinking nothing of it.

"Miz is a great cook. She makes delicious dishes." Ford frowned at her words, her voice. It made a knot form in his throat.

"I don't doubt that she might, but that isn't the issue here," Ford told her next.

"-It's fine," Blue cut in. "I'll take him out for food cooked by humans later."

"Well, I feel bad if you don't eat anything, you're a guest. Stanley wouldn't mind. You're just a different version of his brother." Kari sighed.

"I'd even offer you something myself, but I gotta watch the kids," Seb added.

"That's… fine. I'm fine." ...He wasn't fine. Hearing about a Bill Cipher who'd apparently reincarnated as a brother to an alternate him and then, during Weirdmageddon, had- That was one thing. He could almost wrap his mind around that. (Well, no, not really. But he could certainly pretend to maybe understand this.) -Being able to handle someone who talked, looked, and acted like his mother had, though? That was truly impossible for him, here.

Ford straightened a little bit in place, looking at Seb (who was certainly easier to look at right now than their-) "I understand. You should look after them. That's… very responsible of you." (Reminded him more of some things that he'd seen in other dimensions than out of his own brother Stan, admittedly, but… that somehow made it easier for him to handle, really.)

"Yeah, I think I'm the best at this-" "Uncle Seb! we forgot our water guns!" Diego called from inside the pool. "Well, suck it, Diego! Not now!" Seb called back. "Yeah. I'm very responsible. Keeping Mabel and Dipper alive that summer involved a lot of responsibility so I got to practice." He nodded solemnly.

"Mabel and…" Ford stared at him, stunned. "They're- how?!" He sat ramrod in place and glanced between both Sebastian and Bill.

"Screwy time stuff, Shermie had Mabel and Mason as his kids, not his grandkids here. Whole timeline got shifted and stuffed. These ones," he gestured at Seb, as he put down his fork. "Were born in the 70's, not the 50's."

Ford stared at this.

"I see…" It was clear that he didn't see, though. Not at all.

"Probably easier to just think of it like a completely different dimension here, Stanford," Bill told him next, as he sat back in his chair. "Zodiac for this one even looked a little different, that one was on it," Bill told him, gesturing at Seb again, and Ford winced - almost cringing.

"Eh? I got a name, Blue!" Seb narrowed his eye at the demon.

"Well, what do you want me to call you, 'not-actually-a-triangle' who got wrangled onto a Zodiac by a DERANGED lizard that can't even manage to tie its own shoelaces together," Blue grumbled out at him next.

"...My name?" Seb whispered, confused.

"Which one? Sebastian, or Bill? You've got several," Blue said rather carelessly.

"For starters, my second name is William! Not Bill!" (Ford's head came up at this.) "And just use Seb! And don't call me a 'that"'.

Blue just rolled his eyes at him for this. He had been calling him 'Seb' mostly. "'Sensitive'," Blue said. "Next you'll be telling me not to call out at you, 'hey, you!'" There was a bit of an amused look in his eyes at the last.

"Bill…" Ford said almost warningly. ("What?" Bill said right back.)

Seb huffed and crossed his arms but a tiny smile managed to form. "So~ Fordsie from another dimension."

"-Don't call me that," Ford said right back, narrowing his eyes at Seb next.

"-Ford from another dimension… You better now?"

Ford blinked at him. "Better?" he said, adjusting his glasses. He had no idea what Sebastian- Seb was referring to.

"You know, you seemed kinda overwhelmed with all this. But you look fine now."

Oh. Ford blinked. "I'm… likely still quite overwhelmed," Ford admitted, glancing away from him to look out over the kids playing in the pool. "I'll probably have nightmares about it later," he said practically. At least, he would unless Bill kept on suppressing them all again, as he still seemed to have been doing lately for him, as per Stan's own professed 'wants' on the matter.

"Nightmares? Why though?" Seb dodged a flying beach ball, made it float in the air for a few seconds, before hitting Zoe with it.

"Because you're yet another Bill Cipher who-" just won't die, but Ford's attention was suddenly diverted by the floating beach ball. "...can do things like that. And won't-" Ford closed his mouth, thinned his lips, and didn't bring up how he wouldn't stay dead. That would be a poor thing to be bringing up in front of his own children, who seemed to thoroughly love him, and he them.

Seb pursed his lips and looked down before he went silent. He said softly after a while. "I won't expect you to believe you I'm not him anymore, it took MY own brother a lot to accept it." And that was because Ford eventually realized they were still brothers despite everything. He meant absolutely nothing to this Ford.

"But Bill says-" that you are, but Ford stopped and shook his head as he realized how absolutely stupid and inane that was, right as he began saying it. He glanced away from him. "Ah. Well..." It took Ford a moment. "I'm not a part of your Zodiac Circle, anyway, I expect," Ford said, about as close to a peace offering as he could manage. (Because, quite frankly, the idea of a Bill Cipher with a wife and kids who he loved was… not really any sort of Bill Cipher at all. He didn't know what Sebastian was, but he couldn't be that. He wasn't like Bill, clearly.)

And then Ford was hit in the back of the head with a napkin.

He got a look of disbelief, and then turned around to stare at Bill.

"Damn right you're not part of his circle," Bill huffed out at him, looking thoroughly offended. (Ford stared at this. Bill didn't use human curses often.)

Seb didn't even look at him, he waved at his partner when she stood up to pick up a call. "You aren't. Wouldn't even work. I'm not like Blue, not a being of pure energy. You could kill me very easily if you wanted. Right now, though that would be horrible for my ma and kids to see, don't you think?" Kari looked very disturbed. The kids luckily didn't hear.

Ford grimaced at this. "I wasn't suggesting…" Certainly not in front of his family, even if he had been! He let out a tired sigh, then looked up at Seb again. "I don't see why you'd care whether I believe or accept that or not," Ford noted to him, trying again. Frankly, the whole idea seemed rather absurd to him, really.

"Because it gets tiring to be called him. I don't WANT to. That's why I only said spirit. But Blue just spilled the beans~"

Blue threw a balled up napkin at him next, bouncing it off his head.

"Stop acting like you're not also me," Bill said. "It gets old," he drawled out next, then stopped for a moment. "And also tiring. Yes."

Seb rubbed his head, annoyed at the ball. "No. You stop," he replied. "I'm not!"

"Define: 'Bill Cipher'," Bill said with a wide grin to his next, putting both elbows on the table and then resting his chin on the fists. (He already knew what his sister meant by it… and that had been horribly off the mark...)

"Oh, we're not playing your game again~" Seb laughed and shook his head. He looked around. Where the heck did Jan even go to? If he went to bring the Stans he swore he was gonna lose it.

"You," Ford said to Bill in some rather loaded tones, answering Bill's question, and Bill let out a chittering sort of laugh at all of them next.

"Got that in one, Sixer. For once." Bill actually looked rather pleased at this reply.

Seb exhaled. Good. He was planning to say that, but he was damn sure Blue would have never stopped if he had answered. Change subject, quick! "Hey, Ford. Wanna know whose kid is Diego?" Seb pointed at the dark haired kid.

"Not yours from the way you just phrased that, I presume?" Ford said, adjusting his glasses again.

"Wanna know if he's your other you's kid?" Seb grinned even wider.

Ford blinked at him. "I very much doubt that's the case," he said with a very slight frown at the teasing. Although… "Whose child is he, then? Another of Shermie's?" If Dipper and Mabel were his children here, it stood to reason that he could have had more?

Seb continued insisting it could be his Stanford's, but Ford wasn't buying that. "Ok fine~ That's Stan's second kid. The oldest one must be sleeping still, didn't see him this morning."

Ford almost asked rather thoughtlessly if Stan had had some sort of accident twice. He managed to catch himself in time.

"Being a single parent must be difficult," Ford said to him next, feeling for him. Because frankly, he couldn't imagine Stan settling down with anyone at all, ever. Taking care of children, perhaps, but...

"Single? That bitch hasn't been single since we were fourteen. We actually had a double wedding years ago. It was super fun!" Seb told him with childish enthusiasm.

Ford felt absolutely appalled at this. "Stan was married and had children at fourteen?! -You both got married at-" He turned and stared at the woman who looked like his mother. How could she have allowed this to happen?!

"WHAT?! Nooo!" Seb burst out laughing and Kari snorted softly. (Ford settled down a bit quickly upon hearing this.) "He dated Carla since then, but we both got married years ago. His oldest son is Dillon, he's 18 now like Dipper and Mabel, but still brought to the world~ in an appropriate age~" He wouldn't mention both Stans fell through the portal because of him, didn't need him being wary of him.

"Oh." Ford frowned at this. "Why did your Stan marry Carla?"

"Because Flower is cool! And they love each other~"

Ford frowned at this. "Even after their bad breakup in senior year of high school?"

"Eh~ They didn't break up here. Even went to college together and all." Seb shrugged. "Excuse me-" He raised a hand and caught Zach with his mind as he saw him trying to throw himself into the shallow end of the pool head-first. "Don't do stupid shit, Zach, don't get me mad." He released him. "Ok!" Zach giggled and ran back to the deeper part of the pool.

It didn't occur to Ford to ask what had happened in Seb's own dimension with his Zodiac. (Frankly, he was struggling enough with trying to understand what-all had went on even here.) Instead, he did the math next and said, "...How many years ago did you say that you both had your double wedding?" Because if it had been less than eighteen years ago, then…

"Two years!" Seb smiled proudly.

"Why did Stan wait so long to get married, then, if he wasn't ever dating anyone else?" Ford asked, thinking of Dillon being eighteen. And it sounded like Shermie had potentially had his own children still a little too young here too, as well...

Seb winced slightly and so did Kari. "Why rush it? Marriage occurs when you feel like it~" He put his hands over his chest.

"So, he let Carla raise Dillon largely alone?" Ford frowned at this. "Don't married couples get tax breaks?" How different was this Stan from… either one that he knew and remembered? "Why would she be okay with this?"

Seb fidgeted in place and put his hands between his legs. He looked at his mom, and Blue... the latter of whom probably would have been staring at him in amusement and spilled the beans on him again if he hadn't been freaking asleep in his chair.

"You won't want to talk to me if I tell you…" Seb whispered, sounding immensely sad. "And you're a Ford and I'll try not to get hurt but I will. Please promise you won't."

Ford frowned at this. He almost glanced over at the woman who looked like his mother, who wasn't much older than he was at present. (Oh Axolotl, the very thought made his brain hurt.)

Instead he stared at Seb carefully.

"...I don't believe I've said anything to make you think that I'd attack you for no reason, have I?" Ford asked of him carefully.

Seb shook his head and Ford frowned-was was he tearing up?!

"You're clearly not a... clear and present danger, at present." Ford said slowly next, wincing at how the Galactic Standard translated rather awkwardly into English. By Tesla, he was bad at this, wasn't he. "I'm still not certain why you thought I might attack your children earlier, in the first place," he added even more awkwardly next.

"...I didn't know if I could trust you… or if you'd still be angry for the spirit thing. So… You won't get angry right? I know we're not actually brothers...but please?"

Ford hesitated at this, rather more strongly than he tried to let on. "...I try not to make open-ended promises when I have no idea whether or not I can keep them." Not anymore. He'd learned that one the hard way, over thirty-odd years of suffering and soul-crushing heartbreak. (He deliberately did not look Bill's way as he thought this.) "Is this… something you did as Bill Cipher, somehow?" He didn't see how, unless he'd managed some sort of nonlinear time loop of some sort, given that he'd professed to have grown up human here, and Bill had backed that up, more or less. (Or at least not contradicted it outright, which the demon seemed inclined to do at present when it came to lies and misdirections with this Seb.)

Seb sighed loudly and stretched his legs. "No, it's something I did as me, and I think that's worse." He glanced at Diego. "When we were younger, everything was just shit for me ok? After Filbrick kicked me out things didn't go too well for me…" He tried censoring it as much as possible for his mom present. Kari apparently understood and turned to leave. She wanted Seb to talk to her, but if he was not ready for her to hear, then she'd leave. (Ford barely noted that she'd left; he was paying as close attention as he possibly could to everything Seb was saying to him.)

"I had no place to go, or money and I couldn't even die, the Axolotl wouldn't let me die. I… I was born with my zodiac in my back, won't show you though. It was a seal, for my powers, I wasn't born with them. When I turned 18, all the power contained began hurting me. So there's that too. The pain was bad. Then, Stan tried making Ford and I talk again, he was mad at me for the science fair so he called me to Gravity Falls, where Ford had the portal. But in town, but my seal broke when I entered Gravity Falls... We-We fought, because I KNEW what the portal could do, it would bring Bill to our side, I knew, I had been there, but Ford didn't listen. That was the first time my powers just, got unleashed I guess and my brothers were sucked inside the portal… because, because the force pushed them towards it... I-I didn't MEAN to! It was an accident!" Seb rubbed his face. "After that I worked on bringing them back, took me 13 years. Would have taken me longer, but I met Miz and she helped me speed it up… They came back… Ford was angry at me… But we defeated Bill and now we're all happy and that's why Stan wasn't here to raise Dillon or marry Carla?" Seb tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace.

Ford listened to all of this, applying his intellect and his sixty-something years of listening skills (at times, highly disused) to this explanation of Seb's.

And when Seb was all done and waiting, Ford thought over all of this carefully. (And he had a rather new appreciation for his brother entirely, as he realized exactly what he really needed to say to all of this, next.)

Ford pulled in a breath and sat up in place a bit, almost attentively, he folded his hands in his lap.

And he said, quite seriously to Seb, "There is nothing about this I understand."

"...Dude," Seb's scared expression turned into an angry one.

After a short beat, "I think I may be missing quite a bit of relevant context," Ford told him with a sigh, scrubbing a hand through his hair almost ruefully, and he tried to mentally go back through all of it. He grimaced. "I don't know whether or not your... triplets?... lives were anything like my own life and my brother's one. Was Stan kicked out of the house, too? Were the both of you together, and for how long? I don't… know what it means when you say the Axolotl didn't let you die? -I don't have the context for any of this," Ford repeated. Frankly…

"The only part that made any sense at all of what you just related to me, is what you said at the end of it all," Ford told him. "Which is that, if I understood you correctly, your Ford created a trans-universal gateway of some sort here, just as I did in my own; both he and Stan went through it more than thirteen years ago, while you were left behind; and they both only made it back here to this dimension recently, which is why Stan's wedding was put off so long?" Which did at least answer his original question somewhat, but… he had no idea what he was supposed to do with all the rest of ehat Seb had just told him, not least of which because... "I don't really understand any of what you said before that."

"Yeah…? Stan was Filbrick's starboy. He played sports and all the athletic stuff. So, yeah, I know your Stan has a beer belly. My brother is ripped. He wasn't kicked out, in fact he went to college, opened his business, very successful. Was a football star, he retired last year, he is a coach now. THIS-" He waved his arms around. "Is HIS house. So no. He had a great future ahead of him." (Ford blinked at this.)

"My Ford went to Backupsmore after the, you know, science fair incident..." (Ford wasn't able to fully hide his wince at this.) "...which I accidentally caused." (Ford stared at him next.) "He says now West Coast Tech isn't that great anyway. He has a research institute in Gravity Falls! With Glasses, Fiddleford. He's very proud of it." (That news left Ford feeling a little bit uneasy…)

"And… Ax didn't let me die because I was supposed to die fighting Bill. For 'redemption' or some shit. So everytime I tried killing myself he just fixed me up. When I finally died defeating Bill, I could show you the looong scar I have in my abdomen from when I was a skewer, but won't, he let me come back one last time, but I wasn't going to come back anymore after that, so this is endgame now." Seb sighed. (Ford went quiet and still at the 'tried killing myself' comment, and even more still at the 'skewer', though Seb didn't notice it either time.)

Ford sighed himself and looked away, pinching at the bridge of his nose. This was starting to give him a headache. (At this point, he was almost beginning to regret asking the question. This was a significant amount of information to unpack.)

"...Might I ask a question related to… the 'Bill Cipher' you used to be?" Ford tried next, uncertain if he was phrasing this right.

"Sure! He was a total jerk! He-Wait...what?" The question caught Seb off guard. About...his past? he looked side to side before pulling at his sixth finger. "Kay…" He whispered.

Ford struggled a bit with the best way to put this, then… largely gave up.

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm afraid I'm just going to have to be direct," Ford said to him. He leaned forward a bit and looked at him quite seriously, "Why didn't you warn your brothers about the Bill Cipher who was here, if you already knew about him? You said you remembered your own past before," Ford said with a frown. "How different were things when you…" Ford looked a little frustrated. "Were things so different then, that what you remembered before was of no help to you here? Because at least some of these events as you and Bill have relayed them to me bear far more than a passing resemblance to many of the events that happened in my own dimension," Ford told him next, frowning. Because this Seb seemed proud of his brothers and their accomplishments, as if they were truly family. He was here in his own brother's house with his children, seeming perfectly at ease with the idea of it, as if it were normal for him to do so, not as a guest. He seemed to have significant trust issues with whatever version of himself - of Ford - seemed to be existing here. But as for Stan… Surely, the younger man sitting in front of him had to trust at least this Stan of his own, somewhat, didn't he?

Seb scratched his head to find a way to explain. "I warned Ford about the portal when I saw him after years of not seeing each other. He didn't believe me. I did warn the twins about the creatures in town and how not to make deals so Dipper wouldn't get possessed… I didn't know the rift had formed, Ford didn't tell me, and when I found out I told him not to let it break, to not touch it! But Bill still found ways to trick them all. Mabel tried resisting Bill taking the rift from her, but Bill hurt her… And I wasn't there to protect her. Heck, he even tried messing with me! He found out about my past." Seb sighed. "And well, while I remember being Bill in a past life, his past life and quite a lot of important things he did… I didn't exactly know what would happen growing up, even less as a Pines. I had no idea. I don't have all the Knowledge I had as Bill, that seems to piss off Blue a lot," Seb added.

"So… yeah, add that to living an existence where you wished you were dead… I didn't have much time to talk or think about Bill…" Seb hugged his legs to his chest. (Ford didn't know how to touch upon this last one, but he was very certain he didn't want to. ...So he didn't.)

"...Well, at least you tried, I suppose." Ford frowned as he added, "That's more than most beings ever attempt, where I'm from." He refused to glance over his shoulder at Bill. "Bill told me a bit of what happened during your local Weirdmageddon here earlier, and…" He had to take a moment to breathe, take in and let out a breath. "I don't doubt that this local Bill here having access to your own past life made things any easier for you here. And you did try to continually oppose him where and when you could, if I understand both you and Bill correctly."

"That's actually a little funny… yeah, that jerk knew who I was and kept bothering me about joining him and stuff, pulling strings he knew would hurt more, I managed to touch some triangular nerves too!" Seb jumped excitedly, his leg bouncing. "I totally remember when he was being all mighty and stuff and I shot the big bomb-" Seb stopped himself at the same time Ford asked him to "-Please stop." He didn't do it for him though. Blue was asleep, but Seb didn't want to tell Blue's Ford anything Blue hadn't.

Ford was looking away from Seb now, both looking and feeling rather tense where he sat.

"It's ok. Isn't that important anyway," Seb waved a six-fingered dismissive hand. "Have you seen my hand?!" He changed the subject completely with a grin. His leg kept bouncing.

"Yes. You showed it to me earlier?" Ford noted, trying to let things fall away where they may. (Frankly, he was leaning into all of his old dimension-travelling habits hard right now. With what had happened in his own dimension just a short while ago, he was feeling, whether he wanted to admit it to anyone else or not, rather adrift at the moment, just as he used to for so long before… And this dimension was different enough from his own life that he was largely just segregating it all almost completely away from his own personal experiences, for better or for worse? He was already subconsciously readying himself to begin treating the people he saw here as truly different from all of the people he knew from his own. -Or, rather, Stan's own, because that dimension wasn't his...)

"Right! hahaha! I just thought you'd be like 'Damn, six fingers like me!' And I'd be 'I know, right?!' And we'd just high six it! Unless that's something you do with your Stan…"

"I… haven't done that with anyone in a very long time," Ford admitted. "Though… I do have one other question to ask you, that's admittedly rather separate from all this, if you don't mind?" (He was staying well away from the topic of asking after science fair projects at-present, thank you.)

"Shoot. I should have brought snacks. Want snacks? No wait. First listening," Seb's head finally settled on watching him. He seemed to be quite... energetic for a grown man.

"Ah, perhaps later, thank you," Ford said at the idea of snacks. He hadn't had any food for breakfast yet. But he pulled in a slow breath. And he finally asked:

"Why do you all keep calling Bill 'Blue'?"

"I don't know? Miz called him Blue Bill I think, so I just identify him as Blue. He also told us to call him that, too."

Ford frowned at this.

"But that isn't his name, that's… that's just a color," Ford said in no small frustration. And Seb's laughter following that just made it all that much worse.

"Chill, Fordsie~ It's just a nickname! Sorry, my bad. I call my brother that, slip!" Seb apologized with a smile.

Ford gave him a bit of a frowning, somewhat strained, smile. "I'd prefer either Ford or Stanford, if there's one of those your brother goes by less often." (It was clear to him now that names must have some different and lesser sort of importance here, for those who declared themselves demons.)

Seb sighed. "Fine~ I'll try not to slip again…" He leaned side to side. Glanced at his kids, yup, still alive. "Do you also like jelly beans? My brother dies for them!"

Ford got a slow-growing smile.

"I wouldn't say I'd die for them," Ford told him. "But I might on occasion have considered killing for them, a very, very few times."

"Oh yeah, that too! Stan loves toffee peanuts! I bet my eyepatch you hate them too. Let me guess… Texture?"

"Among other things," Ford told him, as he pulled a slight face. "Though I wouldn't say I hate them enough to hide them in the bottom of the bottom-most box in every stack I can find, when I can manage it," Ford told him quite innocently... Too innocently. (After all, he wasn't the one who would say that; Stan would.)

Seb laughed. "There were wars at home to determine what snacks would be bought. When we were given money for them that is. So, Shermie wanted gummies, but he was a toddler and we just shooed him off because he had no authority unless he got mom involved. So it was between jelly beans or toffee peanuts! I'd make different competitions on the beach for them to choose which one they got to buy!"

Ford frowned a little at this. "Which one of the two of those did you like?"

"Um...I liked both a little I guess? But I prefered chips much more, but that was out of the question." Seb laughed. Aah~ Doritos~

...Out of the question? "Why?" Ford asked him next, mystified at this.

"Um." Seb fidgeted and pulled at his t-shirt a little. "Filbrick didn't… you know, like me wasting his money… so it was much funnier to organize games for the Stans to massacre each other...!" His enthusiasm had decreased considerably.

"Wasting his… what?" Ford stared.

"-he Filbrick here was even worse of a person than the one from the other dimension," the melodious voice of Jan called out. Seb and Ford looked up to see the alien walking back into the pool room, dragging behind him… a human who almost certainly had to be the local Ford behind him. "Filbrick here hated Sebastian since the day he was born- beat him, starved him- did everything short of actually murdering him-" (Ford frowned at the man-eater's presence, as he tried to take in the entire situation here...)

"Jan, stop," the younger Ford (Sebastian's brother) told the man-eater firmly. "I know our father wasn't a good person, but he's out of our lives now; you don't have to bring it back up." Jan just scowled, the expression somehow still looking very attractive (damn man-eater designed that body like that on purpose!). "Well I don't like the Filbrick here. In fact I hate him more than the other Filbricks!"

Fordsie placed a hand on Jan's head and ruffled his hair. ("Ack!") "Be that as it may, stop please. You're upsetting Seb."

Ford looked back at Sebastian at this, and he noted that the 'former' Bill Cipher really did look tense at the mention. ...And then what the man-eater had just said finally registered completely. Beaten and starved-? Ford frowned over at the man-eater at this. ...Well, he wasn't about to take the man-eater's words as the all-encompassing truth. Sebastian certainly did look upset at what he'd said, though. (And Ford knew better than to push for more information about a trauma than was necessary in the present moment, so he didn't. So long as in-the-moment circumstances didn't dictate a need to know, because knowing that impacted the immediate health and safety of everyone who had to interact with - if not rely upon - that person in their general vicinity, or relative chain of command, then… it was, in Ford's own experience over the years, generally far wiser to just let those sorts of things lie.)

(Ford also wondered what hold this local Ford had over Bill's self-professed 'sister' here, given that the man-eater was actually keeping his mouth closed, while pouting up at the other Ford beside him. ...Perhaps Seb had a reason why he was so leery of his brother's intentions towards himself and his children. Ford would need to watch him. Attempting to 'tame' demons never ended well. Never.)

Speaking of Seb's Ford… Ford looked over this seemingly younger version of himself (though how close they might be to being anything close to the same person, Ford had significant doubts). He didn't quite recognize him, not in the sense that one did when looking into a mirror. (But then, Ford had spent most of those years of his own life on the run in other dimensions, worrying less about his own looks than about where and how he might obtain edible food, sufficiently protective clothing, and proper shelter for himself instead.) Seb's Ford was several decades younger than him at least, the same as Seb. ...And he seemed perfectly at ease around the man-eater, with the way he was holding hands with the demon and had been mussing up his hair with impunity.

""UNCLE SIXER!"" Little voices cheered, followed by the wet slapping of feet and then the two blond children latched onto his legs, soaking through his pants. "Gah!" Fordsie shuddered. "Heh. I told you to change into pool appropriate clothes~" Jan said smugly.

Seb stood up and walked over to the children so they just wouldn't fucking slip and hit their heads. "Go put on shoes! I don't want to see any of you crying later." The twins were ushered out to get sandals and Diego did too, so he could hug Uncle Sixer!

Younger Ford stared at the other version of himself with his mouth slightly agape, as both Ford got to his feet, and Seb made introductions. "So, this is Sixer, my brother! -Sixer, say hi to our guest Ford, don't be rude." Seb poked his side, making his brother jump.

"Um… greetings," Sixer finally said. "So… you're…" He glanced back and saw Blue passed out on the pool chair. Wow, he looked dead, flopped over like that. "You must be Blue's Ford."

Ford drew himself up and frowned at him furiously. "I do not 'belong' to Bill." Ford corrected him strongly, planning on making this very clear to them all, right from the start.

"You're his zodiac…" Jan blinked at him. "You didn't… Neither of you really had a choice in that. The AXOLOTL chose you for him." (Ford sent him a dark and rather stormy look.)

"Hey Sixer, you know Ford also loves jelly beans? That's a dimensional thing!" Seb pointed at the older Ford.

"All the jellybeans are mine and I'm not sharing." Sixer (...Fordsie? They were going to have to clarify who got which name) deadpanned. Jan smacked him, "Rude! I bought like three bags from the store- you can afford, HAH, to give up one of them!"

"Hm~ I'll think about it." Sixer looked down at Jan with a grin, very close to him.

"You're impossible sometimes." Jan laughed, poking his nose. "What if I just get you more bags? Would you share then?"

Sixer chuckled, "Depends on how many~"

Ford tried to stifle the slow wince at this train wreck going on, right in front of him. "You do know that 'Jan' is a demon, don't you?" He shouldn't be taking food from him; he ought to know that, shouldn't he? Seb had said he'd spent thirteen years on the wrong side of the portal.

"I know he is." Sixer blinked. "What's the issue?"

Ford stared at this. "...You do know why you shouldn't take food from demons, don't you?" he said to this 'Fordsie' next, in slightly descending tones. He had trouble thinking that he could have survived for so long out there in the multiverse without knowing this.

Jan pulled Sixer for a hug. "He trusts me to make his food, because I fed both him and Stan when they fell through the portal. And my cooking is the best~"

"Oh, wonderful. You got to them early, before they knew any better," Ford muttered, running a hand across his face. Dear Axolotl, they'd been subverted and owned before they'd even known what was happening, from the sound of things here.

"Well, that, and they didn't meet any Demons from the Outside, in all the time they spent behind the portal." Jan grinned. "So they don't really have any reason to be wary of such a thing. As long as the food isn't toxic, they're good. And I gave them a scanner for that." (Not that they used it anymore since coming back home.)

"I'll believe there aren't any… Outsiders here, when I see it," Ford said firmly, settling on that term for now, rather than having to try and explain the difference between real demons and local ones at this particular juncture. (Not that he was on entirely steady ground on that subject yet, to begin with.) ...At the very least, he was going to confirm that was or was not the case with the demon who he could actually tell was lying to him or not, when he did it.

"You can ask Blue when he wakes up." Jan shrugged. "There's no Outside here."

"-Stop reading my mind and my emotions!" Ford snapped out at her, not quite bristling in place.

"I didn't have to. It was obvious from your expression." Jan raised an eyebrow at him.

Ford clenched his jaw, and forced himself to settle, moving his arms behind his back and clamping his hands down around his elbows, as he brought himself up to his full height. (He wasn't armed, to begin with. He didn't have any real defenses here. He had to be smart about this.)

"Look, can we not argue 'bout this?" Jan said next, and at the expression Ford got on his face at that, Sixer sighed. "Jan, stop upsetting him." "Fiiine~ But I make no promises that he wouldn't get upset anyway. He's upset by my existence to begin with!"

"I'm upset that you're subverting humans and gaining control of them, doing who knows what to them as you modify them at your own whim!" Ford said rather darkly, staring straight at him.

"...What?" Sixer and Seb said at the same time. Seb then leaned towards his triplet. "Imagine us dealing with a you like that…" he whispered.

"It's-" Ford began, then stopped cold as he realized how truly stunned the two of them looked. It left Ford himself looking absolutely stunned at both their lack of basic knowledge in this area - because even without any Outsiders here, the man-eater was still able to shapeshift, as well as apparently create and destroy vessels to her liking, and that meant-

-And Jan was about to reply that NO HE DIDN'T! before that Stanford got any further. But then Jan was distracted when he looked over at the table and saw that Ford still hadn't touched his food. "-URgh, fine! You won't eat my cooking, I get it." Jan muttered as he strode over and picked up the plates. "Guess I'll eat this myself, no wasting food." He gave Ford a pout. "If my lovely figure is ruined, I'll blame you." (Ford frowned at him back.)

"You shapeshifted that body, Jan," Sixer deadpanned. Jan shrugged, already spooning the curry and rice into his mouth. "AH! It's spicy!" he whined. Sebastian laughed outright. "You did this to yourself, go get some milk." Jan nodded tearfully (literally tearing up), still eating and letting out whining sounds as he left the room.

Ford stared at this aghast. "And he tried to have me eat that?" he muttered out loud, almost to himself. The man-eater himself hadn't even been able to handle it! Clearly he had dodged a substantial figurative energy blast there, in the mire literal form of a raging fire in his mouth.

"Well, your plate of curry is actually really mild, in fact, my kids and Diego ate theirs just fine with no issue. Jan's just a baby who can't handle any spiciness," Seb laughed.

"...Duly noted," Ford said next. He was going to confirm that one with Stan at some later point, if he could. Might be a good non-lethal deterrent, if need be. Spray himself with a concoction of rather smelly hot and peppery spices? Along with a strong undertone fragrance of melon? The man-eater didn't like peppers of any sort and was supposedly allergic to melon, as well. So something like that ought to serve as a very strong deterrent to the man-eater wanting to eat him then, wouldn't it…?

"Ok, so, Ford needs to eat." Seb shook his head at Jan's antics. "So, how about we go out so someone you see as less dangerous prepares you food, or yourself, and you meet the rest of the family while we're at it?"

Ford frowned at this thoughtfully. "I… don't have the funds for doing so on my own. Not currently." Because Bill had not supplied his… vessel(? his body?) here with anything he'd had on him when the demon had so forcefully… displaced him, other than his most basic layers of clothing. Bill had said that he was going to take care of that though, take him somewhere for food that had been prepared by human hands rather than demonic ones, and… Ford glanced over at Bill. He supposed he could ask the demon if something was claimed or not, safe or not before he ate it, since he could tell when the demon was lying. ...If he could get Bill to reply to him on the subject, that is.

"Dude, just serve yourself. Stan's got plenty of stuff, and you're technically sort of family, but more than that, you're a guest, so feel free to take what you need to make yourself breakfast from the kitchen." Seb shrugged, turning on his heel and walking off. Ford blinked at this. The children ran back over to cling to Seb's legs. ""Weee~!""

"Nono! I want you back in the bathroom and in towels in 5 minutes. Pool time's over." That made the kids whine loudly as they ran back to the pool to grab their stuff.

Ford watched Sebastian head off to handle the younglings (and then younger Ford as well), grab the kids and wrap them in towels to dry them. He moved over himself, keeping an eye on Seb's Ford as he did so.

"Are you certain that it would be all right for me to use the kitchen here, and any available foodstuffs?" Ford asked of Seb slowly. "I'm… not actually your family. And this place is…" not Seb's, it was Stan's.

"I don't see an issue." Seb blinked. "Stan invited us all over and said we could do whatev's. Plus, he can more than afford any grocery bills."

"...You're certain that he would see my presence here, and feeding me, as a guest of yours to be acceptable?" Ford wanted clear confirmation of this if at all possible.

"HAH!" Sebastian cackled. "Stan might tease you and Sixer a bit, but he has no issue. You're A Ford after all. And… you've been pretty nice, haven't even tried to kill me like certain Fordsies. So, no problem!"

"That… seems a rather low bar to clear," Ford noted. But then, Stan seemed to have his own rather low bar for Bill himself, when it came to 'no killing'. ...Did that mean that this (ex-?)Bill's thought processes ran along similar lines in some way? Or this local Stan's?

Sebastian nudged his triplet. "Well this Sixer here tried to kill me several times. He stopped now. Which I appreciate." Sixer groaned, "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Seb leaned and whispered in his ear, "Nnnnnno~"

"...Well, if you're certain of this," Ford said to Seb, then blinked as one of the children came up to him and held a towel out. "Ah, yes?" Ford said looking down at the younger girl-child who was holding it up to him. "Do you need something?" he asked of her. It seemed less a 'take this towel, it's yours now' sort of gesture than a 'do a thing for me' sort of one to him, especially from the girl's current facial expression.

"Dry me!" Zoe demanded, shaking the towel at him. Ford looked over to see that Sebastian was drying the little blonde boy while Sixer was doing the same with the brunet.

"Ah," Ford was enlightened now as to what the child wanted out of him. He took the towel from her. "Well, you do seem rather waterlogged at present," he noted, and clearly she needed help with such. He crouched down on one knee to throw the towel over her head and vigorously scrub away at her, drying her off quite efficiently.

"Ehehehehe~" The girl squealed. "Tickles!"

"Of course it does," Ford told her practically, adding a bit more tickle to it to illustrate his point. "You didn't say 'please'," he noted next, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye and the slightest of smiles as he gave her one good last scrub-and-tickling, and then tossed the towel over her shoulders, to say, "There. I believe that should be sufficient for now."

"Thank you, older Uncle Ford!" She shook her head like a puppy before running off towards her twin.

"It's no trouble at all," he told her, letting his hands drop to his one bended knee, before shoving himself back up onto his feet again.

Oddly, it wasn't as confusing to be here as he would have thought, had someone tried to tell the situation to him here without actually being in it. Things were simply too different. He couldn't really think of this as more than a 'dimension full of close to human-seeming humanoid people', and Sebastian himself didn't remind him in any real way of Bill Cipher at all. Not to mention how gentle he was with all of the children who were here, both 'his' and not.

(The man-eater, however, was a rather different story, when it came to threat levels and survivability. Not a 'Bill Cipher' demon truly in name or in form, and yet...)

Ford watched as Sebastian then threw the two twins over his shoulders, cackling loudly. ...Ah. Well, all right, apparently he was at least a little like Bill Cipher in that one respect. With a face similar to his own… Ford pulled in a breath and tried not to think about what his own bodily possession must have looked and sounded like, when Bill Cipher had-

Ford shook his head, and made his way over to the chair Bill was sitting in.

"Bill, wake up," he tried, with the force of several decades on the wrong side of the portal behind him, from not too far away from said demon's ear - and this time, at least, Bill snapped his eyes open, seeming to come awake and upright in the space of a mere moment.

"-TROLLEYcars!" Bill blurted out immediately, "And the- what-" he stopped for a moment. "-I'M awake, you're the one not awake; I heard you, wha-t?" Bill said almost rapid-fire next, before ticking his head around, then twisting it up and over, to look up at Stanford Pines next.

The demon's expression dropped down into one that was rather more bothered and neutrally-annoyed next (as in: a perpetual and ongoing annoyance). "What." Blue said to that Stanford flatly.

"I haven't eaten breakfast yet," Ford said quite calmly to the demon. (He was starting to get used to Bill's 'flailings' upon waking. Though, admittedly, seeing them over a recorded video feed was certainly different than experiencing them in-person.) "The locals have offered up their kitchen to us as guests. Since you didn't see fit to recreate my biological scanning unit for me-"

"-which you wouldn't trust anyway, because you'd know that I made it from the ground up-" Bill said to him.

"-I'd like you to come with me and look at everything I'd like to use for me, so that I can determine whether it's safe to use or not," Ford ended, reaching for patience.

The last thing he'd really expected out of Bill next though, was a "Fine," or to see him immediately shove his chair out to stand upright and say, "Follow me. I know where it is."

Ford blinked at this, having expected significantly more push back than this, but (for the moment) he didn't openly question it, as Bill headed off without further reply.

Ford was led through some hallways and stairs that seemed as though they might never end, as he glanced about. This place was bigger than he'd thought. It had a rather simple decoration scheme - which would make sense, if this was Stanley's house - but... "This is the local Stan's house, correct?"

"Yes." Ford looked up, to realize that it was his younger dimensional counterpart (who was apparently waiting for him in said hallways) who had answered, as he and Bill caught up to him as they rounded the corner to the next hallway. "We're in New York." The man shrugged. "We're all here because sometimes we spend summer together as family."

Ford looked around as they walked. "This apartment is… rather large for an apartment in this city, isn't it?" Ford asked, frowning. The place must have cost… Ford blinked. What did an apartment in this city cost each month, with forty years of inflation?

"Yeah, Stan's stupid rich." Sixer rolled his eyes. "He bought out three whole floors of this building to remodel into being part of his penthouse. Also, he owns the building itself, so he gets paid rent from the other tenants." Ford startled and stopped in his tracks. "-What?" He hadn't quite realized the extent of the wealth to which Seb had been alluding this Stan had before this point.

Clearly, there were even more differences here than he'd originally thought.