Rapid typing was filling the silence of the office, often interrupted for a handful of second before starting again. It had been like this for the past days and through most of the morning. Bill wasn't able to concentrate any more on the organisation he had to do for the travel to the Canadian border, especially with their usual path being closely watched by officers. Since Tad visit to patch him up, no one has let him get out of the house, making him either stay in his room or work in his office on some organisation. Well, Dipper was the one asking so he could recover more easily.
At least he had the nice presence of the young author who had suggested to work in his office too so he wouldn't get lonely. Bill did try to play it as if he couldn't get lonely, but he was overall happy to have Dipper with him, even if it was taking away his attention from his work.
It was really interesting to watch the young man this concentrated on his writing, seemingly forgetting about everything around him. The butler even brought them tea and Dipper didn't seem to have questioned where the drink was coming from.
But as interesting and entertaining it was to watch Dipper work, it wasn't making his own work fill itself all alone. He sighs, giving up on working, starting yet again to observe the other man. He smiled when something catches his attention yet again, pretty sure he wasn't mistaken this time. As Dipper was passing a hand through his hair, it revealed for a couple of seconds something on his forehead.
He had noticed a couple of times but was never sure if he had seen correctly. After all, Dipper was never wearing his hair slicked back, always falling back on his forehead. But this time he was sure he saw something and he had the time to actually ask. This would cure his boredom.
So he got up, walking to the small desk that had been placed against the wall in one corner so he wouldn't be in the way when some of Bill's men would come. He silently sat on the corner of the desk, watching the young man work. At least this time Dipper did notice him quickly, not scaring him like he often was when he would come up behind him silently. The young man wasn't sure what to do with the smile Bill was giving him. He had come to associate it with him having an idea or him going to do some kind of joke.
"Yes?" he asked, unsure what to do when Bill was staring at him from this close. He wasn't that out of reality to not notice how much attention Bill was giving him, but it was always from afar. It was a little unnerving when it was this close and silently. "Oh, nothing, I was just wondering what was on your forehead" admitted the mobster "Been a while that I notice something there, but you seem to try and hide it as much as possible, what is it?" he finally asked.
His teasing smirk dropped a little when he saw the young man reach for his front bangs, pulling them correctly back in place, looking a little unsure about Dipper's sudden action. What was he hiding that was making his little Pine Tree this unsure? "O-oh, this is really nothing, just a birthmark" responded Dipper before immediately regretting admitting that, as Bill's smile was growing back, clearly interested in it. "Really nothing interesting" he tried to convince the mobster.
But this didn't seem to work, as Bill leaned a little over to him, a teasing smirk on his lips "Everything about my little Pine Tree is interesting, so I'm sure it is" he responds, making Dipper blush a little, unsure of how to take all this. "I don't want you teasing me about it, people always made fun of me for it" mumbled Dipper, Bill nearly missing it. At that, the mobster smile softens into a gentle and reassuring one "I won't tease you, I promise".
The author looked at him, trying to find something that he could use to refuse, but Bill was looking sincere on this promise like he always was with him. He sighs, placing his hand on his forehead, hesitating a little again, before finally pulling back his bangs, looking away. He was first met with silence, which wasn't making him feel good. He finally looked back at Bill when he suddenly felt a hand taking place to keep his hair in place, the other one gently place itself on his temper, a thumb following the strange birthmark on his forehead.
Bill's eye was full of curiosity and fascination, getting closer to look, making Dipper blush again at the closeness, yet letting him do so. "I now see where you nickname is coming from" said Bill with a toothy smile, "I think this makes you just as more interesting and beautiful as you already are" he then commented, finally letting go of the younger man's head. Dipper was red at the comment, not really use to being called beautiful, even less when it was about his birthmark.
"Good to see you like it, many didn't seem to do so or at least thought I was weird for it" admitted the younger man. The idea made Bill a little angry, even if he was hiding it. Who had dared to make Dipper this insecure about such a unique and beautiful part of himself? "Of course I do, as I said, everything about you is interesting and beautiful, I can't imagine how someone would think otherwise" said the mobster, his hands trying to gently place Dipper's hair pulled back so he could see him correctly. He was looking good that way too.
"When did it happen?" Bill asked, only gaining a confused look out of Dipper "I mean, your bad experiences with your birthmark". Dipper leaned back into the chair, sighing a little as he seems to be thinking about it. "When I was younger and living back in Gravity Falls, I guess some superstitious person saw it and thought I was some kind of witch kid or something like this, didn't really helped me feel good about it when a lot of people were following this line of thinking" explained Dipper.
It wasn't really good memories, some had been pretty nasty about his birthmark, even if he had no control over what his body was looking like since birth. It was really good that his great-uncles didn't seem to follow that line of thinking and believing it to be all non-sense. Sure, one of them was trying to follow supernatural events, but he wasn't ready to believe Dipper was some kind of evil entity either. "Mabel did try to make me feel better about it over the years, but it never really went away, I prefer hiding it now so I don't get anything negative from it" he then added.
Well, it was explaining why he never really saw it if he was trying to hide it as much as possible. Bill gave him yet again a reassuring smile, "Well, you don't need to hide it as much as you did around me, just like with my missing eye, I won't judge you" he said. And it was way easier to do so. Dipper birthmark was pretty, his injured eye wasn't, it was still a mystery for him as to why the author didn't seem to mind it.
Dipper then went on stories where some old lady had actually tried to clean him from some kind of evil, only to be saved by Stanley. It was only one of the many weird stories from his childhood. As he was finishing with one of his stories, something came back to him. He didn't know anything about Bill's childhood and teenage years. The mobster had never really opened up about himself.
"What about you?" finally asked Dipper, taking Bill a little off guard, asking back what about him. "What about you? Do you have stories from your younger years? You... you never really told me anything in all the conversation we had, we only spoke about mine" clarified Dipper, unsure if he was crossing a line by asking more about him.
The mobster seems to think about it for a couple of seconds. It was true that in all their conversations he never went there, only speaking about the present time and what could possibly happen for him in the future. To be fair, he doesn't have the happiest childhood and the most loving parents. But it was only fair to talk about it, especially with how honest and open Dipper had been with him. Plus, he could trust the young man, he wouldn't go around telling people about all his life. He really wanted to be honest with him, showing him he was trusting him.
"Well, I don't really have as many goods memories to tell you as you did" admitted the criminal as he was getting off the desk, going back to his so he could pull his own chair closer, not without some difficulty due to his still healing wound. "But I guess it only fair to tell you some" he added with a little laugh, getting comfortable in his chair, his seating really close to Dipper's one, preferring the proximity.
"I am not sure where to start" he admitted, as he wasn't sure exactly what the younger one wanted to know about him. The young Pines seemed to think about it a little, "Well... maybe by how you could describe your childhood and teenage years?" suggested Dipper, curious of what words the man would use.
"Lonely with indifferent parents and unloved" responded Bill after some second to think about it, surprising Dipper. He knew William had mentioned the mobster had some events in his younger years, but he wasn't expecting for it to seem this bad. Was his relationship with his parents that bad? Well, his wasn't really better, yet he felt like his childhood still had something good to it. "You're parents weren't taking care of you?".
"They were too rich for that and too busy with work" scoffed the older one, "I nearly got raised by Kasper, even if he was only a servant at the time" he added. Dipper did notice the close relationship the two had, but he would never have guessed it was going back this much. The idea brought a smile to his lips, happy to see he was still able to have someone taking care of him. "Your parents had a lot of work on them?".
"My dad was, he had a company he needed to take care of most of the time, but I'm pretty sure they never wanted a kid together in the first place" admitted Bill, looking on the side at something invisible "They got married for the benefits of both families, not out of love. They also had me out of duty more than out of wanting a baby, they were not ready to have a kid".
Bill got silent, lost in his thoughts for a little while, Dipper not daring to take him out of them, looking at the pensive man. All of what he was hearing was sad. He never thought the mobster had such uncaring parents. He wanted to say that at least he had one person taking care of and most likely loving him, but it wasn't enough for a child. The author was startled out of his thought when the criminal finally started again.
"My aunt was a little more affectionate towards me, but I think it was because William really liked playing with me when we were younger and to be better than my father. They never liked each other and there was some silent competition between them, but I think she was fighting against no one on this one, he just never cared". Bill then went on to give some examples where he would get lost in the little woods behind the mansion for hours and having none of his parents even noticing or caring about it. Some broken bone out of them not keeping a close eye on him when he was younger and unable to really tell what could be dangerous. All these stories were making Dipper sadder and sadder, having not expected such stories.
"But at least I had William, I am not sure if I ever told him, but he always had been someone important, he's more of a brother than a cousin to me, without him I think my childhood would have been worse and my teenage one would probably have been more dangerous". This catches the young author attention, was it then that he started his criminal life? He had wondered how Bill had somehow started to be a mobster.
Bill noticed the curiosity in the younger man eyes, a little smile drawing itself on his lips. Well, at least he was interesting to listen to and it seems to please Dipper to learn more about him. He can't remember a time where he ever told this much to someone, it was... nice to open up about it.
"My relationship with my parents started to get worse when my father found out my mother had an affair with a friend of them, resulting in me not being his child. Let say it killed the little there might have been between us. Not to really help around that time I started to be interested in criminal activities and got dragged in by people I thought were my friends" Bill then went on explaining how he started with stealing some stuff for others and getting in fights. He got in a big argument with his parents at 15, resulting in him packing up his things and never coming back to his old house.
From there the Cipher started his own groups, ditching those who at the same time had betrayed him, slowly making a name for himself in the big city. The way Bill was telling him all this was so captivating, he could listen to him for hours, even if it was all about crimes he committed over the years. "As much as I like to say my success come from my great criminal mind" started Bill, making the younger one chuckle at the vanity of this statement, "I have to admit a part of it came from luck, I have a lot of luck. I still have a great criminal mind, but luck played a lot, I was gambling with my own life for years, still doing sometimes".
Dipper was still impressed, he hadn't known the Gold Demon had started from absolutely nothing to become one of the most powerful criminals of the city. He should probably not be impressed by criminal prowess, but he was. "And I guess Mister Kasper and William got to you somewhere along the line?" he asked, curious and remembering what William had told him when they spoke a little about it. "Yes, William was scared I would get myself kill, so he came to take care of me even if it was against his parent's demands, Kasper followed later when he managed to hear where I was, he wanted to make sure the little kid he took care of for years would be correctly taken care of even today".
Dipper was happy to hear he was still able to have two people caring for him over the years, even if he guesses in recent years there might have been more. "Were you able to contact your parents since?" asked the author, curious. He didn't have a very great relationship with his own parents, but he was still in vague contact with them, mainly seeing if they were alive and doing fine. "No, I didn't even try, I heard from William they had twins not long after my departure, but I'm not interested in contacting these people and I doubt my siblings would really appreciate me or even know I exist".
This made Dipper sad. If he was at the place of those twins, he would want to know if he had an older brother, even if he was a criminal. A whole family couldn't keep Bill a secret, could they? Bill noticed the sudden sadness in the younger one eyes, not wanting it to left such a sad taste in the younger man mouth. "Don't be sad for me, I really don't mind it, I chose to go away and it was better for me too, I wouldn't be as happy and successful as I am if I had stayed in contact with them" he trying to cheer him up, before something more important came to his mind, something he was finding important, "Also, I would never have met you if I did and I would barter that for nothing in the world" he said, a tender smile on his face.
Dipper blushed at that, surprised by the sudden revelation made by the man, not sure what he was meaning with those words. He couldn't be THAT important for him, how could he be? He was just a small writer with no renown to his name.
But at the same time, something deep in him was feeling the same. Even if the situation leading him to work with Bill had been really dangerous for his life, something in him wouldn't change that. Something was telling him he wouldn't have been able to meet the mobster otherwise and that thought was making him uneasy, it wasn't something he was enjoying imagining.
Bill seemed to like his reaction, something in the author expression telling him it was somewhat mutual. He gently clapped his hand together, gaining back some of the attention, smiling like he always was, "Okay, enough sad back story for today" he stated, not really wanting to go back too much into that for now. "Why don't we go and eat something" he tried, knowing he wasn't allowed out of the house.
Dipper had an amused smile on his face, knowing what he was trying to do. "Come on Pine Tree" said Bill, knowing what that smile was saying "Don't tell me you are not interested in going to eat at Lazy Susan's place". The suggestion surprised the young Pines, not expecting for Bill to suggest a place like that, as he clearly preferred fancier restaurant. He bites the inside of his cheek gently, thinking about it. He really liked going out there and he had to admit he was getting tired of being stuck in here too, as no one was allowing him outside either, just in case.
In the end, he sighs, knowing he wouldn't go against the idea since it was a nice one and he needed some fresh air too. Bill had a victorious smile even before he was able to give him an answer, getting up and holding out a hand for Dipper. The younger man took it to be dragged to their bedroom, Bill leaving him long enough for him to put on clothes that were more suitable to go out. He was surprised by the more casual looks the mobster had chosen, used to him wearing way more formal and expensive clothing. It was still a little fancy, but it was probably the most casual he could see Bill in, other than half-naked when going to sleep.
They had to sneak out without being noticed by William and the butler, Bill insisting on going through a window. "It much more fun that way and they wouldn't expect us to do so" he explained, even if neither of their body seemed to like the idea. It was still fun to do in Dipper's opinion, it was reminding him of younger time in Gravity Falls when he would sneak out to look at the stars or go for a night walk.
Even like this they nearly got seen by Kasper passing by a window, making them hide against the wall, trying to keep in their childish giggling. "What are we, seven years old?" whispered Dipper, still laughing silently at what they were doing. This was absolutely absurd, yet he wouldn't exchange that for boringly walking out the door like a responsible adult.
Right now they were not trying to be responsible adults anyway.
They finally got to the car, Bill giving him the keys, surprising the author. He was letting him drive again? He had his answer when the mobster went to open the garage door, waiting for Dipper to get in and drive the car out, joining him in once he closed it back. "Now drive before we get caught" smiled Bill, sitting close to Dipper as the younger man started to drive. It was still making him a little nervous to drive an expensive car, but it was really nice.
The ride went with them still laughing and joking about how mad William would be when he figured out they were not in the mansion anymore. Sure it might be a little dangerous to go out right now as Bill was still recovering from being shot, but they both needed to get out and Bill's recklessness was probably rubbing off on Dipper a little bit by now.
They found somewhere to leave the car, Dipper checking quickly around the diner room if his family might be there. He wasn't a fan of this place for nothing, all the Pines seemed to really enjoy this place. When he was sure the path was clear they got in, Lazy Susan happily greeting him, even if she looked a little unsure about Bill presence next to him again.
She gently stopped Dipper on his track when they were both going for a booth in a corner. As she went to ask him if he would be fine with the man, she caught something she never saw in him before. Something in his eyes was looking brighter than she ever saw in him, he was looking so lively and happy, she couldn't bring herself to ask. Was the criminal really causing such happiness in this little guy she had started to really appreciate since the first time the Pines had come to her diner? She instead left her worries on the side, guessing she would just ask Mabel later. "Don't forget to pay a visit to those old Pines" she said amused "They were complaining about how they haven't seen you in days".
Dipper, who was unsure why she was stopping him for, chuckled at the suggestion. He wasn't surprised to hear his great-uncles, most likely Stan, had been complaining about not seeing him. "I will see to it, thank you for noticing me" he said before going away to join Bill after she gave him two menus.
"Was something wrong?" asked Bill, looking back at the older lady who was still giving him unsure glances. "No, she just mentioned that Stan and Ford were complaining about not seeing me, I will try to go and see them soon, It true that I've been a little neglectful in the past weeks, either because of my situation of debt or because of my book". Bill was sure Dipper wouldn't lie about that, so he guessed it was really what she said, dropping, for now, his worry about her trying to take away his little Pine Tree. He instead smiled again, "I hope I haven't kept you too much for myself, wouldn't want you to lost contact with them because of me". This made the younger one laughed, saying it wasn't that, he had just been too worried about their safety in the past weeks to do so.
Soon after Susan came to take their orders, a smile on her face, observing how Dipper was acting. Yeah, for sure there was something different in him and the mobster was bringing that in the author. Well, it wasn't her place to take that away and it would probably be too dangerous anyway.
Dipper was just as clueless of her worries, Bill giving her on warning glare before finally dropping it, preferring enjoying his time with the young Pines instead. Even if they said they would go away from their past, they went back to it. Though, this time they were going over happier and funnier time of it and contrary to what was normally happening, Bill was telling some too, not leaving Dipper to tell everything and never learn anything.
With all this they were forgetting their surrounding, simply having a good time. Bill couldn't remember the last time he had such a good time with someone without any alcohol involved or the person being William.