A/N: Welcome back to chapter 3 of WTETU! I am currently typing off of my phone and its a little difficult with my autocorrect still on xD
Summary of chapter: Dipper and Stan have a man to man talk shortly before Dipper goes out in search of answers relating to his strange dream.
"You're okay, Dip. I've got ya." Grunkle Stan's rarely used tone of concern gently awoke Dipper from his strange state of rest, causing the boy to groan lowly as he attempted to sit up.
"W-what happened...?" Dipper muttered before opening his eyes and quickly trying to take in his surroundings.
From what he could see, he was in his own bed once again, but by now the once early morning sun rise had now turned into a sunset, causing the boy's heart to clench a little in surprise and curiosity. Before he fell asleep so abruptly, he hadn't felt very tired, except when he began up the stairs to his bedroom. Suddenly, he turned to his Grunkle, who was sitting uncharacteristically at his bedside.
"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper began again, frowning at that moment as he registered several aches in random places through his whole person suddenly.
"You fell down the stairs, kid." Stan piped up, reaching over to a glass of water that sat on the bedside table and offering it over to Dipper. "You were completely dead to the world when your sister got to you."
"That's weird..." Dipper muttered, slowly reaching out his thin arm to accept the glass of water and quickly drawing it back to his person.
However, he didn't drink it right away. His throat didn't feel incredibly dry, but he knew it would probably be for the good of his health that he had a sip or two. Just not right at that moment. No, for now the water glass just seemed to be a tether to him, keeping him in reality and away from his streams again. He just hoped that his Grunkle wouldn't take notice of this comforting tick just yet.
"Have you been staying up late lately?" Stan questioned suddenly, studying the boy's face quizzically for signs of dark bags or other proof of lack of sleep.
"No. I got plenty of sleep last night." Dipper assured him, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the question.
"And you don't have any issues medical wise that I should know about, right?" The con man snapped, though he still didn't seem very convinced by the other's first response. "Cause falling asleep while standing up seems like a medical issue of sorts."
"Trust me, if I did then I would have let you know." The younger male sighed, taking a few more sips of the cool water before handing the glass back to the other.
The two suddenly went silent, a growing tension evident around them. If he knew what to say, then Dipper would have searched for another topic of conversation, but every topic that came to his mind always seemed to lead to a discussion about that bizarre dream of his. He took a sudden and deep breath, about to bare with the quiet just a little longer when suddenly Stan spoke up again.
"Is something bothering you, Dip?" Stan asked suddenly, folding his hands in his lap slowly and studying his great - nephew over once more. "I mean, I don't know much about kids and their emotions, but I do know when someone is thinking hard about something... I think."
"Nothing is wrong! I just got tired and fell asleep is all. I'm a growing male and its perfectly normal."
"Listen, kid. Ever since your sister had that creepy sock - show a few days ago, you've been acting differently, and not even the funny kind of different that we sometimes make fun of you for." Stan said, folding his arms over his chest and lowering his eyebrows in a 'I'm not leaving this spot until you tell me the truth' way. "Its not just this one time that's concerning me. This is the second time in one week that you've collapsed and its weird even for you."
"I've just been having an off week is all." Dipper said with a gentle sigh, hoping that it was convincing enough to fool the other. "Lots of crazy things happening at once and all..."
"Kid, you know I'm not leaving until I can buy it, right?" Apparently not.
Dipper swallowed thickly, with some spot in the back of his mind wishing that he had kept the water glass instead of handing it back. At least then he could have used it as an excuse to stay quiet, or as quiet as he could have been while fake drinking. That wasn't the case and he now found himself staring down his nose at the hardened gaze of his usually disproving and inattantive Grunkle. However, the longer he silently stared up at him, the more he began to sense genuine concern coming from the older man.
'This is Grunkle Stan I'm talking to...' Dipper thought with another soft sigh. 'Sure he's a lying, cheating, manipulative conman, but he can keep a secret better than anyone...'
"I'm waiting still." Stan cut in suddenly, frowning a little deeper as he spoke to Dipper. "This I my waiting face, by the way."
"Okay... But promise not to tell anyone?" Dipper asked, watching meekly as Stan began to slowly nod his head. "Alright... So you remember that journal I-"
"Kid, don't tell me that boring old book is what's been keeping you up lately." Stan cut in, frowning now in a much more disproving way and rolling his eyes.
"No... Ugh! This is going to sound really weird and stupid, but when Gedion took over the Mystery Shack, he got it by summoning this dream demon named Bill an-" Dipper would have kept going, if he hadn't heard Stan's breath suddenly hitch and watch as his eyes went wide. "Grunkle Stan?"
"I'm fine, kid. Just keep going." Stan replied with a shake of the head before adding under his breath, "Just trying to get over how crazy and stupid that sounds is all and what not..."
"Okay...? So, he summoned this dream named Bill, and he's kind of been a major pain in my butt since the day we met, but the other day before the sock opera I may have made a stupid deal with him so-"
"Kid, when is a deal with a demon EVER a good idea?" Stan suddenly cut in once again, seeming very interested all of a sudden.
"Never... But we found this laptop in the woods and it might lead us to the au-" Dipper held his tongue suddenly as Stan boldly stood up, looking ready to leave the room.
"Look, you've seen a lot of messed up things lately, and that's probably what's causing you to act all weird and w-" It was now Dipper's turn to cut off his Grunkle.
"Wait! I switched bodies with Bill before the opera and I just had this really weird dream that I was pregnant with his kid, or something, and I don't know if it has anything to do with the deal, or if he's just messing with me, or-"
What Dipper hadn't expected was the firm hand that suddenly, but also gently, pushing him back against his bed and the second hand that was laid over his temple, undoubtedly searching for a fever or a bump on the head.
"Kid. It was just a bad dream." Stan gently assured him. "Stop worrying about it, okay?"
"O-okay..." Dipper sighed, knowing that there was no way Stan was going to listen to anymore of his story.
"Just get some more rest, kid. I'll call you when dinners ready." Stan sighed, swiftly moving from the boy's bedside and over to the door, ready to take his leave.
"Alright... Thanks, Grunkle Stan..."
"Any time, kid."
With that, the old man left, leaving Dipper once again alone to himself and his thoughts, and for a moment Dipper couldn't tell what was scarier. The fact that he had actually told Stan, or the fact that he was now alone again and one step closer to another strange as heck dream with Bill again. Sitting up quickly, he hurried over to his journal and flipped on his black light.
"I don't care what Stan says... Something weird is going on, and I'm going to figure out what it is..."
Meanwhile, once safely outside of the boy's room, Stan felt himself let out a breath that he hadn't been aware that he was even holding to begin with. His great - nephew's final statement was still ringing in his head as he hurried down the stairs and headed towards his secret hide away behind the candy machine in the gift shop. He was concerned for Dipper, and in more ways than one.
'Bill... Seriously? Doesn't that kid ev-" His thoughts and his path were suddenly cut off but his bubbly little niece, who had come right out of nowhere.
"Grunkle Stan, can we have pizza for dinner?" She chirped, twirling around in a little circle around the man before coming to a hault.
"Um, sure. Listen Mable, would you mind going to the kitchen and ordering it? I've got some things I need to tend to an-"
"Say no more. I'm on it!" Mable exclaimed, suddenly rushing from the room and heading in the direction of the kitchen.
Sighing in relief, Stan made quick work of getting to the machine, typing in his secret password as quickly as he could, and then disappearing into his secret hide away. He had done that set of steps so many times before, but today it felt different. Pushing that aside, he entered into his lab as normal and stood before his desk now.
"Bill..."
"You called?" Within an instance, the world around him turned to grey, and Stan winced at the sound of the dream demon's chipper tone. "What's u-"
"Cut it with the pleasantries, Cipher. I'm not in the mood for your crap." The old man barked, turning his head quickly and catching sight of the triangle.
"Geez, someone is sure in a mood today." Bill huffed, idly twirling his cane around as he spoke.
"We had a deal, Cipher." Stan growled, his fists balling up tightly.
"Oh? Did we?" Bill mused, setting his cane aside mid-air in favour of floating over to Stan. "Care to refresh my memory?"
"When that little jerk-face attacked my brain, we made a deal that you wouldn't touch either my niece or nephew and in return I would try to steer them away from the journals. We made a deal and you broke it!"
"Whaaat? When did I do that?" Bill asked in a faux innocent tone, flipping the tassel of Stan's hat over and then floating away before the man could hit him hard.
"My nephew just told me that you visited him last night. Care to explain that?"
"OH, right! Yeah... Funny thing about that-"
"God damn you, Cipher! I should have known that you'd pull something like this!" Stan growled, taking a bold step forward, but not making any move to strike the demon any.
"I didn't break a thing, 'Stanford'. As I seem to recall, you failed at keeping those kids away, and I didn't 'touch' your nephew, per say." Bill pointed out.
" And that means?" Stan growled once more, his anger rising the more the demon spoke.
"Let's just say, everything you care about is about to change, the universe is a hologram, and some of the other junk I usually say but forgot about! Buy gold, and BYE!"
With a quick swipe of his cane, the dream demon suddenly vanished in a cloud of smoke.