Chapter Four: A Visit from an Old...Friend
Bill woke with a jolt, sitting upright on the couch and looking around. It was the middle of the night; the living room was dark, the building was quiet, and everyone else was still asleep. Sleep was something Bill found he actually enjoyed; it was refreshing, and his human body needed it. It took the dream demon a long time to fall asleep; he required near perfect silence, a rarity in a college apartment building. It wasn't sound that had woken him up, however. It was a dream.
Bill didn't dream. It just wasn't something he wanted to get involved in. Other people's dreams, sure, fine, they were fun and impersonal. Things from his own subconscious were off limits. So when his sleeping mind had begun creating strange, dim swaths of color and texture, suffice it to say he was a little concerned. When one of those patterns solidified into a familiar blue square, he was startled awake.
Bill turned to look at the person he knew would be sitting in the armchair across from him; and there he was. The man was dressed in a blue suit, black hair carefully styled with a little black bowlder hat perched atop his head. His eyes glowed a baby blue, and his grin flashed dangerously sharp teeth. He was taller than Bill, long legs crossed elegantly and spider-like fingers knitted together in his lap. A blue umbrella rested across his lap as well, and he was the textbook picture of "too fucking smug for a guy sitting in a dark room like a creep".
"Coffee, Bill? I made some while you were sleeping." the man purred in a deep, calming voice.
"I'd rather not. I plan on returning to sleep once you leave me the fuck alone, Strange." Bill snapped back.
"Fine, more for me. So, how have you been? I've not seen you in a while, you never visit. We used to be so close. The best of pals." Tad Strange drank from a green coffee mug taken from the kitchen.
"We were never pals, you fucking square. What do you want?"
Tad frowned and set his mug aside, the amused air that had been around him gone immediately.
"Right to business, then. Unusual for you, but I appreciate a man who gets right to the point. You made yourself an enemy when you helped those two human kids out of the Unknown, Bill Cipher. They were marked to fuel the lantern. You know we aren't supposed to mess with anything in that realm."
Bill huffed and rolled his eye.
"Well you know me. Never been one for rules. Besides, a deal is a deal. They filled their half and I filled mine. They're alive and I got what I needed. So it's all over and done with, no harm no foul." He shrugged and settled back into his makeshift bed of blankets and pillows.
"Except the world doesn't work that way, Bill. He attacked you a while back, didn't he?" The silence he was answered with was all Tad needed. "Dammit, Bill, I can't always come behind you and pick up your messes! You just have to go fuck up everything and I have to clean up after you or everything turns to a steaming pile of shit."
"You don't have to do anything, Tad! I never asked for your help. Now fuck off and let me sleep. I've got a lot of work to do!" Bill snarled, eye glowing red in irritation.
"Yeah, I've seen. Cultivating a little lap dog to do your bidding. You couldn't get that boy to fall for it so now, several years later, instead of learning from your mistakes you're trying again. Well, good luck to you. Here," Tad tossed an envelope to him, "It's a letter addressed to your little lady from that Pine Tree kid. He's very adamant about her not trusting you." Tad chuckled.
"Yeah, that's why I'll be keeping this with me. Got any other gifts or is this it?"
"That's it. Just...be careful, Bill. This Beast is vengeful and won't be driven off by some clever riddles and a screaming head. He's not human, and he's not a demon, so your usual tricks won't work."
"I'll be fine. I suggest you worry about your own problems, Tad. I can handle myself."
Tad frowned thoughtfully at him, then simply sighed and nodded. With a loud snap of his fingers he was gone, the only trace left a heavy smell of cologne and the empty green mug. Bill grunted and rolled onto his side, happy to return to a thankfully dreamless sleep.