Prompt: Do you think you could write about Bill being in his demonic human form (like he was when he was sick) and Dipper just asking questions and poking around (stretching out his wings, looking at his teeth, testing how sharp his claws are, etc.). And Bill's just answering his questions in amusement.

20 Questions

"Claw length?"

"3 centimeters relaxed, about 4 inches unsheathed."

Pause. Pencil scratch.

"How come they're not hooked?"

"Good question." A shrug.

"Wingspan?"

"Half or—oh, total? 4 meters or so."

Pause. Pencil scratch.

"Okay. Can you fly with them?"

"What, you mean like flap-flap?" A soft breeze hit Dipper's face as Bill's bat-like wings actually did go 'flap-flap.' The demon shook his head from where he was lying on the bed on his stomach still. "Of course not."

"…then what do they do?" he watched with unbridled fascination as the wings, with some difficulty in such a small room, refolded against Cipher's back. This was pretty amusing to Bill, who wasn't hiding his little self-satisfied smirk at showing off his truly demonic attributes. He was a pretty prideful creature sometimes, and Dipper's admiration wasn't helping any.

"They have to do something, huh Pine Tree?"

Dipper went back to his drawing in Journal 3, making sure he added the correct amount of fingers to the drawing of Bill's wing. Three thin fingers with three joints, and one thumb with a long thick claw that glinted in the dying light filtering through the attic window. Check.

"I know you, Bill. You hate useless stuff. They must be good for something."

Bill's smile, now with wicked sharp ivory teeth jutting from his gums, eyes and teeth all but glowed in the twilight.

"I always said you're pretty persistent, Pine Tree."

Instead of a verbal answer, the demon turned and drew the Pine kid's attention to his left wing, which was lifting up from its tucked posture. The wrist joint turned suddenly, contorting and spread the thumb claw out. The fingers were tucked back and curled in gently to give Bill some room. Like this, the dream demon placed the wrist joint into Dipper's bed and pushed off. The other wing moved and followed, and Bill easily sat up, kneeling on the bed and leaning on the wings on either side of him.

"…so they can act like arms, too. Wow." Dipper buried his nose back into his journal, pencil flying over the pages to try and get just the right shape of the double-jointed wrist as the claw dug into the bed a little. Bill shifted his weight a little and watched him draw, amusement and fondness heavy in his eyes.

"So all demons have these things?"

"All good demons." Cipher's grin was deadly for an instant, reminding Dipper that his friend was also someone who could bat an eye and destroy a building.

"Which means all bad demons." Dipper chewed the end of his eraser. "And they have a symbol shape too?"

"Easy to travel in. Once you get used to the size anyway, but that only takes a couple decades."

"In the dreamscape you were any size." Dipper pointed out.

"But out here I'm not, am I?"

"Hm." Dipper went back to his notes. Bill tipped his head back and yawned, still not entirely over his little cold yet. He settled back on the bed, making a satisfied noise at the comfort and considered not leaving this new nest even after he fully healed. Pine Tree would probably gripe but ultimately Cipher could talk him into with sharing this nest, he was confident in that. For a moment, there was silence.

"…do you have a tail?"

Bill chuckled and cracked open an eye. It fell on Dipper, who was staring at him intently again.

"Maybee, Pine Tree." He said, dragging out the 'e' on maybe to rhyme with tree.

"Maybes don't write books, Bill!" Dipper pouted in frustration. The demon only chuckled and stretched one arm out, arching his back briefly like a lazy cat before falling in exactly the same spot he'd moved from. Dipper had trained his desk lamp on him and the heat it was providing, while slim, was actually pleasant and attesting to Cipher's sleepy mannerisms. He was warm and comfortable and Pine Tree and Shooting Star's scent was all around him. No one could blame him for being relaxed.

There was a little dip in the bed as the kid got up and perched on the side.

"….CanImaybetouchyourwingsplease." it all came out in a little rush under his breath, but Cipher's sharp hearing picked the words out.

"If you must Pine Tree. I know you. You're more curious than the cat." Bill groaned dramatically, but moved to his left side and spread out his right wing. The longest finger in the middle nearly touched the door by Dipper's bed, and certainly covered all of Dipper's small stature.

Dipper's hands went up, and the wing came down and bonked the kids' hat playfully. Dipper snorted and let Bill do as he pleased; knowing how lucky he was the demon was being patient with him. At least, he'd probably look back on the experience and then realize how lucky he was.

Right now he was focused on feeling the soft leather webbing that arched between each fingers.

"Wooow…" Dipper murmured, moving to kneel on his bed to reach up and hold the black arm of the wing with both hands, testing how heavy it was. He was careful, he didn't pull it, and he only poked it a little. Dipper counted the joints, even took the one after the thumb claw and bent it to see how it would moved.

At the same time, though Bill pretended to go back to his nap, slitted eyes were watching Dipper carefully. He pulled his wing away when Dipper's finger got to close to his claws. They weren't large, but they were thick and dangerously sharp, and unlike his fingers these were able to hook into things. He didn't need that going into the boy's skin. Stanford would probably murder him, stuff him and put him on display.

Dipper didn't seem to notice Bill was watching him or reacting, and without thinking his nails brushed over the top of the wing, right into the grooves between the knuckles before the fingers branched out.

The demon under him was caught off guard by the touch, and a pleasant wave of relief passed through him as Dipper itched the webbing. The noise bubbled in his throat and left his lips before he could realize he was making it.

Beside him, Dipper froze and turned to really look at the demon.

"Dude. You just purred."

It was Bill's turn to freeze. And he jerked up, folding his arms and going back to haughty lion, chest puffed out and all. His free wing gave an uneasy jerk before resettling.

"Don't be ridiculous Pine Tree! You heard a noise in the shack probably." Cough. "That's all."

"Mhm." But Dipper let it drop. "How about horns?"

"What?"

"Horns. Do you have horns?"

"I think you've been watching too many movies, Pine Tree. All these demon clichés, it's sad."

"That wasn't a no."

Cipher was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. The silence stretched on for so long Dipper actually opened his mouth to tell him never mind, because horns were clearly a more sensitive subject than even the tail was.

But Cipher sighed, and there was the faint shift, subtle but Dipper was used to feeling it, of magic in the air as something gently sprouted from Cipher's head. Two somethings actually, yellow unlike his black wings and only growing about ten inches. They curved inward ever so slightly, reminding Dipper of the sides of a triangle.

"…oh." He couldn't keep the awe some his voice. They were amazing looking.

Dipper reached out, then paused, drawing his hand back in. he didn't catch Cipher's grateful or proud look. For some reason, he felt he should wait for permission, so instead he fell back on questions. And continued his inspection of the demon's wings, which he couldn't seem to keep his hands off of.

"Your horns are really cool man. How come they didn't come out when the humanity spell came undone?"

"Horns are a…sensitive subject. And they're usually buried very deep, deeper than our cores."

Dipper made a mental note to ask what 'cores' were. Absentmindedly, his fingers roamed over the webbing on the giant wing spread before him.

"You're awfully enamored with my wings, Pine Tree." Came a remark down to his right.

Dipper blushed and shot Cipher a tiny, empty glare.

"I'm not the one who purred." But suddenly, "How do you fly like this?"

Cipher could just see where this was going, he didn't have to be all-knowing to do so. He lifted his head, propping himself on his elbows.

"Do you want to find out, Pine Tree?" Bill grinned his infamous crocodile grin.

"Well I mean I did just ask—" Dipper caught on, especially when he saw Bill starting to move at him, that dangerous smile cutting up his face. Sharp teeth glinted as Dipper paled and back peddled. Cipher slunk forward on all fours briefly, eating up space between them as he grabbed
Dipper and changed direction, bounding for a window.

"W-wait! Bill you're still stick man! Y-you don't want to go—"

Too late.

They pushed through the window—which must have been magically stretched to accommodate them—and Dipper saw the grass below them, the 'HACK' at level as they seemed to hang in the air for one terrifying moment. Cool air pushed his face as they began to free fall, to Dipper's horror and dismay. He cried out the demon's name which melted into a scream as said demon only laughed and let them plummet for a second.

Instead of trying to break free, Dipper coiled his arms around Bill from behind, holding tight to his neck as they dropped toward the ground, yellow grass, dirt and certain death rising up to meet them. Until suddenly those giant wings on both side spread and the demon shot straight up into the air, hair whipping back as the moonlight made Cipher's horn seem to glow.

"Gyaaaaaahhh!"

Cipher's echoing laughter joined Dipper's shout as they soared through the clouds and up into the night sky.

"Now you know how I fly Pine Tree!" He shouted back cheerfully as he leveled out, no longer using magic to propel himself.

"Y-yeah! Poorly!"

It was true enough. Cipher's wings gave only direction and a small amount of lift that was mostly useless by the time his magic picked up speed. He flew by magic. The wings were just so he didn't crash into anything. Keeping that in mind, Dipper watched Cipher's wings flap almost clumsily, lazily even. They weren't very important, so Bill didn't have to bother with technique or anything like that. He bobbed in the air, flying like a rocket with propulsion at the back.

Below them the forest stretched out, thick and tangled woods that Bill rolled sideways into, sniggering as Dipper yelped again and tightened his hold.

"Boy it's a good thing I don't breathe!" the demon said as they angled around the tallest pines. His wings were folded up and arched, providing enough shape to let him take sharp, complex turns all meant to make Dipper yelp a little harder each time they narrowly avoided something.

Finally, finally, they slowed to a reasonable speed, and Dipper could actually think again. He caught his breath, and slowly opened his eyes to take in the sight around them. Lifting his face from the back of Bill's neck rewarded him with an admittedly amazing view. Gravity Falls stretched far out below them, a coarse clump of black woods with a few points here and there, the night sky velvet black. It was spotted with tiny pin pricks from stars, and mottled by stretched out blue clouds light up by the crescent moon that was rising.

Bill's wings gave an almost ponderous flap as they began to coast, no longer parallel with the ground but angled slightly up. Dipper kept his arms around the demon's shoulders, resting between the demon's shoulder blades as he listened to the sound of leather on both sides of him, beating the air on instinct as they turned in a wide, steady circle.

Now Dipper could see the shape he knew belonged to the Mystery Shack, and he relaxed even more. And beyond that, were tiny lights that was the rest of the sleepy, strange little town.

Dipper lifted his head a little more, moving his hand up without thinking. His fingers and palm met smooth, yellow enamel and his eyesight clouded over. Everything went yellow and faded back to normal—with the added addition of round, foggy purple clouds far off over the town. They were scattered and didn't move much unlike real clouds. They hovered over houses much like hot air balloons, and Dipper gaped at the sight, blinking a few times. The yellow haze around his vision did not falter as they flew. The little cloud edges were fuzzy and curling and it took Dipper a moment to realize just what he was seeing.

He sheepishly released Cipher's horn when the demon cleared his throat.

"…were those dreams?" Dipper finally ventured as they soared easily.

"Yup." Cipher popped the 'p.' "And if we went into those we'd head into their Dreamscape, but only the dream.

"So you couldn't get into their minds?" Like he did with Grunkle Stan, though Dipper didn't mention that little incident.

"Nah. It's like walking onto the property of someone's house. Can't get in without a key, but the yards up for grabs."

"That's how you leave nightmares." Dipper guessed as he looked up into the sky, spotting constellations.

"My specialty." Cipher hummed, but Dipper knew that wasn't all the dream demon could do. He could give and take away, and Dipper suspected Cipher had eaten more than a few of their own bad dreams ever since they'd befriended the horrifying, crazed entity. They hadn't flown far, and by the time Cipher answered his questions they were over the Mystery Shack again.

Bill landed on the roof after a few arduous flaps, walking carefully for once as he lifted back into the air to put Dipper back into the attic before following himself.

"Have fun?" He grinned at the kid's flyaway hair, wrinkled clothes and cold-reddened cheeks. Which was good, because that meant Bill probably didn't see his blush when that smile was leveled at him.

"Uh, y-yeah actually." Dipper hid behind the brim of his hat a second before looking back up. "Just…warn me next time, okay Bill?"

Bill clucked his tongue in correction as he strutted past, wings tucked tight to let him fit into the room.

"Pine Tree. If I warned you about the half things I did we'd never have any fun."

Dipper rolled his eyes, but found he couldn't argue. He settled instead for ushering the demon back into bed before his cold came back worse.

Besides, he had a lot of new notes to put under Bill's section in the journal.

"Hey, Bill?"

"A'yeah?"

"Thanks."

"…you're welcome, Dipper."