Disclaimer: I do not own GF
I'm so sorry this is so late! I really didn't know how to start this chapter and things kept getting added and then taken away. Still didn't really turn out how I wanted exactly. I think I did too much telling and not enough showing.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Dipper nuzzled into the warmth even more, trying to ignore the shivers that raced through his bones and prickled his skin where the warmth wasn't. He was wonderfully comfortable in the best of ways, his makeshift bed made of one Bill Cipher giving him all the comfort, safety, and heat needed for a well night's rest. His presence itself was calming, gentle touches in his mind that massaged all his worried and fears away, forcing them to the back of his mind to be pondered over later.
Right now, he was safe and happy.
Right now, that's all he needed.
The boy hummed lightly as he felt gloved digits run through his hair once more, running through the curls like they did last night, trailing over skin causing redness to condense on his cheeks once more.
Yawning against Bill's golden vest, Dipper blearily blinked his eyes open, soft chocolate brown dulled a bit from sleep. Everything was a bit blurry at first and all he could besides brunet locks hanging low in his vision was gold and yellow.
The fingers moved down to lightly rub behind his ear, almost in a pet of sorts. Normally, Dipper would have been protesting the attention, blushing terribly while exclaiming that he "wasn't a dog!" And trying his best to hide the fact that he liked it so much.
However, the situation the brunet was in was far from normal in every sense of the way. After all, normal people didn't get crushes on immortal gods living in the forest. Nor did they get kissed by said god, and heaven forbid that they actually fall asleep cuddle up next to the god.
No, this wasn't a normal situation at all and thus Dipper, still groggy from sleep, happily leaned into the touch, soft smile playing on his lips.
"Heya Pine Tree." Bill murmured to him, hot breath billowing onto his face.
"Hey." Dipper replied, punctuating his sentence with a large yawn.
Bill moved his fingers so they were back on his neck, gently swirling the curls there like...
Dipper blinked hard once more as dawn's shimmering light filtered from above, newborn soft.
Like last night.
Last night...
Dipper snapped awake, sleepiness flooding away as memories and realizations clawed to the forefront of his mind. Spitting out an odd choking gasp, the brunet squirmed away from Bill, awkwardly rolling over the god's legs and falling on his side right into a patch of wildflowers, which tickled his face and nose, causing an infamous kitten sneeze to come out.
Bill laughed openly at both the scene and the sneeze, throwing his head back against the bark of the tree. "Oh, Pine Tree! You are absolutely adorable!"
Dipper rolled over onto his back and scrambled into a sitting position, shooting Bill a glare. "No I'm not!" He replied before climbing to his feet, listening to his limbs pop and crack. Worry bled to the forefront if his mind, hot and thick.
He just fell asleep in the forest with Bill.
He had literally been gone all night.
W-What is Stan going to say? Mabel?
He's going to be in huge trouble!
"Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods!" Dipper gasped, pacing in a circle while ringing the bottom of his shirt in his hands.
Bill rolled his eyes. For a kid who gave himself to him, he didn't worship correctly at all.
"What is it, kid?" Bill asked, folding his hands behind his head while stretching out his legs before him, arching his back some to pop it.
"I-I'm going to be in huge trouble! Oh my gods, what is Stan...and Mabel-! Oh, gods...!"
Bill rolled his eyes and the panicking teen. Scooping the brunet's hat off the ground, Bill pushed himself up with his legs and strode over, yanking the hat low over his Pine Tree's face, flattening his unkempt hair.
"Calm down, Pine Tree! Sun is still on the rise and I can get you back to your shack easy! So relax."
Though Dipper did stop his mad pacing, worry still shone clear. However, he did follow Bill's command, shoulder muscles loosening and fists dropping back into hands.
"Okay. Yeah, you're right. Right. No worries." Dipper sighed, still blinking hard. He turned up to the god, chewing on the inside of his cheek some. "So, what do you want?"
"Huh? Want?"
"Teleportation?" Dipper reminded him.
Bill snorted softly. He wanted his Pine Tree to stay here with him. But he knew that was never going to happen. The kid was invested with the world outside and Bill honestly couldn't blame him.
"Oh, just a little thing..." The god trailed off before bending over and pecking his Pine Tree's button nose with a light kiss. He then slung an arm around the kid's shoulders, flames already dancing all around as they slipped away.
Dipper shuddered as his feet slammed back into the ground. He was getting better at traveling like this, but it was still a little jarring at times.
Blushing furiously from what just happened, Dipper stumbled away from the god, fingers lightly rubbing his still-warm nose.
"T-Thanks." He stuttered, not so sure what to do or how to act at this point. Everything seemed to be moving too fast all of a sudden and all he wanted to do was sit down with Bill and discuss what exactly happened last night...
And what just happened right now.
"It's no problem, Pine Tree." Bill replied, kicking himself into the air and crossing his ankle, leaning back into the air with ease.
"Well, uh, I guess I'll see you later. I'll try to come by later today or tomorrow."
Bill shot him a toothy grin. "I can hardly wait."
Dipper's blush grew and the teen averted his eyes, whipping around to march out of the forest.
"Right. Well...bye."
He could still hear Bill's grin in his voice.
"Bye, kid."
~~0~~0~~0~~
Dipper wasn't so sure how he was able to creep into the shack without notice, but he managed.
He had been certain Stan and Mabel would be waiting for him as soon as he cracked open the squeaky door and slipped in. Waiting with narrowed eyes paired with angry and suspicious questions.
However, that didn't happen at all.
The shack was quiet as he stepped inside, soft morning light filtering in through the windows, lighting up all but the darkest corners of the room and pattering the old wood with small golden splotches.
Taking a cautionary glance around, Dipper scurried through the shop and up the stairs, doing his best to both maintain and balance speed and quietness.
By the time he got to his shared room, he had stepped on at least six creaky floorboards, which echoed loudly in the somber house. Much to the teen's relief, no one had come running.
Dipper glanced over at the still sleeping Mabel, who was wrapped around Waddles and cuddling lovingly with the pig.
The sight brought recent memories right back to light.
Dipper blinked hard and padded over to his bed, slipping under the covers and curling up onto his pillow, putting his back to Mabel to feign sleep. Though he knew he should probably be tired, having stayed up a good chunk of the night, only to sleep upright and wake at sunrise, but Dipper was feeling oddly refreshed, like he got a full eight hours of rest instead of the probable five or six.
He sighed into his pillow, staring at the wall blankly while his mind already started to spin around him, trying it's best to catch up with what the heck just happened.
Last night, he had left with Bill to kill Ace Moonlighter.
Dipper shuddered at the memory of her repulsive visage; how utterly disgusting the other good looked with her engorged stomach with the blackened ring, paired with her almost-human skull and skirt made of faces stitched together.
He should have felt sick. Before, everything seemed so slow. Like he wasn't sure what was going on and basing all his actions by his molasses-powered brain and the cold emptiness inside him.
But his mind was up to speed now, able to take everything in in real time and that strange ice in him was gone now, melted by the golden sun and time.
So why wasn't he feeling disgusted? Why didn't he feel regret?
Shouldn't he be feeling regret?
It was the only questioned that plagued his mind when it came to the violent actions of last night.
Not whether or not his actions had been moral.
Not if he was a bad person now.
Not if he was considered a murderer now.
None of those thoughts really hit him, none of them had weight.
Why didn't he feel regret?
Dipper liked to consider himself a hero in his own story. In books and movies, the hero always felt regret at this part, but he wasn't.
Dipper wasn't so sure how to make of this. He liked to consider himself a good person, but good people didn't go out and get revenge.
Revenge wasn't supposed to taste so sweet and he shouldn't be liking it.
Dipper wasn't so sure where these new found feelings came from. Had he always felt like this? Not detached in the slightest, not proud either and definitely not remorseful.
He was simply...well, he didn't have a word to really describe what his heart beat with when the memories of blue flames, broken screams, and golden ichor came to mind. Not totally apathetic, but not quite happy either. It was a strange emotion between the two, not either or.
It was sweet, however.
Poisoned honey.
All those books and movies had been wrong. Revenge was sweet. No doubt about that.
Dipper's mind chugged from his thoughts of Ace Moonlighter to what had happened afterwords.
His face flushed once again and Dipper couldn't help but squeeze his pillow to his chest and kick out with his legs some under the covers.
Bill had kissed him. Not just a peck on the cheek, not just as a tease, but an honest to gods full kiss.
His very first kiss.
Dipper's heart swam with renewed and even stronger feelings for the god, completely erratic and unreasonable. Warmth seemed to radiate from his chest and his previous uncertainty drained away, replaced by an jubilant joy that refused to go away, causing not only his cheeks to be pleasantly warm, but his entire body.
He couldn't help but kick his feet out once more, unable to keep entirely still.
However, despite the elation that filled him, his mind swirled with confusion and slight worry. After all, did Bill even understand crushed? Love? Then again, Bill had said he liked him. How far did that like go? Mabel always said love was just two likes added together. Or was it multiplied? He didn't know and the analogy had gotten lost during her gushing over her crush-of-the-week but it was the only advice he had.
He couldn't tell anyone about the kiss. Bill was a guy and a god. A god people thought was either a complete and total myth or evil.
Both were untrue of course, but he wasn't going to go around and spout the opposite.
Dipper shivered a little and nuzzled deeper into his pillow as those wonderful memories from last night played out. The kiss, the warmth...just everything.
But as those memories played out over and over, so did the feeling and realization that he really did have to go and discuss with Bill what happened. How far did their...relationship go?
Did Bill just like him, or did he like him?
Dipper curled up tighter under his blanket, fingers clenching his mattress as his mind continued to circle as his eyes drifted shut again.
The same questions rolled around as the same images played over and over again.
"Burn her..."
Why didn't he feel regret?
Curled up next to him, fingers running through his hair...
Did Bill actually like him? Or was it just a fluke?
Warm and unsteady lips pressing against his own, strong and welcome...
And what did this mean for the future? What was going to happen now?
And with that, Dipper drifted back off into sleep.
~~0~~0~~0~~
"C'mon, Dipping-sauce! It'll be fun and besides, you don't have any plans for the day! It's time for you to get out and about. Maybe you'll even meet a girl!"
"Hey, if he doesn't want to come with, he doesn't have to."
Dipper glanced between the two girls in front of him, mind torn. Mabel was bouncing on her feet, metal-filled mouth in a toothy, playful grin while her eyes gleamed with excitement. On the flip side, Wendy was leaning back slightly, arms crossed, awaiting his answer with a small, slightly unsure smile.
It didn't come as a surprise that Mabel wanted for him to go out to the mall with the rest of the teens. She'd always been the one to want to hang out with older kids, glamorizing their lifestyle to almost comical lengths. Now that she was a teen, she was going to do her best to act like one every step of the way.
It didn't surprise him whatsoever as much as it puzzled him. Why his sister was so obsessed with the high school life he'd never understand.
Dipper chewed on his bottom lip, debating internally. Last time he had hung out with the teens had been...well, unpleasant was probably an understatement. But this time all they were doing was going to the mall. Nothing illegal and nothing bad. Besides, if he decided to leave, he knew Wendy would have his back this time.
"Okay, okay, I'll go." Dipper finally relented with a small smile.
Mabel squealed and hugged him tightly around the waist while "thank you's!" bubbled from her throat.
Wendy's smile transformed into a full grin and she lightly batted the bill of his hat.
"Cool. Let's go." The redhead said, turning and leading them out to the shack and to the van like last time.
And like last time, all the other teens were in their seats. Thompson driving, Robbie sitting shotgun, Wendy, Nate, and Lee in the middle, and Mabel and him in the very back.
The teens greeted the twins with bright smiles and apologetic glances. Though Dipper wished to get an actual apology from the rest, he settled for the looks of remorse. As Afytha had said- it wasn't his fault but theirs.
"You guys ready?" Nate asked, turning around and grinning broadly as the twins settled down into the back.
"Heck yeah we are! Mall! Mall! Mall!" Mabel started chanting, thrusting her fist into the air.
The other teens were quick to join as Thompson pulled out onto the dirt road and started driving to the mall.
"Guys, could you try not to punch the roof?" He tried asking again, as he always did.
And, as they always did, the rest of the teens ignored him, chanting and punching the roof in excitement.
Thompson sighed and started to fiddle with the radio, putting on some sort of heavy rock.
Nate and Lee sung loudly to the vulgar song, punching one another in the shoulder and grinning the entire time.
Meanwhile, Robbie twisted around in his seat so he could talk to Wendy, a dust of a blush on both teen's cheeks.
Mabel glanced between the two, then at Dipper who was staring out the window to the forest beyond, his own blush causing his cheeks to glow, sappy smile playing on his lips.
"Hey, Dip. You okay?" She asked, eyebrows slightly raised in worry. Usually, he would be steaming mad at the obvious flirting going on between Wendy and Robbie but instead he was just looking out the window.
He turned towards her, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. "Yeah? Why?" He asked.
Mabel frowned. His eyes were brighter than usual and he couldn't seem to be able to keep a smile off his face. On top of that, she was pretty sure he was blushing just a bit.
Mabel narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. "Um, it's just that Wendy and Robbie are flirting and...well..."
Dipper gave her a blank look. "Mabel, I told you a long time ago that I didn't have a crush on Wendy anymore."
Mabel blinked, and fished around in her memory. She could kinda remember him mentioning it offhand. She had thought he was joking or just trying to deny his affections once again, not actually being serious!
"Oh, I thought you were joking!" Mabel gasped out loud. "So who do you have a crush on now?"
Dipper froze and gave her a look reminiscent of a deer caught in headlights. "W-Who said anything about me having a new crush?"
Mabel rolled her eyes. "C'mon, bro-bro. You're totally out of it. You're practically glowing."
He pouted. "Am not!"
"Are too! So who is it?"
Dipper bit his lip and turned back to the window.
He didn't answer her question.
"Dipper, who is it? Who's the lucky gal?"
Dipper shook his head and continued to stare out of the window.
Mabel sent her own pout his way. "Fine, keep your secret crush. But I'll find out, Dipper. I'll find out."
"That was one of the creepiest things I've ever heard you say." He grumbled.
Mabel beamed. "So you'll tell me who our next favorite girl is?" She asked brightly.
Dipper snorted. "No, of course not!"
"So you do have another crush!" Mabel laughed.
"I-I...What?" He spluttered, wheeling back around to stare at his triumphant sister. Realization of what Mabel just did dawned on him. He scowled, impressed but annoyed.
Mabel laughed again.
"Look, guys! We're here!" Wendy shouted, rolling down her window to point at the mall.
Mabel started up her chant of "Mall! Mall! Mall!" Once more, prompting everyone but Thompson to join in, the latter trying to park his van without incident.
The van spluttered to a stop as Thompson killed the ignition and unbuckled his seat belt, having been the only one in the vehicle besides Dipper and a pressured Mabel to do so. The rest of the teens filed out, Nate and Lee chatting about perverted, vulgar things while Wendy went and joined Robbie's side.
"Tambry should be waiting for us inside." Wendy called out as everyone fell into a large group together, slowing down side conversations.
"Bet she's getting a new magazine or whatever." Nate snickered.
Lee, Robbie, and Thompson giggled at the jab while Wendy rolled her eyes.
Mabel muttered something about hot actors, causing Dipper to give her a slightly weirded out glance. It was almost scary how boy crazy his sister was. Almost.
"Well, it's no use just hanging around out here. Let's go!" Mabel crowed as she took off running to the double doors, cheering the entire way which caused a number of funny looks to be shot her way.
The other teens laughed at her enthusiasm and were quick to follow, the chant of "mall! Mall! Mall!" Starting once more.
They were quick to find Tambry. As she was where expected, looking at some nearby tabloids on a rack, flipping through each one with a slight hint of interest on her face.
"Tambry!" Lee called as he spotted the girl, coming to a screeching stop.
Tambry glanced up from her reading, boredom already tugging at her eyes. "Oh, there you guys are." She replied before turning to the nearby vendor to pay for her newest tabloid.
"Okay, now that we got the entire group, where should we go?" Thompson asked, internally hopping he didn't have to do anything embarrassing...again.
"MC Jenny's."
"Edgy on Purpose."
"BeeblyBoop's Videogames."
"Sports Store."
"The food court."
"Eh, anywhere."
Dipper stayed silent, as well as Tambry.
The teens stared down at one another, eyes narrowed.
"C'mon, guys! MC Jenny's is having a sale today!" Mabel gushed.
"They're always having a sale." Robbie butted in. "And besides, Edgy on Purpose has actual good clothes."
Mabel shook her head condescendingly. "Oh, no they don't." She said slowly, clear pity in her tone.
"Clothes shopping is boring! Sports, guys. Sports." Nate said, waggling his eyebrows.
Lee shook his head, causing his blond hair to get stuck in his mouth. "Have to disagree with you on that. BeeblyBoop's is the best and besides, free games!"
Thompson muttered about being hungry under his breath while Wendy just rolled her eyes. "Why don't we just wander around until we see something we like?" She negotiated.
The teens glanced at one another before voicing their agreement and with that, everyone fell into place within the group. Nate and Lee ran ahead together with Thompson, already trying to talk him into doing gross and embarrassing dares. Wendy and Robbie let their shoulders brush as they walked side-by-side, both also sporting matching blushes. Tambry was a few feet off, nose already stuck in her tabloid while her eyes scanned page after page with a sort of religious reverence.
Dipper was, unsurprisingly, with Mabel, listening to her ideally gush about something her, Candy, and Grenda did the other day while hanging out.
Dipper bit his lip, slightly hurt and feeling guilty for it. Lately, Mabel never really wanted to hang out with him, it seemed and when they did, it always looped back around to Candy and Grenda or just boring girl stuff. What happened to the jokes and games? Those normal things they always did together were quickly becoming not so normal and few and far between.
Dipper shook his flash of pain and jealousy away. What sort of brother didn't support his sister's friends and interests? If he and Mabel were switched, she wouldn't be feeling or acting like this!
Dipper blinked and blankly stared at the shops all around him as well as kept an eye on their boisterous group. While muscle memory took over his legs and ears, his mind wandered far away, back into the forest he never could keep his thoughts away from and to a special god who was warm and weird, yet funny all the same.
So focused on his thoughts, he didn't notice the girl in front of him stop until he ran straight into her, almost knocking her to the ground.
"Ack! Sorry Wendy!" Dipper quickly apologized, straightening his cap and rubbing his now sore nose lightly.
Wendy stumbled a little due to the surprise and force of him running into her. She turned around and gave him an easy smile. "Hey, it's cool. You didn't mean too." At expression on his face, Wendy's easy smile turned into a wider grin. "So what were you thinking about, Dip?"
Dipper slowly let his hand drop and felt himself flush even more than he already was under her mischievous gaze. "What do you mean?" He asked, his voice cracking in the middle of his question.
Robbie snorted. Wendy ignored it.
"You have your serious thinking face on again and you are blushing!"
That made Dipper blush even more. "I don't have a serious thinking face."
"Of course you do, Dipper!" Mabel butted in. She shot an evil grin as she continued. "Thinking about your new crush?"
"Mabel!" Dipper cried out, aghast.
Wendy snickered and Robbie rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, in the background Nate and Lee were trying to talk Thompson into licking the rim of a trashcan.
"Oh, you gotta crush? Who's the lucky girl?" Wendy ask, genuine smile across her features.
Dipper found he couldn't look anyone in the eye at that moment and turned away. "I don't have a crush." He denied.
Both Mabel and Wendy rolled their eyes while Robbie let out another snicker. "Gotta try harder than that, kid."
Dipper twitched slightly at the nickname, remembering a higher pitched, but much smoother voice uttering the same word only a few hours before.
"I am telling the truth! No crushes here!"
A chant of "lick it! Lick it!" Started up in the background. Seeing the dare, Dipper was quick to join, if only to get away from the scrutiny of the other three.
At the sight of a slowly breaking down Thompson, the other three teens were quick to join in the chant as well, causing people passing by to stare. Meanwhile, Tambry fished her Polaroid out of her purse and got ready to take the picture.
Finally, the fatter boy relented under the peer pressure and bent down to lick the rim of the can, forced to hold the pose long enough for Tambry to snap a few pictures. As soon as she was done, Thompson stumbled away from the can, wiping his tongue with his hand to try and get the taste out of his mouth.
Everyone else cheered for his success, laughing and joking around again.
The teens started wandering once more, sometimes stopping to look through various windows, but never pausing to actually go inside any store. Each was waiting for their own preferable place to pop out.
Wendy broke off from Robbie briefly to join the two twins. As usual, Mabel was chatting up a storm a mile a minute, as well as pointing out various boys that passed by, giving each a rating on whether she would date them or not.
Dipper was looking completely out of it. He had the oddest expression on his face and he simply hummed in acknowledgment to whatever came out of Mabel's mouth.
Getting closer to the teen, Wendy's nose wrinkled at the odd smell coming off the boy besides her. It was thick, but faint, settling on her tongue. She couldn't quite pin the scent down. It was almost...smoldering with an odd, almost meaty tang. Like badly cooked beef mixed.
"Hey, no offense Dipper, but you kinda need a shower." She informed him.
Dipper didn't seem to notice her talking, or even her presence, preferring to stare blankly ahead, completely lost in the clouds.
Rolling her eyes, the redhead knocked on his head a bit.
"Ow! Hey! What was that for!" Dipper protested as he shooed her fist away.
Mabel laughed at the two of them before her attention was drawn away by another guy.
"Dude, you smell rancid. You need to take a shower when you get home."
Dipper blanched, eyes widening in fear. Wendy, taken aback by the expression, pursed her lips in slight worry. "You okay?"
That strange, almost terrified expression quickly melted away as soon as it came, leaving his face pointedly blank.
It was...an odd expression to say the least.
"I'm fine! Just, magic, you know? Sometimes it can leave weird smells if you're not careful!"
Wendy chuckled at that, trying to block the memory of a certain spell she tried one time that went horribly wrong, leaving her with a uni-brow that she had to shave and smelling of cheese the rest of the day.
"True, true." She agreed, ignoring her heart that was telling her, loud and clear, that something was wrong.
Dipper nodded and went back to the one-sided conversation with Mabel, leaving Wendy to return to Robbie.
The rest of the day passed without incident.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Dipper was all the more ready to finally get home and back into the forest with Bill.
After saying goodbye to the teens, he easily dodged around Stan with a small lie about going to the library. Waving goodbye to Mabel who was currently talking to Candy on the phone, leaning against the counter and twirling her hair as she did so, Dipper easily snuck out and around the house, slipping into the woods quietly and without incident as usual.
As soon as he stepped into the tree line, a flash of gold appeared out of the corner of his eyes and an arm was slung around him.
Dipper's heart started to beat frantically in his chest while his cheeks got a red hue. His liquid brown eyes peeked out from under his cap to meet a single burning golden orb. The boy gave a wide smile.
"Hey Bill." He greeted.
Bill chuckled and started to lead him into the forest once more. "Heya Pine Tree!"
"So how are you today?"
Bill hummed lightly. "Better now that you're here." He side with a slow blink. "That was a wink, by the way." He tacked on at the end.
Dipper laughed and flushed harder. Was Bill actually trying to flirt with him or was he just being Bill? At this point, Dipper really couldn't tell.
What he needed to do was stop the god so the two of them could talk about their kiss last night- what did it mean? Dipper knew what it meant to himself, of course but what about Bill? After all, Bill was older than him by...well, a lot to be honest. If Dipper couldn't win over Wendy's heart because of three years, what hope was there that he could win Bill's?
"You have your serious thinking face on, Pine Tree. What's up?" Bill interjected, smiling easily as he maneuvered them around a pile of thorny bushes.
Dipper grumbled a little under his breath. He did not have a serious thinking face. Nevertheless, he slowly responded, unsure exactly how to bring this sort of topic up.
"Just...Just last night."
Bill let out a guffaw at that. "Hehe, that was pretty fun! Did you see the face she was wearing when her eyeballs started to melt out of her skull and hair? Priceless! Comedy gold, I tell you!"
Dipper shook his head, smiling softly at Bill's antics and ignoring that small voice in him that told him he shouldn't find what the god said funny at all.
"Well, no not quite. What happened afterwords."
"Oh, the kiss?" Bill asked, nonchalantly.
Stiff and suddenly stressed and worried, Dipper nodded. "Yeah..." He slowed down to a stop, causing Bill to turn around and look at him with slight confusion.
Dipper hugged himself and looked away, embarrassed to continue but knowing he had to.
"What about it?"
Dipper bit his lip. "Well, it's just...it's not just a way to show affection."
Bill cocked an eyebrow and motioned for the brunet to continue after he fell silent.
"People also do it when their dating."
"Dating? What's that?"
Dipper groaned and rubbed his face with both hands hard. How was he supposed to explain dating of all things?
"Well, you see, when two people like each other, like romantically like each other, they'll start dating."
"Courting, you mean?"
Dipper nodded. "Yeah! Like courting."
Bill pursed his lips and stared at the boy with an unreadable expression on his face. "You know, you probably should have mentioned that."
Dipper flinched and flushed even more, red spreading to the tips of his ears. "S-Sorry." He stuttered.
"So, do you wish to court me, Pine Tree?" Bill continued on, face still carefully void of emotion.
Dipper worried his bottom lip. "Y-You already know t-the answer to that..." He muttered, hating the situation he was in and hating the pounding of his heart.
Finally, the hints of a smirk crawled onto the god's lips. Whether it was malicious or playful, Dipper couldn't tell.
"I know, but I want to hear you say it." Bill continued, summoning his cane to lean against it.
Dipper switched to chewing on the inside of his cheek. His eyes darted all around in uncertainty and his heart was still trying to tear it's way through bone and flesh.
"Yeah. I guess so." He whispered, voice small and cracking, making him sound younger than what he actually was.
Bill shot him a full-on smirk and Dipper turned away, hurt already boiling up inside him. He was so stupid falling into a crush with a god! How could this even happen? Why did he let this happen? His crush on Wendy never hurt him this badly, never tormented him this badly! Why did bad things always happen to him? Why did he always get the short end of the stick? Bill probably thought he was weird now, being a guy and a human and all. It just wasn't fair!
"You are aware I'm an immortal god trapped in this forest, right?" Bill asked, amused.
Dipper bit his lip. "Yeah?" He squeaked.
Bill laughed loudly at how tinny his voice sounded and strode over easily, leaving his cane behind. Whipping the cap off the boy's head, he pressed his lips to his sapling's scalp briefly before pulling away and replacing the hat.
"Good. Now that we got that out of the way, let's go.~" He sing-songed.
"Wait, what?" Dipper spluttered. "You don't care that I'm a guy? Or thirteen?"
Bill rolled his eyes. "You humans and your silly..." His voice trailed off as he sighed. "One, no. Why should gender of all things matter? You humans and your silly heads. How you're the dominate race on this planet I'll never know. Secondly, age is just a number and time isn't real anyways."
Dipper's mouth fell open and he felt lighter than air. His heart still pumped rapidly, but not from worry and stress anymore.
"Oh." He said as a large grin broke out across his features.
Bill chuckled. "Oh. Now, are you coming or not, Pine Tree? There's this mail box that's been getting on my nerves and I think it's high time for me to go and get some revenge. You coming?"
Dipper laughed at that, at this point not even questioning the fact that Bill needed to go and hurt a mailbox of all things. It was probably magical anyways. Everything was, after all in some way.
"Heck yeah I'm coming!" The brunet replied, jogging up to his side and happily welcoming the protective arm that wrapped around his shoulders.
Dipper had never felt better.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Again, I hate the term 'filler chapter' but...yeah. Not all that much foreshadowing, but some.
Least Dipper and Bill kinda got their relationship sorted out. Kinda. Also, there was a scene that I was going to put in here that involved Robbie daring Dipper to go into this world's version of Victoria's Secret, but I wasn't able to fit it in. Would you guys be interested in me writing it as a oneshot or something? Just a thought.
Also, this story is now officially over 100,000 words long! *buzzes victory kazoo* Not the longest thing I've written yet, but that's still a lot in a very short period of time!
Anyways, on a side note I most likely won't be able to update Sunday as I have a party to go to, so next chapter will probably be on Monday. Just a heads up, guys.
The Keeper of Worlds- There is a way to translate it, but you have to go to AO3, which has copy and paste, then go to an online cipher decoder. Anyways, thanks for reading!
crabbySeer- Haha, its okay. A lot of people on AO3 thought it was Bill too. And yes, Necromancy is very dangerous.
JackieLanternXOXO- Haha, glad you liked the chapter so much! A lot happened and switching between dark-fluff-dark was a bit difficult but I'm glad it turned out okay!
Wildtail of Wind- Only took 18 chapters and nearly 100,00 words! As for Ace...yeah, she was fun to write. I think a lot of people were expecting her to be a bit like Bill or something tbh. And a lot of stuff is going to be answered soon, I promise.
random name- Happy Birthday! *buzzes kazoo* And hehe, no. They're simply wildflowers. Nothing more~ As you can tell with the rating ans the fact that Dipper is 13 in this, nothing sexual is going to happen. Like, at all.
Guest- Yes we do :3
LuminousMoonRay- Nah, I was grinning like a loon writing it! And well...we have about 9 chapters left and haven't hit the final climax, so I'll let you try and decide what's going to happen next. Thanks for reading!
Just-Gold- Yup. And you have no idea...Thanks for reading!
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this very, very late chapter. Thanks for reading!