It is another snow day during an early February week-end, and yet another day of free time where the three kids decided to reunite. Samuel enters the Pines residence in a hurry, and the Pines parents get concerned about him due to how heavily the snow started to fall down. But he assures that he is okay and thanks them for their concern, before he goes to his friends' bedroom.

Dipper immediately lights up seeing Samuel. He knew their friend was coming, but he started to get worried, seeing the snow getting heavier from their bedroom's window.

"Hey Samuel! Great to see you made it! How did you even make it through all of this snow? It started to get pretty terrible out there."

Samuel shakes his snow attire before removing it. "Yeah, it suddenly got heavier while I was already on my way here... But I'm fine, don't worry!"

Mabel also feels relieved. "If you need, we can make hot chocolate!"

Her friend nods, as he does feel cold right now. "This sounds like a great idea! I'd like that!"

Then, they hear Mrs. Pines when they reach the staircase."Kids! The snow is getting really bad, so I'm sorry, but you can't go play outside today!"

There are some "Aww..." of disappointment, but they all understand and respect.

Mr. Pines adds. "If it gets too long, you're free to stay here, Samuel. We'll warn your parents that you're safe in here."

Samuel feels relieved. "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate your hospitality!"

So they stay safe and warm inside for the day. They are happy to be hanging out inside together either way.

Mabel smiles "Yeah, it's no problem at all, Samuel. You're always welcome here, and I'm happy we were able to get you inside before the storm got even worse. That's a real relief."

Dipper adds to joke. "Just don't destroy our house, okay?" Samuel giggles at it.

As the parents are away, Bill shows up with his arms crossed, laughing sarcastically "Ha ha ha ha ha... Hilarious, Pinetree..."

Dipper frowns a bit, but then, his attention is taken by Bill's friendship bracelet, and he's surprised that he's not ashamed to show it to them anymore. So he shrugs the comment and just deals with the demon's presence.

Bill floats to the bedroom's window. "Well you sacks of meat and your vulnerability... It seems you can't handle all that little snow blow outside. So now what?"

Mabel says, excited with her usual positiveness. "We'll just enjoy each other's company. We'll talk, we also have tons of games we could play!"

Samuel realizes "Oh wait, Dipper, before I forget..." He takes out his notebook "You might wanna scan the newest pages of my reports. That way we won't have to think about it and we can enjoy our time afterwards!"

Dipper gives Samuel a nod, and his face brightens up a bit. "Yeah, this seems like a good idea. Thanks!"

Mabel, who doesn't really want to get into any of that, says. "I'm gonna use the time to prepare the hot chocolate I promised. I'll get three of them ready!"

"Oh neat, I'll help you!" Samuel leaves the bedroom with her, leaving Dipper alone with Bill.

Bill silently leaves a teasing remark "You always were one to get involved with papers, eh, Pinetree?"

Dipper looks at him with a slight defensive frown. "What are you implying, Bill? You got an issue with that?"

The triangle answers with a small mocking position, but speaks without malice. "Nah, I don't have a problem! It's just, first Sixer's journals and now this. It's amusing to see everything repeats itself!"

The kid doesn't pay him much attention, and then Bill adds, looking away from him. "... You are quite similar to Sixer indeed... He also got himself lost in books and studies back then."

Dipper gets intrigued when he says that. "You think we're the same...?"

Bill doesn't deny. "You know, family genetics and all that...". He returns to pretend grumpiness to get out of his sensitive talk. "But you should be focusing on scanning those new pages before Shooting star comes back, or she won't be too happy about you taking too long!"

Dipper obviously takes extreme annoyance at this remark. "But you're the one who..." He groans loudly before returning to it, Bill looking away as well.

Mabel and Samuel bring the platter with mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows right as Dipper finished, and the smell gets to the boy's nose, causing him to smile.

"Oh, thank you for doing this!" He grabs his mug and the three kids sit.

Bill is floating in a sitting position, and just for the sake of it, he makes a mug his size appear to match. And... he drinks through his eyelid, causing the twins to grimace while Samuel doesn't notice. The demon is looking at them annoyed. "... What?" So they don't question him at all.

Samuel asks. "So what are we gonna do if we're stuck at your home?"

Dipper suggests. "How about chess?"

Mabel isn't sure. "I'm... not the greatest at it, as you know... And even then, you're gonna win all the time, as always."

Her friend immediately wants to reassure her. "Come on, you can do good. I'll be there to guide you if you need!"

Her brother already put all the pieces where he needed to. So she gives up and accepts with hesitation. "Okay fine..."

After Mabel tries against Dipper, with Samuel guiding her whenever she has a doubt on something. But even then, Dipper gets a victory after some time. But he smiles at his opponent. "You did pretty good! Don't discredit yourself too much, Sis!"

Mabel nods unconvinced, but she appreciates the compliment. "Thanks... Why don't you try, Samuel?" Suddenly, she starts sounding a lot more eager "Go on and make him bite the dust!"

"HEY!" Her brother gets annoyed, but then she giggles since it was only to get a reaction.

"Alright then... I'll show you what I got!" Samuel sits and Mabel looks carefully, half-hoping Dipper would lose, but she'd congratulate the winner either way.

Meanwhile, Bill keeps his sitting-while-floating pose acting like he doesn't care, but he actually keeps a close eye on what's going on.

The game is a little more intense, which definitely gets Mabel's attention as he chews on marshmallows nervously while also making sure that Waddles wouldn't approach too much to mess with the board.

As careful and strategic Samuel is... Dipper wins again. "Great game, you're a worthy opponent!"

Samuel takes the defeat well. "You're a better strategist than me, so I'm not surprised."

"So, do we move on to something else? I don't want to brag, but I'm not against playing something where I have better chances to lose." Dipper is honest about this, not wanting to let victories get to his head. But this comment was taken differently in the room as a voice claims a surprising statement.

"HOLD ON! I'll take you on, Pinetree!"

All three kids are stunned in silence at this declaration. And Dipper breaks the silence... "Sure! I'm willing to do a game with you, Bill. If you don't mind, you guys..."

Mabel and Samuel confirm they don't mind watching it. They never saw this coming, and would like to see where this is going.

"You seem smart, but let's see what you got against me!" claims a confident demon. He picks the black pieces to match his accessories.

Dipper is encouraging. "Do your worst!"

After that, Bill uses telekinesis to move his first piece, closing his eye in confidence as Dipper has an annoyed stare. Bill knows and opens his eye annoyingly. "What...?"

The boy shrugs off the small cheat that just occured and moves on. "Nothing..."

Through the entire game, Bill barely needs 2 seconds to know exactly what to do during each of his turns. He keeps an attitude of confidence the entire time. Dipper himself is confident too, but he starts getting nervous. He's never faced anyone that ever gave him such struggle at chess. And then, eventually...

"Checkmate, Pinetree..."

"WHAT?" Dipper looks in disbelief while Mabel and Samuel gasp.

"Wow, Bro-bro, I don't think you ever lost at that game before!"

Dipper is a tiny bit doubtful given his opponent. "Did he cheat somewhere or something?"

Samuel shakes his head. "I paid close attention to his movements, he won fair and square!"

Trusting his friend, he then admits... "In that case... Congrats for your victory, Bill... Honest!"

Bill opens with sincerity. "You play pretty good yourself. Very few people could stand against me as well as you did! But I can tell you feel a bit frustrated."

The boy confirms. "I'm fine with losing, but that's a little unfair that you started with black."

Bill rolls his eye. "Okay fine... Let's make another where YOU start if you're so convinced I cheated!" He snaps his fingers and the pieces are all back at their starting position.

"Are you up for another game? Bring it on!" Dipper's passion makes this a very interesting show for the two that don't play.

Mabel is surprised to see her brother so competitive, with Bill of all people. She jokes around by saying. "I should definitely get pop-corn!"

This time, Dipper starts the game with Bill going second. The game seems just as tense as the previous one, with Bill's confidence being just as strong. And after yet another intense game...

"Checkmate again, Pinetree!"

Dipper is speechless for a little bit.

"You don't make it boring, so don't let the defeat go to your head!" After that encouragement, Bill suggests innocently. "A last one, maybe? Or is your thought process organ you call a brain too tired?"

The boy ignores the comment. "... One last game, okay? Last one, I promise to you guys!" Seeing his passion, again, Mabel and Samuel allow a last game to take place.

Bill speaks non-chalently. "Okay then... Final one!"

Dipper has a confident smile on his face. "Let's do this!"

And so, the game takes place. Oddly enough, Dipper seems to have picked up some stuff from Bill's strategies, because he's actually able to be a bigger threat to him this time. He is definitely putting up a good fight. After some time, Dipper is saying, calmly and without being overconfident, for the first time in three games...

"Check, Bill..." The demon looks in disbelief and stares at his opponent's smile. The boy thinks "I actually got there!", but is trying to keep his cool right now.

Bill reacts annoyed on the outside "Yeah yeah, it's not over!" He moves his king piece away to continue.

"Let's see..." Dipper takes the time to think what to do and moves his piece to offense, while Bill starts seeming worried internally. So he moves his King piece another time, and then...

"Checkmate, Bill!" Mabel and Samuel are absolutely stunned while Dipper cheers to himself. "I actually beat you, uh..."

Bill starts yelling furiously. "HOW DARE YOU?" He points his index finger at Dipper and starts charging a laser "I'LL TEACH YOU TO OUTSMART ME!"

Dipper cowers in horror, but then all he feels is a squirt of water on his face, immediately followed by a loud laugh. "GOTCHA!"

The boy laughs of discomfort, clearly upset at his style of humor. But then he just accepts it because that's how he is and he's only ever toying with him instead of intending to harm him. So he leaves a slight shuckle.

Bill literally extends his arm across the board to reach closer to Dipper. "No hard feelings, alright, Pinetree?"

Dipper gets a more genuine smile. "No hard feelings!" They shake hands in respect under the stare of an emotional Mabel. Samuel is very surprised too, pleased to witness this.

"I gotta say, I'm impressed... Your tactical smarts are definitely similar to Sixer!". Bill does know what he's talking about, given how much time he spent with the man.

Dipper is thankful. "Thanks. Now enough with chess, I suppose."

Samuel looks at the window. "Looks like the snowstorm isn't stopping anytime soon. What else can we do?"

Dipper suggests. "Sammy, you wanna play Dungeons, Dungeons & More Dungeons?"

"Ooh, I'd love to!"

The boy then surprises himself saying. "Bill, would you be interested...?"

The demon thinks. "I can watch how much your intelligence manages to understand how it plays." He says as a jab, but he only gets a slight frown from Dipper.

Mabel just casually avoids being dragged into this because she finds the game too annoying to get. But she doesn't complain about seeing the boys and Bill getting along. She decides to simply go put the mugs to cleaning, and then comes back to watch the computer while they're busy.

Out of nowhere, the computer shows a call from Ford after he got the latest pages of the Bill study. She answers alone, seeing how busy the boys are with Bill.

The man is surprised as he was expecting his nephew to answer. "Oh! Hi, Mabel! How are you?"

The girl gets a smile immediately. "Hi, Grunkle Ford! Sorry, I don't think Dipper can talk to you right now. He's... in the middle of something..." She moves away from the camera for a bit in order to showcase the scene.

Ford is shocked to see the boys and Bill just hanging out and playing a game. He observes the scene and then tells her. "So it seems Bill really... I mean, I got your studies and believed them, but to see it is another experience..."

"It is, yeah! But it became the norm for me!" She decides to switch subjects. "By the way, how's Grunkle Stan?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Ford says with a small smile as he turns the camera to show him.

"How are you, little one?" Stan is being fairly cheerful.

"Grunkle Stan, hi! It's been a while since our last call, how are...?" She stops speaking, starting to realise and slightly freaks out. "Wait... Did you hear what we...?"

Ford interrupts her in hopes that it calms her down. "Don't worry, he already knows about it... I've shown him what you've been sending me."

She calms herself a little. "Oh... I see..."

"That's right!" Stan says. "Don't worry, I'm not having hard feelings about it as long as you two are safe from harm! Which seems to be the case for the most part. If I believe those writings and the photo we received lately..."

Mabel gets an excited smile. "Oh yeah, the snow sculpture! It was so fun, he loved it! And we loved doing it!"

Stan asks an annoyingly repetitive question. "Are you kids okay with Bill's presence? What about your friend?"

Mabel speaks the truth. "Bill can still be very snarky, mean-spirited, and sometimes cruel. But... At the same time, it feels like he's either messing with us or pulling a harmless mean prank that he then apologizes for or shrugs for something more positive right after. So... I guess that's his way of being kinder?"

Ford thinks. "So... If you believe his days of misdeeds are being him... I trust you, but please tell your friend to continue his studies, at least until you two get the chance to come back to Gravity Falls next summer, okay?"

Stan acts more straightforward. "No matter what, don't rule out the possibility that there might be something behind all of this..."

Mabel nods. "Yeah, we'll keep sending you those notes. I don't have doubts about him at all. I'm also really hopeful for our next visit! Did you start speaking about it with our parents?"

"I plan to soon!" Stan adds. "It will be great to get the chance to have you two again here!" Some noises are then heard in another room, making him annoyed. "Sounds like Soos might've been a little clumsy again... I'll go check what that was. Sorry to leave you early, princess."

Mabel nods. "Don't worry, I get it! Tell Soos I say hi!"

"Will do!" Stan leaves the room in a hurry.

Being now in a private conversation with Ford, Mabel feels her heart beating a little nervously. But she doesn't want to let the opportunity go to waste. "Um, Grunkle Ford...? I was wondering..."

"Yes, what could I help you with?"

"I don't know anything about a specific possibility that makes me a little worried, so I wanted to ask you about it..." She seems almost guilty to bring this up, but she doesn't want to budge.

Ford wants to be encouraging despite all of this. "Just ask, I'll try to appease your mind!"

She starts talking, knowing what the reaction would be, but she takes her courage to tell him. "If we happen to visit the town again in the summer... do you think it'd be possible that...?"

Suddenly, the rest of her question gets drowned by Bill's sudden yelling over the board game when he notices that Samuel made a mistake.

But Ford heard the question, and he can't believe it. "Are...? You can't possibly be serious..."

But Mabel looks at her friendship bracelet, and then does give a serious stare in answer. "I am..."

Ford stays silent for a while. He wants to talk back, but he also understands what she's feeling. So he answers... "It's going to take quite some time thinking, but I suppose I can see what I can do..."

Mabel gets a big smile. "Thank you, thank you!"

Her enthusiasm doesn't completely negates Ford's concerns, however. He sighs as he gives up for her and then says. "So I won't bother you too much longer if you're all busy. I'm just glad to know everything's fine at home and that you're safe inside during this harsh weather."

"We are, thanks for being concerned. Bye Grunkle Ford!" She waves cheerfully and shuts the video call. No one in the room even realized that the call happened because of how much engagement they give to the game. As much as she doesn't want to play it, she can't help but smile at this sight.

Once the boys are done, Bill decides he's been observing the humans for long enough and decides to simply vanish for now.

Dipper starts speaking in a genuine tone. "Hey Mabel, sorry we left you behind for this game for a bit. How about you choose our next game to play together to make up for it?"

"Really...?" She feels very happy about it. "I'm gonna go make a choice!", she says enthusiastically, and neither of the boys have any objection to that. They spent pretty much the entire afternoon having fun, even if they cannot go outside due to the storm.

Author notes: Not sure what I can say about this one. Just some bottle episode with little things that'll advance the plot and influence the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!