To the Nights in the Hold of Stone (BillDip)

Morning Kisses You Missed and Can't Get Back(21)

She laughed, "I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't want to help."

"I know," I cracked a smile starting to gather from the mess, "Just checking." Wendy hummed her agreement taking up the other half.

We were about to start the trek to the throne room but a soft tug, something deep in my gut, had me compelled to tell Bill where we were going. Breaking away from Wendy I climbed the short steps to his door, giving it a soft knock to alert him, "I'm going to the throne room with Wendy, we're gonna use the space to try and decipher the last bit of the spell." I waited a moment to get a response but only silence answered me. I shook off the chill and rejoined Wendy. She graciously didn't comment on it.

Shouldering the door to the throne room open together, on account of not really having a free hand, Wendy stepped into the middle of the floor space making a point to put her back to the throne of our frozen neighbors. "How should we set up?" She asked, hefting up the stack of papers in her hands.

"Literally just anywhere, I don't have a process-" Putting down my own stack to start spreading it out, "Or rather, any process I've tried hasn't worked yet, so I'm really up for anything."

She chuckled, sinking down on her haunches to join me, "That's ok Dipper, we will figure it out together."

"I don't like this." A new voice over head startled me out of our conversation, the journal I had opened in one hand hit the ground with a soft thud. Ana came in to stand a few feet away, scowling down at us.

Wendy didn't seem phased, she crossed her legs under herself and smiled up at the other woman, "It's fine Ana, we're almost done."

I tossed my gaze back and forth between the two of them. I knew they were close but this was the first time I'd seen them interact without Bill making himself the center of attention. "You can stay if it would make you feel better?" Wendy said, in that soothing lilt she used to use on me when my voice would pitch with anxiety or my hands would shake with too much nervous energy. She threw me an apologetic glance like I would have told her she couldn't invite her- the sudden realization that I hadn't asked Wendy enough about their relationship to classify it makes me feel guilty. Just for the record I would not have told her that. I am thoroughly familiar with Wendy's calming nature when it comes to anxiety.

Wearily Ana perched on the armrest of Bill's throne, keeping to herself. Wendy seemed pleased though, she turned her attention back on me and the paper's between us. Laying them out we ended up creating a large circle reminiscent of explosion fallout. Working backwards we went through all the already decoded ciphers. Wendy sorted through my notes of mostly solved codes for any similarities and crossovers, while I read through the pages themselves.

Unicorn blood and troll hair, pixie dust or fairy dust maybe a mix of both, though what the measurements were I couldn't tell yet. Drawings that didn't make sense, crossed with symbols meant for caging or encasing, early configurations of what Ford used to trap the shapeshifter I imagine. Wendy hummed or groaned occasionally, flipping papers over her shoulder when frustrated. Ana in turn made sounds in her throat both soothing and distressed in her own right.

She was distracting, after spending several days talking to Bill I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask her. He barely talked about her, only in passing but it was clear there was a long history there and I was dying a little to know it. I had to find time to seek her out, hopefully even if she doesn't want to talk to me I could pester Wendy in hopes that Ana's opened up to her.

"Dipper?" Wendy said, in a tone that sounded like she had said it several times.

"Uh- Sorry, what'd you say?"