"Ooh! Would you look at that- I've never met someone who was from the flat dimension before!"
Bill opened his eyes, looking around as he tried to figure out where he was. The edges of his vision were white and blurry. That seemed familiar... Was he experiencing another nightmare?
No.
No, demons don't have nightmares.
That line seemed familiar. This scene seemed familiar, too. Was this a memory? Maybe he was feeling so sick to the point that his brain decided to go down memory lane.
He recalled this moment... It was the first time he had traveled out of the second dimension. He had become tired of the dimension he had grown up living in. He absolutely despised it. It was a dimension filled with flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams. He wanted something more than what his home could offer him, and so he left to go and travel across the other dimensions. By complete and utter accident, Bill had stumbled across the Nightmare Realm. It was unlike anything he had ever witnessed before, and instantly he grew attached to it.
Before he could claim this as his new home, however, a couple of residents within the Nightmare Realm had decided to greet him.
"He's so thin! So two-dimensional— How strange!" Pyronica exclaimed as she began to circle the floating triangle.
"You're a long way from home," 8 Ball commented, looming over Bill.
"Yeah! Whatcha doing all the way out here for?!" Teeth chattered as the others began to file in and surround Bill.
He remembered this. The first time he met his Henchmaniacs. At first they had just been a group of freaks causing chaos wherever they went without any leader to tame or control them. They had no real purpose, doing whatever it was that they pleased to do. No wonder the Nightmare Realm had been falling apart. This was the first time Bill even saw this place and he could tell straight off the bat that it was in shambles. Soon the Nightmare Realm would collapse into itself and be no more due to its lack of laws and consistent physics.
Initially, he didn't view this place as somewhere he'd want to settle down in. Maybe there was a more stable dimension he could go to and call home.
"Just passing through. Not looking to cause any trouble—"
"Well that's a shame! Because we love trouble~" Pyronica snickered, standing directly behind Bill now.
Yeah, they definitely weren't as loyal to him upon first meeting as they were nowadays. He honestly wondered how they were doing without his guidance at this time.
"That's great for you. I think I'll be on my way now, though. I have a lot of plans and not much time to act on them."
"You can't leave yet! We haven't eaten!" 8 Ball quickly grabbed one of Bill's arms, causing him to tense and look up at the goblin-like creature.
"I don't understand what that has to do with me and why my presence would be required—"
"Hehe- Yeah, I'm starving! Think there's enough of him to go around and share?!" Teeth proceeded to grab Bill's other arm, holding him in place.
"I doubt it. He's snack-sized! And I saw him first so if anyone here is eating him, it's going to be me!" Pyronica growled before sliding her tongue out of her gaping maw and began to lick Bill's back.
First impressions are the most important, as they say.
The last thing Bill had expected to occur that day was to become food for a bunch of heathens. He remembered all of this. Remembered how tight their grip was on his arms that he could've sworn they would snap like twigs. He remembered how slimy and uncomfortable of a sensation it was to feel a large tongue glide across his back for a sample of how he would taste. He hated it. He hated it so much. If Bill recalled correctly, this was his very first experience with touch. Even back in his own dimension, the beings there were too flat to want anything to do with physical touch. And Y/n wondered why he didn't like to be touched.
Luckily, even back then Bill had his charms and cunning wit to help him out of a sticky situation.
"Killing me wouldn't do you any good. Not only would I give you terrible indigestion, but you would also be killing the only one who might be able to help save your realm from total destruction," Bill hissed, glaring up at them with his singular eye.
Pyronica sucked her tongue back in, staring down at him before bursting out into a fit of laughter. "Ha! You?! How exactly is some flat freak like you going to save the Nightmare Realm from total destruction?"
"I wouldn't judge a book by its cover, if I were you. I'm capable of much more than what it seems on the outside."
"Is that right~?" Pyronica hummed. She looked down at Bill, a bit lost in thought before she snapped her fingers. Both 8 Ball and Teeth released Bill from their iron grip. This caused the triangle to quickly spin around to face Pyronica, holding one of his arms in the other and rubbing it caringly. "Alright... Prove it."
"Excuse me?"
"Prove that you are more than what you seem. Prove that you are powerful enough to save our realm from collapsing. Do this, and we won't eat you. I mean, I suppose we've been needing a leader to lead us for quite some time— but I'm not just going to let anyone waltz in here and lead us."
Bill knew what was going to happen next. He wished he could stop himself from saying what he did next. But this was only a memory, a memory of the past that had already occurred. He couldn't change what had been done.
"Just tell me what I need to do. Tell me, and it'll be done."
A thick fog clouded Bill's vision. He couldn't see anything for a moment until the fog began to disappear and reveal a different memory of his. One he would have rather had left forgotten if he could.
Saw his own dimension burn.
Everything was in flames. The fire was so hot. And he just watched from a distance as it all came falling down.
Misses home and can't return.
This was the place he had grown up in. This had been his home. His parents were down there, burning alive before his eye.
Says he's happy. He's a liar.
This is what he wanted though, right? He hated this dimension anyhow. It was too flat for his liking. He didn't care if it was gone. He didn't care if those he had loved were gone. It was fine, everything was fine
Blame the arson for the fire.
"Well, would you look at that? You really are a freak just like the rest of us." Pyronica slapped Bill across the back, holding a wide grin. "Maybe you can be of use to us, after all."
Bill stayed silent, more focused on the flames than whatever it was Pyronica was saying to him.
It was all gone. It was all gone and it was his fault.
His fault.
His fault.
His fault.
"Welcome to the family! What did you say your name was, again?"
He slowly began to turn away from the destruction he caused, turning so he could face Pyronica and give her his name for the very first time. The name that shall be remembered as the one who destroyed the second dimension. Because this is how it happened, this is how he remembered it happening.
Once he fully turned around, a gasp that he could not control escaped from him as his body fell backwards and landed harshly on the floor.
No. No, he didn't remember this at all. What was this? Was it still a memory? Was it a nightmare?
Dream demons don't have nightmares.
But then- what was this? Pyronica was standing before him... but she was chained up. Her hands, legs, and neck were all chained up to the wall behind her, restraining her from moving. Not like she could go far even if she was freed from the cuffs— Pyronica seemed to be trapped inside of what looked to be a transparent box.
What was this? During his entire existence of knowing Pyronica, he had never found her in a situation where she was chained and locked up. Not like this. She looked so tired, so weak, like her light had completely gone out.
Bill pushed himself off the floor, standing up— standing... legs. He was no longer in his triangular, 2-dimensional form anymore. He was back in the meatsack prison. Why? Why was he seeing any of this? It didn't make sense?
"Why are you here?" his body spoke for him, though it seemed to be wanting the same answers that he wanted.
Pyronica didn't answer, though, as her lifeless eyes stared back at him through the glass.
Why was he seeing this? What was going on? Was this his doing? Was this...
Was it all his fault?
~~~
Y/n had been pacing the living room, staring down at their phone. Should they go? They did want to make-up with Claire, get past this whole situation altogether and start over again. But Bill was sick. Would it be right to leave him here all on his own for who knows how long? He was old enough to take care of himself, he didn't need them babying him all the time. But he's also never been sick before. Maybe they could call a friend, see if they'd be willing to watch over him?
...No. As much as they would like to make things right with Claire and make sure that their relationship would be okay, they couldn't just leave Bill. It wouldn't be right. He was sick and they wanted to help look after him. He was their friend. He—
They stopped walking abruptly, startled when they heard a scream coming from down the hallway.
Bill.
They sent a quick message back before tossing their phone onto the couch and sprinting towards Bill's room:
Sorry. Already have other plans. Maybe next time.
Y/n ran down the hallway, quickly throwing the door open and turning on the lights to look over at the dream demon in the bed. He was now sitting up, his head buried in his hands as his whole body was shaking. The human was quick to walk over and take a seat on the edge of his bed.
"Bill...?" they spoke up softly, not sure if he was in the mood to talk but at least wanted him to know that they were there now.
Bill lifted his head, and Y/n couldn't stop the small gasp that left them.
The dream demon... was crying.
Like he was ugly crying, the snot and tears were falling and he looked like an absolute panicked mess. He was also sweating bullets- the medicine probably had yet to kick in and settle down his fever. He hadn't been asleep for long. Ten, maybe twenty minutes tops.
"Hey, Bill-"
"It's m-... my fault..."
Y/n stopped, eyes widening as they stared at Bill. Was the fever making him this upset over not listening to them when it was time to get out of the rain?
"...Hun, it's fine. Really-"
"No!" Bill yelled, growling as he glared at Y/n through the tears.
Y/n flinched back, not expecting Bill to raise his voice like that towards them.
Bill didn't seem to expect it either, the guilt instantly washing over him as he saw them flinch. He caused them to flinch. He did that- that was his fault. He screwed up. Bill's eyes widened, quickly moving his hands to slap over his mouth before lowering his head once more. He was shaking a bit more violently now, closing his eyes tightly and letting the tears fall.
Y/n took a deep breath, staring down at the demon sympathetically. Maybe this was about the rain, maybe it wasn't. Whatever the case may be, it was really upsetting Bill and they needed to help calm him back down.
Y/n sat criss-crossed now in front of the blond boy, slowly beginning to scoot themselves closer until they were just barely touching his knees but not quite. They took a couple deep breaths in and out, mentally trying to come up with a plan before they leaned forward and left just an inch of space between their foreheads.
"Bill... Are you listening to me?" they whispered, keeping their voice calm and low. "I'm going to begin touching you. If you start to feel uncomfortable at any point, I want you to tell me or simply pull away... okay?"
Bill's body shook a bit more, but he remained still. He kept crying while muffled coughs escaping from his covered mouth.
The human sighed, lifting their left hand and placing it gently on top of Bill's right wrist.
8 Ball quickly grabbed one of Bill's arms—
"Hey... I'm here. You're going to be alright. Let's start taking a few, slow, deep breaths... okay? Breathe in... hold it... then we let it out slowly. Just like we did back at the store. Keep doing that for me, okay? Hey, hey- it's alright. You're going to be okay."
Bill then felt their right hand gently grab hold of his left wrist.
Teeth proceeded to grab Bill's other arm, holding him in place—
"There- you're doing a good job. We're going to keep doing that, okay?"
"B-... Bu-... B..But I-... I-..."
"Bill, you can hardly breathe right now let alone talk. You don't need to go explaining yourself right now. If you want to talk about it once you've calmed down, we can. I'll be right here to listen. I'm not going anywhere. Or if you'd rather save the conversation for another day, we can do that too. Right now, let's just work on calming you down."
Y/n began to gently rub Bill's wrists, trying to ease them away from his face slowly to free his mouth from its captivity. They were so gentle towards him. It almost wasn't fair, he didn't feel like he deserved it. Yet at the same time, all he wanted to do was collapse into their arms and never let go. He wanted to blame the sickness for these thoughts.
Bill whimpered, his shoulders shaking as Y/n successfully pulled his hands away and now held them gently, but firmly, in their own hands.
Pyronica growled before sliding her tongue out of her gaping maw and began to lick Bill's back—
Y/n smiled softly before they leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to the top of Bill's head.
"There you go... Keep breathing, I've got you. You're gonna be alright, let the storm pass."
Bill looked up at them, sniffling as a couple of traitorous tears fell down his face. He wasn't expecting that, not in the slightest. How dare they be so kind to him? How dare they do this and make him crave for that comforting touch even more?
He didn't deserve it... not in the slightest. But that didn't mean he didn't still want it.
"I-... I'm sorry... I... didn't mean-... didn't want to-... I shouldn't have yelled..."
"It's okay-"
"It's not though- It's not... I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so-... so sorry. I shouldn't have yelled- you've been so nice and I-... I should've listened in the first place, but I keep... keep screwing up! I'm not good, I keep making the wrong decisions- Everything goes wrong. I can't do one good thing without screwing up something else entirely-!"
Another kiss to the forehead.
"W-... Why do you keep doing that?"
"To get you to shut up. Would you like for me to stop?"
Bill frowned, lowering his head and staring down at each other's hands. He gave Y/n's hands a small squeeze.
"No... No, not really..."
The human smiled, leaning down to press a third kiss to the demon's forehead before resting their head against his.
"I appreciate the apology, Bill. I promise you're okay. I'm not mad, not in the slightest. I'm more pissed at the fact you keep putting yourself down like that, saying you screw everything up. Hun, you haven't screwed anything up. People make mistakes, it's just a part of life. It's the torturous cycle of going through trial and error until you get it right- that's just how life goes. Sure you've made a few mistakes here and there: like when you tried to steal a mannequin from the mall, or when you wouldn't listen to me to get out of the rain and ended up getting sick because of it. But you've also done a lot of good things, too. You stood up for Vox when someone was misgendering them and judging their choice of clothes. You also helped Norah out with that one Karen and helped her when she had a spider in her hair- in your... own weird way- but you did those things and those kids seriously appreciate it more than you'll ever realize. You've also helped me feel a bit less lonely. It's nice having a roommate who always keeps me on my toes. ...You've done a lot of good too, Bill. Don't put yourself down like that by constantly thinking about all the bad that you've done. You'll only destroy yourself by doing that. You have to remember to take care of yourself, too."
Bill stared up at them as Y/n released one of his hands to begin wiping his tears away with their thumb. He's done good? ...They think he's doing good? He let out a heavy sigh before closing his eyes and leaning his head against the palm of their hand.
"...I get the feeling there was more you had on your mind... Did you want to talk about it right now?"
"...No. Not really... Is that okay?" Bill mumbled, opening his eyes once more to look up at them. (E/c) eyes. Their eyes were so gentle and kind when they were looking at him.
Y/n nodded their head, their thumb gently caressing his cheek. "Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. If you ever want to talk, I'm here. Though, right now... you should probably try getting some more sleep."
"Could you stay this time?" Bill asked, rather quickly. It surprised himself at how fast he had asked that. His face started heating up right afterwards. It was the fever. More than likely just the fever. "I just-... I don't want to be alone."
Y/n let a small laugh escape. "You don't have to explain yourself. I can stay with you if you'd like- Oh!"
The moment they agreed to stay, Bill had lunged forward and wrapped his arms around their torso while burying his head in the crook of their neck. All he wanted was a hug from Y/n. That's all he really wanted.
Though it startled them, Y/n didn't seem to mind in the slightest. They were quick to wrap their own arms securely around his form, one of their hands being placed on the back of his head while the other was pressed against his back. They then slowly began to move so that they could change their position and get them to both lay back down on the bed. It would probably be rather uncomfy for Bill to sleep sitting up.
"Comfy?"
"Mhmm..."
"Good. Now try to get some sleep, okay? It will help you feel better- so long as you sleep for longer than twenty minutes."
"Yeah, yeah... Can you... do it again?"
"Do what again?"
"...Kiss?"
Y/n raised a brow, looking down at the dream demon who laid comfortably in their arms. Oh great- he was staring up at them with the eyes. The cursed puppy dog eyes. How could they refuse that? Besides, friends give platonic kisses all the time... right?
They leaned down and gave him the fourth forehead kiss of the day.
Vlawb ghjuhhv wkdw frph lq wkuhhv.
Zdwfkhv iurp zlwklq elufk wuhhv.
Vdz klv rzq glphqvlrq exuq.
Plvvhv krph dqg fdq'w uhwxuq.
Vdbv kh'v kdssb. Kh'v d oldu.
Eodph wkh duvrq iru wkh iluh.
Li kh zdqwv wr vklun wkh eodph,
Kh'oo kdyh wr lqyrnh pb qdph.
Rqh zdb wr devroyh klv fulph.
D gliihuhqw irup, d gliihuhqw wlph.
Chapter 17: Sunday, Dec. 11th, 2022
Don't forget:
A hiatus is coming soon.
If you want little short stories during this hiatus, I suggest leaving questions for the characters.
If there's something you'd like to know or someone you'd like to see more of, leave them in the comments.
I'll then pick and choose which ones I feel like tacking.